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Feedback wanted on sewer system expansion to Kaleden

Planning includes capacity for over nine-times the current population

The planned expansion to the Okanagan Falls sewer system to Kaleden would have the capacity to handle years of future growth.

That growth is included in the preliminary design report published by the Regional District of the Okanagan Similkameen. The report is currently open to the community for comment and questions.

The planning of the project included current users, as well as future growth and development in Kaleden. That growth would cover service for the current approximate 355 people living in the area currently, up to a full potential service for 3,150 people in the same area.

The sewer system would serve 150 parcels of land in Kaleden, with the sewage being pumped through a trunk conveyance system to the Okanagan Falls’ existing system for treatment at the Okanagan Falls Biological Nutrient Removal Wastewater Treatment Plant.

READ MORE: Sewer service planned for South Okanagan community of Kaleden

The project is estimated to cost at most $10.2 million, with $6.2 million covered through the New Building Canada Fund — Small Communities Fund program. The other $4 million would require approval from the public through a referendum.

The referendum was originally scheduled to be held in June 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19. A new date has not yet been announced.

According to the RDOS’s manager of engineering Liisa Bloomfield, the residents in the affected 150 parcels of land could pay either a one-time payment, or annual payments over the next 30 years. Residents would pay the operation and maintenance fees for the service separately, as well as the costs to change their properties from septics to the sewer system.

The one-time payments would cost an estimated $22,900 to $26,200 per resident, while the yearly payments would cost $1,150 to $1,330 a year for 30 years at 2.58 per cent interest.

READ MORE: Funds authorized for boat dock in Kaleden

Currently, the RDOS is accepting feedback through a question and answer section on their website at www.kaledensewer.ca.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
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