Those who want to oppose the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) intent to borrow nearly $6 million to install water meters in Sechelt and on shíshálh Nation will have until mid-July to do it.
An Alternative Approval Process for authorizing a long-term loan that will fund Phase 3 of the Universal Water Meter Installation project was decided on by directors after a provincial grant to fund the project fell through.
Last month directors chose the AAP deadline of July 24 at 4:30 p.m. Those eligible to vote are the 19,577 property owners and residents in the water service area: Egmont/Pender Harbour, Halfmoon Bay, Roberts Creek, Elphinstone, West Howe Sound and the District of Sechelt. Approval is obtained if less than 10 per cent (1,957) of electors oppose the loan. Electors can oppose the bylaw needed to authorize the loan by submitting an electoral response form to the SCRD district office.
In the runup to the start of the APP, electors should expect to see notices and information packages appear at Sechelt and Gibsons community centres, online and in print advertisements, as well as at the SCRD office and South Pender Harbour Water office. The first notice of the AAP will be made public on June 15.
During the committee in which the deadline was established, SCRD chair Bruce Milne and several other directors urged a “more robust communication approach” to educate the public on why the SCRD wants to complete the project, scheduled to start late this year.
“I’ve already been told there are organized elements in our community that want to block it,” Milne said. “Everyone I’ve talked to in that camp seem to be fairly misinformed and uninformed … so this could quite easily be blocked for the wrong reasons.”
Universal metering is expected to decrease the average daily demand for water by 20 per cent.
The loaned money would be paid back over 20 years. Once the results are tallied, and if less than 10 per cent of people oppose the loan, the bylaw will be up for adoption in late July.
