Grant received for Lund waterworks

qathet Regional District (qRD) has received a $50,000 grant from the province to assist with capacity for conversion of the Lund Waterworks District into a regional district service.

At the January 29 committee of the whole meeting, directors reviewed correspondence from the provincial ministry of housing and municipal affairs, outlining the scope of the grant. According to the correspondence, the grant is to support the hiring of a dedicated project manager to help facilitate the conversion of the Lund Waterworks District to a qRD service. The grant is also to assist with costs associated with the negotiation and development of a service arrangement for water with Tla’amin Nation.

Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox said he was a user of the system and that he has been in contact with the receiver for the project. He said in the correspondence from the ministry, it was nice to receive the grant.

“On a positive note, I was pleased it is for assisting with costs associated with the negotiation and development for a service arrangement for water with Tla’amin Nation,” said Lennox.

“This probably isn’t enough money to satisfy the needs of the work that has to happen. There are some timelines, so I guess what I am saying is I’d like to bring this back [to a future meeting]. The timelines are very crucial for this project.”

Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said directors would be talking about service reviews and creation of committee meetings. He said with the Lund water system, potential service conversions were being looked at, from an improvement district to a regional district service.

“If the board was to create an advisory committee or something like that to look into it, could this grant also be eligible to support the work of such a committee?” asked Gisborne. “I see negotiations and working with Tla’amin Nation, and really digging into how this is going to be funded. That might be something elected leaders might need to take some initiative on. Can this grant also be eligible for that kind of work?”

Corporate officer Michelle Jones said that is something chief administrative officer Al Radke could answer. Radke was not present at the committee meeting.

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