– Town & RDOS co-operation helps project —

(OSOYOOS TIMES — Jan. 24, 2007) –

By Julie TurnerrnOsoyoos Times

Residents in a portion of rural Osoyoos' northwest sector could be taken off their existing septic fields and connected to the Town's sewer system if provincial funding is granted and the affected residents agree to pay the balance of the hook-up costs.
The project's cost is still to be determined in a final study, but at a special open meeting last Friday morning, Osoyoos Town Council passed a resolution stating that it supports accepting sewerage from the group of approximately 40 existing homes into the Town of Osoyoos' wastewater treatment system.
The homes were identified as being within a high priority foreshore area immediately north of the town boundary, adjacent to Lacey Point “ about a third of the homes in the northwest sector.
At the meeting to discuss the options was Earth Tech's sewer study consultant Piero Galvagna, Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen's (RDOS) General Manager of Development Services Marty Willfong, RDOS Area 'A' Director Mark Pendergraft and the Town's consulting engineer Terry Underwood of True Consulting.
A $21,000 feasibility study conducted by Kelowna-based Earth Tech “ which was in part covered by a $10,000 grant from the province “ examined three options for getting the shoreline area onto a sewer system to address lake quality concerns. The study considered the entire northwest sector, but for a number of reasons, the RDOS and the Town agreed to focus on a high priority area.
The options considered were to connect the area to the town's sewer system (which has an estimated population threshold of 8,000); to connect to the Osoyoos Indian Band's facility (yet to be built); or to build a stand-alone sewage treatment plant with a satellite facility at the Osoyoos Landfill to service the area.
Due to land acquisition and equipment costs for a stand-alone facility, and the fact the OIB's facility will be at its capacity once the OIB lands are fully built up, connection to the town's system was chosen as the best and most cost-effective option.
At Friday's meeting, Mayor John Slater said Council has to decide, based upon continuing and considerable pressures for growth, where the capacity of the Town's current wastewater treatment plant will be in the next five, 10 or 20 years. He also said Council must determine how a rural-area sewer hook-up to the town would be serviced.
When we originally looked at boundary expansion at the head of the lake, it wasn't that we wanted to take in the properties, we just wanted to be able to service them, he said, suggesting the town should bring the area in question into the Osoyoos municipality.
Councillor Allan Carswell pointed out that the original point of getting the northwest sector onto a sewer system was to protect the lake quality.
Going into the discussion of boundary expansion, I thought, was getting away from that. We treat the OIB as a client, Haynes Point as a client “ why can't we treat the RDOS as a client? If they've got opportunities to get two-thirds funding [from the province], let's make use of it, said Carswell, adding that tying the area into Lacey Point would solve roughly 60 per cent of our problem along the shore at 20 per cent of the price.
Pendergraft told Council it is important for the resolution to state that the sewer service would be made available only to the number of existing homes in the area “ rather than the area itself “ due to the fact there are some larger properties that could in future be developed. He said the project is to fix the present problem. The province will not grant funds to support new development.
This statement would then give the Town some assurances as to the actual amount of sewage they would be accepting, he said.
Carswell explains, There are about 150 homes along the northwest sector of Osoyoos Lake that could be served by sewers if the system was extended to the head of the lake. However, in recent times, a partial solution (a joint pump out system) was put in at Willow Beach. This leaves around 90 homes on stand-alone systems; and this project will pick up around 46 of those, or a little over 50 per cent.rnHe told the Osoyoos Times, The sewer system will operate in the same manor as the service the Town of Osoyoos provides to the OIB or the border crossing facilities. This resolution affirms what we said earlier this year that the sewer service does not have to mean boundary expansion. Hopefully, we will continue to work with the RDOS and in the future look at doing joint sewer projects in the areas to the southwest and the southeast of the town along the lake. The important thing is to clean up the water “ not whose jurisdiction it is.
Pendergraft says the next step will be applying to the province by the end of January for an infrastructure grant to cover two-thirds of the project's costs. He adds approval announcements would likely be released in May or June by the province. It would be followed by a plebiscite asking for the homeowners' support for their portion of funding, and putting out tenders for a contractor to carry out the work.
I would like to thank the Town of Osoyoos for co-operating with the RDOS on this project. While this proposal is a rather expensive one, it should be made clear that if we are successful with our grant for two-thirds funding it brings it down to a reasonable cost per household, compared to a new septic system, Pendergraft says.
The reduction of effluent going into the lake from septic tanks is the overall goal and this will be one more step to a cleaner, healthier lake.