The District of Sechelt has applied for almost $2.2 million from the federal gas tax fund to help pay for two major projects involving the new sewage treatment plant.
The largest application, worth $1.7 million, would allow the District to implement advanced wastewater treatment, by carbon filtration, to remove hormones, pharmaceuticals and other trace contaminants from reclaimed water. It would also help cover the cost for a reclaimed water distribution system to serve the Lehigh mine, Sechelt Golf and Country Club, surrounding agricultural parcels and potentially other areas.
While council members noted on April 15 that applying for the funding did not mean council was endorsing the project, and Mayor Bruce Milne called it “no more than an application,” councillors Mike Shanks and Doug Wright voted against it.
In his report to council, Sechelt Water Resource Centre project coordinator Paul Nash said discussions have been ongoing with the golf course and Lehigh mine on the District supplying reclaimed water, but no commitments have been made.
The capital budget for the project is set at $3.3 million, with a proposed split of $150,000 from Lehigh mine, $380,000 from the District’s sewer treatment reserves, $1 million from the golf course and the balance from gas taxes.
Nash said in his report that the tertiary level of treatment at the water resource centre meets the highest defined reuse standards, but carbon filtering would take it to a higher level. The treatment is being done internationally, but not yet in Canada, he said.
The second application, for $450,000, would cover the estimated cost for redevelopment of the former Ebbtide treatment plant site into a park.
A public committee formed last year produced a concept plan for the park, including an amphitheatre, playgrounds, pickleball court and public washrooms.
The funds could also be used for habitat restoration at the entry to Sechelt Marsh and a stream reconnection on Lot 48, across Ebbtide Street, which has been cut off from the marsh since the street was built.
“The completion of all these restoration works would return Lot 48 to being a functional wetland ecosystem, improve the stormwater quality management and complement Sechelt Marsh,” Nash said in his report.
He said the District would probably learn in October whether the applications were successful, “so anything coming out of this would be proposed for 2016,” allowing time for public consultation.
