The mayor of Sechelt and chief of the Sechelt Indian Band met with provincial ministers recently to discuss building a new sewer plant down the hill from the existing near-capacity plant on Dusty Road.
The proposal is to build the new plant on Construction Aggregates Ltd. (CAL) land near the base of Dusty Road once CAL has extracted the gravel at that site. In exchange, the District would relinquish the land under the existing plant further up the road to CAL for gravel extraction once the existing plant closed. The new plant situated lower on the hill would result in less pressure on the force main, which has ruptured several times in the last few years.
The District of Sechelt and the Band appear to be onside to jointly build and fund the new plant since both communities need increased sewer capacity.
"We're trying to acquire the land," Mayor Cam Reid said. "We do operate the plant currently in partnership with the Band and our intention is to continue in partnership with the Band."
Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell, Abor-iginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister Tom Christensen and West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country MP Blair Wilson toured the Dusty Road site with Chief Stan Dixon July 31. "The ministers are for it," Dixon said.
Then the ministers met with the District to discuss the land and the District's infrastructure grant application. Reid expects to hear back from the province in the next few weeks about the grant application's processing.
Dixon expects to have future meetings with the minister and District to continue discussions on the land purchase. He said getting a sewer in place is top priority.
