A resounding vote of support for the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) will move forward the take over of two embattled private utilities on Skaha Lake.
The Lakeshore Waterworks and Vintage Views Sewer System both serve residents in and around the Heritage Hills neighbourhoods, and the preliminary results of the April 12 referendum show overwhelming support for the RDOS to assume ownership.
Out of the eligible electors who cast their ballots for the two systems, the votes were 323 to 53 to support the takeover of the water system and 104 to 12 to support the takeover of the sewer system.
In addition to asking whether votes support the RDOS assuming operations for the two systems, the referendum questions also asked if property owners were in favour of borrowing $13.5 million for necessary upgrades to the water system and $7 million in upgrades for the sewer system to bring them up to acceptable standards.
The sewer system in particular has been an issue and on the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Park's radar for more than a decade, with multiple fines over the years for issues from quality of the effluent, failing to notify the ministry of breaches and discharges, to having fecal coliform levels that averaged 4,920 per cent with a high of 24,700 per cent above acceptable levels over a two-year period.
As of 2023, the system was under two pollution-prevention orders, and the RDOS refused to issue any building permits for empty lots connected to the system.
In 2022, the owner of the systems approached the RDOS about the takeover, which launched the process that culminated in the April 12 referendum and will continue with the transfer of ownership.
