The Town of Gibsons will be receiving almost $1.3 million in funding from the Small Communities Fund (SCF) to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant.
SCF is a joint funding initiative between the provincial and federal governments. Both governments have each promised a third of the funding, leaving more than $600,000 for the Town to pay.
“The municipality is required to come up with one third, which we have already set aside in our reserves,” Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe said.
The total cost of the upgrades is estimated at just under $1.9 million.
“We identified some improvements that can be made as far as the efficient operating of the plant,” Gibsons’ director of engineering Dave Newman said. “That was what initiated the application for the grant.”
The work is projected to take place over a three-year period. Planning would begin in 2016 with some work in 2017 and then further work in 2018. It is not yet known when the funds will be released.
“In a nutshell, we’re looking at improvements to odour control and plant efficiencies and also some efficiencies in our Prowse Road lift station being able to operate at its full capacity,” Newman said.
“Right now we can’t run both of the pumps at once,” Newman continued. “That’s perfectly fine for our current operating, but some of this work will be sized for full build-out of the town. So it’s not just its current capacity, but it’s our future long-term capacity that it’s addressing.”
This project is one of 55 projects in B.C. under the SCF program, which will collectively receive $128 million in joint funding from the provincial and federal governments.
