-Council also carries motion to allow for transfer of infrastructure grants from RDOS to Town-

OSOYOOS TIMES-October 22, 2008-

By Karen KnelsenrnOsoyoos Times

Osoyoos town council gave first and second reading on Oct. 20 to a motion that would allow for construction of the long-awaited Northwest Sewer Project to finally get off the ground.
Coun. Stu Wells tabled a motion that, if approved, would amend Osoyoos's bylaws so that 133 homes along the northwest side of Osoyoos Lake currently on septic systems could be hooked up to the Town's sewage system.
The project would also service the 1,088 units scheduled to be built as part of the Willow Beach Resort, located at the head of the lake.
The original number of homes that would be connected to the system through the project was 121.
But Wells said 12 more property owners along the sewage line's path wanted to join the system as well.
When the sewage project was first conceptualized roughly 20 years ago, easements that were once part of the Canadian Pacific Railway line were left allotted by the rail company for the installation of a sewage pipe to the lake's northwest shore.
Agreements with the owners of properties where these easements are located have been extended a number of times in anticipation of the sewage system.
Now that the project is on the verge of getting underway, such agreements have been extended further, Wells said.
He added that the Town could be seeking bids from construction companies interested in working on the project as early as January.
Part of the motion also laid out that property owners on the northwest shore would have one year to hook up to the sewage system after the project is completed.
Council also carried a motion that will allow for the transfer of $4.5 million in federal and provincial infrastructure grants for the project from the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) to the Town.
The resort's developers made a deal with the Town in April where they agreed to pick up the rest of the tab for the project if Osoyoos's sewage system would be extended to cover the development.
The installation of water twinning, where homes receive separate potable and irrigation water, and fire protection services were also part of the agreement with the developers.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com