Peachland will have to borrow more to Ànish water project

Peachland will have to borrow twice as much money as first thought to pay its share of a major water improvement project.

Council has approved a plan to borrow $9.2 million instead of $4.3 million for a new water-treatment plant and cross-town piping system.

However, the extra borrowing won't result in higher taxes for Peachland property owners.

They currently pay a $350 annual parcel tax for water improvements, and that provides enough funds to cover costs associated with the additional borrowing, town finance director Doug Pryde said Wednesday.

He characterized revisions to the town's borrowing bylaw, approved unanimously by council on Tuesday, as essentially administrative in nature.

By 2021, town property owners will still be paying a total of $350 in special water improvement charges, but through two parcel taxes rather than the one that currently exists, Pryde said.

Cost for the new water treatment plant, designed to remedy the current situation which typically sees months-long water quality advisories, is $18.8 million.

Senior governments are paying $6.9 million, the town is providing $7.6 million from reserves, and the plan was for the municipality to borrow the remaining $4.3 million.

However, council has also approved a $4.9million project to put a pipe across town to connect the two main water systems so topquality water is provided to all townsfolk.

The provincial government has blocked the plan because the town had no confirmed funding source for the costly inter-connect. So town council this week had to re-write the borrowing bylaw to include a new parcel tax as the funding source.

Townsfolk will have a one-month period, beginning Nov. 20, to oppose the new borrowing limit of $9.2 million. If more than 10 per cent of town electors sign petitions opposing the plan, it cannot move forward.

Design of the water treatment plant is underway.