qathet Regional District (qRD) will not serve as receiver of the Lund Waterworks Improvement District (LWID).
At the August 23 regional board meeting, held on Lasqueti Island, the board turned down the opportunity from the ministry of municipal affairs to be the receiver.
Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox, in whose district LWID is located, said he understands concerns raised about regional district resources required to administer LWID. However, at the August 2 committee of the whole meeting, Lennox was an advocate for qRD taking on receivership of LWID.
“This one touches me pretty close to home,” stated Lennox. “Water is a basic necessity and one of the core mandates is the provision of community water supply that is of sufficient quality and quantity.”
City of Powell River director Cindy Elliott said there were some strategic advantages with having the receiver separate from qRD in trying to motivate the province on a prospective grant to improve the waterworks’ service to the community.
“The conversion of the Lund waterworks would be helped by a separate receiver and that’s my goal, to help the Lund waterworks get to conversion and have a successful grant,” said Elliott.
A motion to respectfully decline the opportunity to become receiver for the LWID carried, with Lennox and city director George Doubt opposed.
According to a media release from the regional district, LWID has not had a quorum of trustees since December 2020. On February 23, 2022, the province appointed a receiver to manage LWID in place of the trustees, the release stated. The LWID receiver has informed the province that he will be stepping down from his position. The province has anticipated appointing a new receiver in October, the release stated.
LWID has applied for funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program - Environmental Quality. If successful, there is no requirement for qRD to be the receiver to obtain the grant, however, qRD must take over the LWID when the project is complete, the release stated.
“The qRD declined taking on the position of receiver in order to maintain objectivity and avoid potential conflicts of interest or loyalties that may arise between the LWID and the qRD,” stated chief administrative officer Al Radke. “The additional workload of taking on receivership would put a significant burden on qRD staff, who are already tasked with full work plans in support of existing qRD services.”
Since 2018, qRD staff have worked extensively with LWID to guide them through the conversion process, the release stated. To safely take over the service due to the costs required to ensure overall system integrity and bring the water system to meet drinking water safety requirements, qRD needs greater funding support, according to the release.
On December 18, 2019, the regional board accepted a petition from LWID requesting the water system be converted into a regional district service, with the hopes of receiving a $17 million grant to upgrade the system, the release stated. This grant application proved unsuccessful.
qRD continues to advocate alongside LWID for greater funding to support system upgrades through provincial and federal conversion funding and infrastructure improvement grants, the release stated.
For more information on LWID, go to qathet.ca/lund-waterworks-district.
“As members of this community, and strong advocates for ensuring the health of our residents and livability of our electoral areas, we share the same concerns about the LWID,” stated regional board chair Clay Brander. “We remain committed to supporting the LWID however we can, while still limiting our risk exposure. In declining the receivership, the board expects that maintaining objectivity will help expedite the eventual conversion process of the LWID to a qRD service.”
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