West Bench residents will decide Saturday if they want to hook up to the City of Penticton’s municipal water supply.
The all-day referendum is required to approve the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen’s plans for the upgrade, which would cost about $9.8 million. While $5.7 million would be covered by grants, the balance would have to be borrowed by the RDOS.
West Bench residents would then pay 22 cents per cubic metre for their water, plus an up-front payment to the city of $3.6 million covered by the province.
The alternative would see approximately the same amount of money spent on a new ultraviolet water treatment plant.
General voting goes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at West Bench Elementary School. About 50 people turned out for an advance poll last week. More details can be found online at www.rdos.bc.ca.