The federal government has joined the B.C. government in a commitment to fund two-thirds of a $4.5 million water treatment facility for the District of Sicamous.
Sicamous Mayor Darrell Trouton received word Friday morning (March 28) from Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes that the federal government will be providing $1.5 million for the facility’s construction. The funding comes through the Provincial-Territorial Base Fund for infrastructure under the federal Building Canada Plan.
The federal funding was announced Friday afternoon as part of a joint commitment with the B.C. government, which is also contributing $1.5 to the project
“That’s pretty darn exciting… it makes it all possible now,” Trouton said in a News interview.
In October, Trouton announced the province was committed to providing one-third funding. This was after a visit by Sport and Cultural Development Minister Bill Bennett, who presented a cheque for $50,000 to fund a pilot project to test the filtration technology proposed for the new treatment facility. The pilot was to span six months, while the province worked with its federal counterparts to come up with funding options for the $4.5 million plant, to replace Sicamous’ current water treatment infrastructure that was severely compromised as a result of the June 23 debris flows in Two Mile and Swansea Point, as well as the subsequent flooding.
“So, it’s been a lot of work behind the scenes by everybody, and I’m just happy everybody has come to the table and has committed to this,” says Trouton. “It’s looking very positive for us into the future.”
One of the next big hurdles for the district will be finding it’s $1.5 million share. Trouton said he and council will be looking to the 2013 budget and future budgets for the amount.
“We have to be careful in our community of not overspending in each budget year and making it viable for people to live here and to move here,” says Trouton. “It’s exciting and we’ll make it work.”
The district did put out a request for proposals for engineering the new water treatment facility, and staff have since forwarded a recommendation to council that OPUS Dayton Knight Consultant Ltd. of Kelowna be awarded the $523,921 contract. As of Monday, council had still not approved the recommendation, awaiting both the federal/provincial funding commitment and data from the completed pilot project.