Powell River Regional District directors have directed staff to submit a $2.7 million grant application to develop a potable water system in the Shelter Point water service area.
At the Thursday, January 22 regional board meeting, directors voted to send the application to the Building Canada Funding Program – Small Communities Fund to service approximately 47 land parcels with 42 current water users.
Mike Wall, manager of community services, said a meeting had been held on January 20 on Texada Island, with two engineers and Dan Glover, drinking water officer from Vancouver Coastal Health, in attendance. He said he thinks the process is at the point where the residents seemed happy and wanted to move forward.
“We had a show of hands at the end of it and there was a clear majority of people wanting us to move forward to a grant,” Wall said.
Five options were presented at the meeting and the one favoured, set to develop the system to meet maximum standards set out by the Fire Underwriters Survey, totalling nearly $2.7 million.
Wall said a number of the existing wells in the Shelter Point area had identifiable problems. He said they are basically holes in the ground in the forest.
“During testing, one of them had a dead rat in it,” Wall said. “Most of them are grown over with foliage and a child walking over could fall in. Some are covered over with rotten wood with moss on it.
“There are huge liability issues for the owner of the land.” Wall added that are also liabilities for the owners of some of the wells.
The landowner has been advised to get out of the legal liability he faces, Wall said.
About 25 per cent of the 42 water users were at the meeting, according to Wall. If the grant application was successful, the local share split between the water users would be a little more than $20,000 per property.
Sandy McCormick, Area D director, said that “mountains had been moved” to get this far because people in that area had been receiving free water forever and wanted that to continue.
“There’s a huge range in attitude but it’s really important this thing goes forward,” she said.
McCormick asked for clarification regarding the costs to the owners for the project if the grant is approved. She was told the figure would be $1,032 per year over 30 years for costs.
McCormick asked that with 25 per cent of the owners in attendance at the meeting, whether Wall was satisfied that the support from those in attendance was the feeling of the broader group.
Wall said most attending the meeting were enthusiastic. “Some came in non-believers and at the end voted yes,” he said.
Minutes from the meeting have been sent to everybody to keep everyone informed. Some, however, will never be satisfied, Wall said.
McCormick said she was a little concerned that the opinions of 12 are representative of the group but she was supportive of the process.
Brenda Paquin, manager of administrative services, said in order for the project to proceed, it would have to be given assent from 50 per cent of the property owners representing 50 per cent of the value of the properties of the entire service area.
Wall said water hook-up for $20,000 would be “a heck of a deal” for a system like this that includes fire protection.
Stan Gisborne, Area B director, asked about the fee to owners covering operating costs, over and above the cost of building the system. Wall said the water user fee was typically $50 per month.
Background to the grant application recommendation, outlined in a report from Wall, indicated that as far back as the 1960s, a group of property owners on Texada Island developed both registered legal and non-registered water supplies on a private property. A forestry/logging company owned the property at the time. Wall said the property was sold to an individual and the new property owner is faced with potential liability issues regarding these licensed and non-licensed water supplies.
Wall said the water users do not have any legal easements or rights of way for the numerous distribution routes through the land. The people with this water access have no right to access and maintain these water supplies.
