After undergoing public consultations, environmental assessments and impact studies, choosing a location and waiting for possible federal and provincial infrastructure grants, the previous estimate to build Powell River’s new wastewater treatment plant has more than doubled, from $30 million to approximately $66 million.
It took nearly 20 years of spirited debate by changing city councillors and mayors, and the public, to reach the point of approval in February.
The previous price tag was never overlooked, after all, the plant is the largest infrastructure project in the city’s history. But the latest increase in cost will surely usurp, if only temporarily, hot-button issues such as aesthetics, whether the facility will smell and if the right location or treatment process was chosen.
As with any expenditure, the passing of time results in an increase in cost. Time has a way of financial measuring unlike any human or computer-generated system.
In two decades since discussions began for building the new wastewater treatment facility, real estate values have increased, grocery prices have risen and costs associated with driving a vehicle have continued to climb, just to name a few examples. Anyone currently looking to purchase a home in the Powell River area knows they are paying at least 25 per cent more than they would have a year ago.
It is inevitable; time is money.
Costs increase as the clock ticks. Debates, assessments, studies and consultations are important, but all played a part in slowing down the process in this case, leading to an enormous financial undertaking years later.
Current wastewater effluent outfalls in Wildwood, Townsite and Westview are not providing adequate treatment before discharging into Malaspina Strait. To bring the city into compliance with federal and provincial environmental regulations, the facility has to be built. The longer it takes for shovels to enter the ground, the more the facility will cost in the end.
Rising cost is a consequence of continual delays, and if an estimate can double in a few months, which is a tough enough pill to swallow, what will the price be two, five or 10 years from now?
