West Kelowna council has determined how it will fund the municipal portion of what is shaping up to be its biggest capital project ever—the planned new $53.5 million Rose Valley treatment plant.
With the announcement March 17 that West Kelowna will receive $41 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments to build the water treatment plant at the Rose Valley Reservoir, city council has reviews options for funding the city’s $12.5 million portion of the project.
And it has decided to use money from reserves, development cost charges and capital expenditure charges, as well as short-term borrowing of $1.63 million to pay its share.
The Rose Valley Reservoir currently serves users of the Lakeview Water System and the treatment plant project will include connecting the existing, smaller Pritchard, Sunnyside and West Kelowna Estates water systems to the new plant. Once completed, the project will provide clean, treated water to an estimated 18,000 residents in West Kelowna.
Last year, the Lakeview system was under a water quality advisory for 14 weeks because of a large algae bloom that lead to high turbidity levels in the reservoir. Many residents on the system resorted to buying bottled water prompting the city to open its normally locked bulk water station to the public for free towards the end of the advisory period.
Mayor Doug Findlater has said that getting the large grant will enable the city to build the new water treatment plant five years earlier than originally planned. Construction was originally not slated to start until 2022.
Construction and commissioning of the new treatment plant will take some time, said the city Thursday, and it is warning Lakeview system users they could face water quality issues in the meantime. The city says it will issue a request for proposals in the coming days seeking a qualified project management firm to oversee the design and construction of the new water treatment plant.
Earlier this week, West Kelowna council also agreed to merge the Lakeview, West Kelowna Estates, Pritchard and Sunnyside local service areas into on, which will see a single uniform user rate. Council will be consider water rate adjustments at an upcoming meeting.
The $41 million grant will come from the federal and provincial Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.