I N S I D E : Good coffee, good friends. Page 9
Journal ASHCROFT t CACHE CREEK
Volume 121 No 3 PM # 400121123
The
Thursday, January 21, 2016
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Village plans to borrow $4 M
Hooped Ashcroft’s Sr. Girls team played against St. Anne’s Monday night in a fast-paced game. There was plenty of scoring and quick moves on both sides of the court.
by Wendy Coomber Ashcroft Council announced to a public meeting for the new water treatment plant last week that it would be borrowing $4.129 million for its share of the new water treatment plant as well as increasing frontage taxes by $1.12 per foot. The Village will go to an Alternative Approval Process for the borrowing, the same method it used for borrowing money for the fire truck. If 10 per cent or more of the residents file their disapproval through the AAP, the Village will go to a public referendum. About 40 members of the public attended the meeting last Thursday at the Community Hall. Council and staff were present along with Rob Fleming from Interior Health and Peter Coxon from Urban Systems. After the scope of the project was explained, public questions ranged from how to lower costs to why water consumption in Ashcroft is so high. Ashcroft’s drinking water is taken from the Thompson River and treated with chlorine. Known as “surface water”, Interior Health’s concerns relate to turbidity and protozoa. Chlorine only deals with viruses in the water. The water plant’s upgrade will create proper filtration and disinfection. Only one person in the audience questioned the need for a new water plant. Fleming, who is a Health Protection Officer for IH, replied that if education in the need for an upgrade did not convince people, Interior Health would most likely order the Village to do it. Fleming said IH oversees 1,929 water systems in BC, and most of them are small with 14 or less connections. Ashcroft has 800. Of the 1,929, he said, 426 are currently on advisory. He said Ashcroft’s water quality is vulnerable to environmental changes and water quality fluctua-
tions. “Does the Village of Ashcroft meet treatment objectives?” he asked. “No.” “Ensuring suppliers comply with Drinking Water Protection Act and Water Sustainability Act and all associated Regulations and Guidelines - this is what I do,” he said. Fleming said his office uses a “progressive compliance approach” - education, administrative action, and enforcement. Most of their work is done using education. The drinking water scandal in Walkerton, Ont. in 2000 shifted everyone’s thinking about water treatment and more money was invested in water systems. Fleming said Ashcroft’s $5.7 million grant was the third largest funded project out of 50-some that were approved. Peter Coxon from Urban Systems described two types of water treatment plants and showed pictures of some more recent ones. He said the new plant will likely go in Legacy Park near the current pump house, and one option is to put it near the public washrooms and to combine the two facilities under one roof. The building to house the new treatment plant is expected to cost 25 per cent of the overall project. He said the river water quality is good. It is well balanced and usually clean, making it easy to treat. It does contain protozoa, he said, which is bad for children, seniors and people who are immune compromised. The two treatment options are direct (sand) filtration and membrane filtration. After Fleming and Coxon finished their presentations, Mayor Jack Jeyes announced that the Village would be going to the Alternative Approval Process for the Village’s one-third share of the proSee WATER on p. 10
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