The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) and the Garden Bay Waterworks District (GBWD) have agreed to support a plan to merge their two water systems to start up a new water board to supply the North Pender Harbour area.
The two parties' consultant presented draft implementation and five-year financial plans to the SCRD planning committee last Thursday.
"It made a lot of sense to join these two systems together into one service area," said Michael Jackson, president of Acroloxus Wetlands Consultancy. Rather than taking over the service, the regional district would manage the administration and operations, while the community would develop, run and plan the new service area through input from an advisory committee, Jackson said.
The committee would help SCRD staff to "develop budgets, capital plans and bylaws and to recommend rates, taxes and DCCs [development cost charges]," according to the draft plan. The merger addresses environmental concerns of drawing water out of Hotel Lake - where the SCRD has a licence - by taking the pressure off the Hotel Lake water supply, he added.
The new North Pender Water Service Advisory Committee would be made up of the SCRD's Area A director (currently John Rees) and four members of the community. Its area would cover the Garden Bay, Irvines Landing and Hotel Lake communities. This area is facing the issue of how to supply enough water to new and future residential developments.
The merger announcement came less than a week before the SCRD's public meeting to discuss a master water plan for the Pender Harbour area. "This is the first step in an Area A master water plan," Rees said at the Oct. 13 planning meeting. SCRD staff and the volunteer-run GBWD have been in discussions since March.
"Garden Bay has had its own water system for 45 years now, and times change," said GBWD chair Gerry Krantz. "This looks like a time for the regional district to take a bigger role in our area."
The plan predicts future service improvements and capital savings. According to the draft financial plan, combining the two systems could save $40,000 annually, while the cost of integrating the systems is low. The plan does not foresee a rate increase for customers. The new service area would serve an estimated 662 customers by 2006.
The next step is for the draft plan to go to public consultation. Further public meetings are expected in November.
"We have to show strong public support for it to go forward," Jackson said.
The consultants would submit the conversion application to the provincial government and apply for a grant. If the plan passes all steps, the transfer could be complete next March.
