The location of a new sani-dump will be put before council today.
City staff are recommending that it be built at 1625 Powerhouse Road.
Revelstoke has been without a sani-dump since the Victoria-Mutas intersection project.
Sani-dumps are typically used by RVs to dispose of black water.
With Revelstoke’s rise as a tourist destination, RV traffic has increased. But without a reliable year-round spot for them to dump locally, some RV tourists are skipping town.
In a Dec. 19, 2017 letter addressed to City Council, Guylaine St-Gelais, Revelstoke Information Centre manager, addresses some concerns over the lack of a reliable sani-dump.
“In May 2017, we received our first of over 100 complaints over the summer months from new and returning visitors about the lack of sanitation services,” she wrote. “Complaints were received daily by our information counsellors throughout the summer and whole less refquently, into the fall and winter months.”
One couple told her they changed their Revelstoke travel plans due to the lack of service.
In December, a group of skiers cut their visit short because there was nowhere to dump their RV.
There is a sani-dump located at the Frontier Motel, but it’s not year-round and there’s no fresh water.
St-Gelais said she’s received reports of illegal dumping on logging roads and even on West Side Road in August.
“Mountain bikers reported waste material sprayed across West Side Road, coming off Highway 1, where a camper opened the waste valves and drove down the road to let it drain.”
Bylaw services did not receive any complaints of illegal dumping by an RV or charter bus this summer.
“Having a year round sani-dump will both encourage travelling recreation vehicle users to remain in our community for longer, as well as prevent them from disposing of their sanitary waste illegally in and around Revelstoke,” the staff report to council says.
City staff have recommended this location due to it being on city land, its proximity to water and sewer and space available for waiting vehicles.
The project is estimated to cost $120,000 and that amount has been included in the 2018 capital budget.
The service is not mandatory for communities to provide.
The sani-dump proposal will be in front of council at their first meeting of the year on Jan. 9.
@marissatiel
marissa.tiel@revelstokereview.com
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