Powell River officials are hoping to find a pipeline to funding sources to complete the city’s water supply system.
After attending a recent meeting outlining the Building Canada Plan, City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa said the new $1-billion fund may fit the bill for completion of the water supply project. The fund is designed for cost sharing between municipalities and the federal and provincial governments. The Small Communities Fund, one of several programs with Infrastructure Canada, has drinking water as one of the eligible categories for application.
“Council is unanimous that the Haslam Lake water main is the number one infrastructure project in the city,” Formosa said.
The Building Canada Plan session was sponsored by MP John Weston, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding. Formosa attended the meeting with Mac Fraser, the city’s chief administrative officer. Powell River Regional District chair Colin Palmer also attended.
Formosa said it was important to have representatives from the Building Canada Plan explain program revisions to the local government officials.
“We received an invitation to go to West Vancouver and [Weston] had Ottawa big shots on the phone and one in person,” Formosa said. “We talked and went though all of the paperwork for Building Canada and found out how it’s working and what they are doing.
“The financial commitment by the senior levels of government appear to be lower and allocated over a longer period of time. What they did do is create a second pot of money for small communities. It’s a one-time shot—you can only apply once and get it once.”
Formosa said the city is ready and will apply for the water main at Haslam Lake. “The addition of the funds for small communities was a real treat so we are hoping we will win that one deal and get our Haslam Lake water main out of it,” he said.
According to a city request for proposals for replacement of the water supply main, dated October 29, 2012, the remaining weakness of the city’s water supply system is the 900 millimetre supply main from Haslam Lake to the new ultraviolet (UV) treatment plant. The Haslam Lake supply main is now the primary supply main for the entire city.
The supply main that requires replacing was installed in 1960 and is more than 50 years old.
Formosa said Powell River has been successful with the regular Building Canada Plan in the past. “We did our water, our marina, our track,” he said. “We ended up spending about $10 million. We put in $3 million and between the federal government, the province and the Powell River Community Forest, about $7 million was covered.”
