The Arrow Creek Water Treatment Plant was opened in 2005.
The original 11-kilometre pipeline delivering water to Creston and Erickson was constructed in 1929. The 88-year-old pipeline is currently in poor condition. Phases 1, 2 & 3 of the mainline replacement have been completed and Phase 4 is currently underway and will be completed in 2017.
The final phase of the project will consist of the replacement of the remaining 3.9 kilometres of the mainline, a second water storage reservoir, a clear well and pressure reducing stations.
The benefits of completion of the project are numerous. The old mainline is currently leaking a considerable amount of treated water. A catastrophic failure of that line is possible and would put Erickson residents without water. Creston has the redundancy of wells that are capable of supplying basic water needs but the pumping capacity is inadequate for fire flows. Erickson’s treated water is stored in an open reservoir that is subject to potential contamination. In fact, Erickson is currently under a water quality advisory due to the open reservoir. New reservoir cells in Erickson and a clear well at the treatment plant will provide adequate storage for the Erickson residents, especially customers in the higher elevation areas. Fire flows and storage of water for fire use will also improve.
Increasing the pressure in the line to 20 psi will reduce the chance of inflow contamination of treated water and increase pressure to many customers. The new line will be located on road right of way and moved off of private property that will resolve access issues and reduce service disruptions. Most significantly the water quality advisory will be eliminated.
The anticipated cost of Phase 5 will be $6.05 million. This past September the Regional District of Central Kootenay and the Town of Creston were awarded a Clean Water and Waste water fund grant of $4.16 million for the final phase. The remaining cost of the project will come from $450,000 from the Arrow Creek Service reserves and an estimated 1.44 million in borrowing.
Service area public approval is required for the borrowing and the Alternative Approval Process was chosen as an alternative to referendum. If the Town and Regional District were to hold a referendum regarding the borrowing it would normally be held in November 2017. A referendum would be costly and the timeline to complete the project would not be possible. We would likely forfeit the grant. A condition of the grant is that the work must be completed by April 2018. It is important that we receive the necessary loan approvals as soon as possible in order to meet tender and constructions schedules; therefore we are asking for voter approval under the Alternative Approval Process.
It should be noted that the Alternative Approval Process response form identifies project borrowing of $1.89 million. This was based on a project budget that did not include the $450,000 contribution from reserves.
Creston’s portion of the $1.4 million would be $729,000. The estimated cost to each single family dwelling for the borrowing would be a water bill increase of $18.00 over 3 years. Erickson costing is different, in part because Creston has already constructed 3 closed reservoirs and increased their water costs substantially.
What would happen if we didn’t approve the borrowing? We would lose the $4.16 million grant and not be able to proceed with the total project. It is likely however, that due to the age and condition of the remaining 3.9 kilometres of pipeline we could be forced to proceed with replacement of that pipeline. Without the grant, costs would be substantially higher.
