City council will make important financial decisions today (Aug. 9) for three projects that could impact residents.
Water treatment, pipes, and school road safety will all be up on the docket for councillors this week. The council will discuss the alternative approval process for the finances of a waste water facility upgrade, and a school road safety project. They will also be discussing the roll-out of a 10-year financial plan for upgrading downtown Revelstoke’s water pipes.
The wastewater treatment plant upgrade and school road safety project are both on hold because the council cannot adopt a new bylaw until residents of voting age give their approval. To get the approval, the council is using an alternative approval process (AAP).
This AAP process is required when municipal loan authorization bylaws are looking to be passed by council.
Up for approval is a $7,000,000 budget for the wastewater treatment plant upgrade to be paid over a period not-exceeding 25 years.
The total estimated cost of the first phase of construction is approximately $16,800,000, of which approximately $9,800,000 is covered by an Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program grant.
These upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant are required as the facility discharge is nearing the permitted limit of allowable discharge, and the upgrades will increase the capacity to treat wastewater and will be a significant upgrade to the current system according to city staff.
The school road safety project will have a $2,000,000 budget to be paid over a period not-exceeding 15 years.
Council will decide how to involve residents in the AAP voting later today.
The water pipes discussion will play an important role in what the downtown core looks like next year. The city council will decide how to implement a plan which could minimize disruptions to the water supply due to the aging pipes.
The water pipe replacements in Revelstoke are overdue. Some pipes are 15-years past-due—others are as much as 23-years past. That’s not to say that they are 15 or 20-years-old. The pipes are actually between 85 and almost 95 years old.
Water pipes in Revelstoke have a small history of problems, due to their age. They were examined almost 10 years ago and shown to have problems. A Revelstoke Review article at the time discussed a report indicating the inefficiencies. In some cases, as much as 79 per cent of treated water leaked out of the old pipes, before making it to residents.
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@ZacharyDelaney
zach.delaney@revelstokereview.com
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