City council considered, but chose not to proceed on requests for two sanitary sewer extension projects totalling around $1.3 million.
At its Sept. 9 meeting, council received staff reports on both, one of which had been received numerous times as an annual specific referral request for municipal spending. This was from Tech-Crete Processors Ltd. and Bill Laird, who've asked to extend sanitary sewer to the 13th Avenue SW industrial area.
Through verbal and written reports, city engineer Jenn Wilson explained that in response to numerous informal requests and opportunities for grant funding, in 2017 the city completed detailed design work for this project, including related road works. The project was estimated to cost $850,846, roughly $1.37 million when adjusted for inflation. More recent requests have focused just on the sewer extension, which is currently estimated at $685,000.
At council's direction, staff reviewed the request to determine options for future budgets. Though 10 businesses would benefit from the extension, which would also support increased land use, staff did not support funding the initiative for several reasons. One of them had to with the project being funded by "users of the sanitary utility," which could be "construed as the City subsidizing select businesses within the community." Also noted were priority projects, including upgrading of the wastewater treatment plant, that already have staff stretched, as well as the city's limited borrowing capacity – which may be needed in the near future for those priority projects.
With no motion on the table, council was open to continuing pursuit of grant funding while agreeing with staff to not proceed with the project.
During question period, Laird commented that Tech-Crete would be the greatest benefactor of the extension and would therefore pay more than other businesses towards the project.
"We would not want to piggyback on everybody else and cause them grief so we’re prepared to pay our share," said Laird, who took issue the comment around the city subsidizing development.
"We’ve been paying taxes as though we’re fully serviced… for the most part we feel that we’re the ones subsidizing the rest of the community. In 2022, for instance, there was $120,000 collected there in land taxes. Not a complaint, just a statement from our side."
Laird asked to "stay on the grant list," adding "Tech-Crete would pay to keep the opinion of probable cost up to date so that is no longer a cost to the city."
Mayor Alan Harrison asked that Laird and company work on a specific referral for the 2025 budget, with public presentations to take place on Oct. 15.
Staff offered similar reasons against supporting the second requested extension that would connect properties in the southeast area of Canoe, located within and outside of the city's urban containment boundary, to the sewer line that currently terminates in front of North Canoe Elementary.
"Due to the numerous informal requests from a variety of property owners and the unknown feasibility of extending the sewer via gravity…," the city completed detailed design work for the project in 2021. The current cost is estimated to be $650,000.
Staff offered several options, including putting $25,000 in the 2025 budget to hire a consultant that would complete background work leading to a formal petitioning process that would require the support of at least 50 per cent of the affected property owners. If successful, the city would create a Local Area Service through which the "city constructs the infrastructure and the benefiting properties pay back the infrastructure over a set amount of time."
Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond favoured this option, explaining she'd spoken to a couple of the residents wanting the extension.
"I think they are aware of the cost but they’re also aware of the cost of not improving," said Wallace Richmond. "Some of those systems I fear are at risk and there is a creek so they’re trying to be proactive and yes, I understand it’s not the top of staff’s priority, but in a case like this where a community would be willing to share the expense of $600,000 to upgrade to connect to sanitary sewer, Im persuaded that it’s well worth the initial investment…"
Wallace Richmond tabled a motion for council to support the option.
Staff, however, also shared a number of "complicating factors," including parcels outside the urban containment boundary requesting access. After discussion and a friendly amendment to the motion to consider the matter for the 2025 budget, the amended motion was defeated.
"I think what we’re asking through the motion is we’re asking residents of Salmon Arm to loan $25,000 to the people who live there so they can assess the possibility of a local agreement, and then we’re asking residents of Salmon Arm to loan $650,000 to do the work," said Mayor Alan Harrison, who opposed the motion but favoured another suggested option, that residents seek their own resolution through a hired agent.
"The good part about doing that is it would be in their best interest to talk to all of the properties out there so that those costs will be shared among the properties who are going to benefit," Harrison continued. "If we go with this motion now and the petition fails, the $25,000 that the residents loaned is lost, there’s no benefit at all. So I would like them to have some skin in the game.
"I absolutely understand the need, I get what the need is but the other piece is our limit on borrowing capacity, the fact that they’re going to pay it back over 30 years, that affects our borrowing capacity and we know already with the plans that we have for projects we need every cent, the residents of Salmon Arm need every cent of that borrowing capacity…"
