Enderby is hoping for an infusion of cash to improve critical infrastructure.
On Monday, council sent off grant applications to the federal and provincial governments for restoring the Shuswap River water main crossing and separating the sanitary and storm sewer systems on the hillside.
“They are both important projects,” said Mayor Greg McCune.
In terms of restoring and twinning the water main crossing, the estimated cost is $659,000, with the city responsible for 17 per cent.
“It’s not in very good condition,” said McCune of the pipe, which is connected to the city’s secondary water source, a well.
Among the issues are are suspected influence of surface water on the well, the vulnerability of the single main crossing the river due to age and erosion and the capacity of this system to continue to supply water in the future without upgrades.
“We would like to get it replaced before it completely fails,” said McCune.
As for the separation of sanitary and storm sewer systems, the cost would be about $765,346, with the city contributing 17 per cent.
“When combined storm/sanitary sewer exist, several negative consequences result,” said Tate Bengtson, chief administrative officer, in a report.
“All rain water is pumped and then treated as if it were sanitary sewer, which increases operating costs for the city, takes up valuable capacity at the waste water treatment plant and reduces the city’s ability to accept new customers, disrupts treatment processes and increases the risk of overwhelming the system and creating overflow conditions.”
For a community with a small tax base, McCune insists federal and provincial assistance is necessary when it comes to infrastructure.
“There’s no way we could do it alone,” he said.
