qathet Regional District (qRD) directors have prioritized Lund Waterworks District for the 2025 intake of the Canada Community-Building Fund’s Strategic Priorities Fund.
At the August 27 board meeting, directors were presented with three projects that were highlighted for potential grant application, including Lund Waterworks District, Tla’amin Nation’s multi-use pathway proposal between Wildwood and Tla’amin, and qRD’s resource recovery centre fire sprinkler project. Also identified as a prospective capacity building project was to engage a qualified consultant to develop a level of service framework for each regional district service.
According to a staff report, the Strategic Priorities Fund is accepting applications up to the deadline of September 12.
qRD chief administrative officer Al Radke said that in the past, the regional district has submitted multiple applications, and on one occasion, it was successful, but the other applications just came back.
Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox said he would like to support all three, but as the representative for Lund, he outlined the importance of the water system.
General manager of financial services Linda Greenan said when staff looked at previously approved grants, it seemed like a lot of times, capital projects were approved along with a capacity building project, so she did not believe there was any risk of putting the capacity building project in.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said there is nothing more important than drinking water, so Lund Waterworks District should be the number one project.
After Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall made a motion, corporate officer Michelle Jones said that for the application, the waterworks district would be prioritized, the multi-use pathway would be number two, the fire suppression system would be number three, and the regional district would also submit the capacity building project. The motion to prioritize carried unanimously.
A staff report indicated that the funding is up to 100 per cent of eligible costs to a maximum of $7 million. According to the staff report, the project cost of Lund Waterworks District would be up to $7 million, the multi-use pathway would be up to $7 million, the resource recovery centre project projected cost is $308,520 and the levels of service framework study projected cost would be $60,000.
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