When the City of Powell River’s capital budget is flush next year, the recreational vehicle sanitary disposal station will be moved from the waterfront to a site adjacent to Powell River airport.
Council, at its Thursday, October 16, meeting, unanimously carried a recommendation that staff be instructed to relocate the recreational vehicle sanitary disposal station. It will move from Willingdon South to the airport bus loop site. The relocation project will be included in the 2015 capital budget for council’s consideration.
Mayor Dave Formosa said adoption of the recommendation would finally get the sewer dump off the beach.
“It’s been how many years, six years, since we’ve been here that we’ve been trying to move that thing,” he said.
At council’s committee of the whole meeting earlier this month, Tor Birtig, director of infrastructure, said staff had looked unsuccessfully at local enterprise taking on the task of relocating the station. Staff also looked at two optional sites. The first was Powell River’s former waste transfer site on Marine Avenue north of Willingdon Beach Campground. The cost to relocate a disposal site there would be an estimated $30,000. This would include reconfiguring and moving gates in addition to the installation of the facility.
The second site reviewed is at the airport bus loop and the cost is estimated to be $15,000.
“We are asking council to move this item forward in this year’s budget deliberations,” Birtig said. This project would be for the budget year 2015 if accepted by council.
Councillor Debbie Dee asked if the move would affect the airport’s management plan.
Birtig said the plan had been taken into consideration with the reconfiguration of the parking lots, so it doesn’t impact the reconfiguration. Neither would locating the station near the airport affect the requested memorial park proposed by the Rotary Club of Powell River if council decides to move forward with that request.
Councillor Chris McNaughton, chairing the committee of the whole meeting as deputy mayor, said city staff has been asked to try and resolve the issue of the RV sanitary disposal station and so council appreciated the work that Birtig was outlining.
Formosa asked if there had been examination of the placement of the sanitary disposal station closer to Duncan Street so there is room for expansion of parking if need be, without having the station in the middle of the expanded parking lot. In Birtig’s report, an aerial photograph showed the sanitary disposal station located in proximity to the existing airport parking lot.
Birtig suggested the cost would amount to the same estimate if located closer to the road. “Although it’s outlined in that area, we want to look in detail at that whole site,” he said.
