A new trustee joined a successfully re-elected incumbent on the board of Salt Spring’s largest water district on Wednesday evening — and that may not have been the biggest news of the night.
The handful of ratepayers that attended the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) annual general meeting May 6 were the first members of the public to learn the results of the board election, which brought incumbent trustee Steve Lam and newcomer Philippe Erdmer a victory with 293 and 267 votes, respectively. Jon Scott received 150 votes from among 387 ratepayers who cast a ballot, according to district financial officer Tammy Lannan.
But the evening’s news also included a somewhat coy announcement that, to a still-unspecified extent and thanks to the federal government, all 3,125 eligible district voters will see some relief from the cost to finance and build a new water treatment plant already underway.
NSSWD had applied for federal funding in December 2024, under a since-cancelled program called the Canada Housing and Infrastructure Fund (CHIF), now “rebranded” as the Build Communities Strong Fund. The original application had asked for $6.7 million to support both the new Maxwell Lake water treatment plant and an upgrade to the Crofton pump station.
And while details remained under wraps Wednesday pending an announcement from the federal government, NSSWD board chair Brian Pyper said in a prepared statement Pyper the program was a “significant opportunity” and promised additional information soon.
“[NSSWD] is pleased to share that our funding application to support the cost of the Maxwell Lake water treatment plant and Crofton pump station is currently in progress,” said a visibly delighted Pyper. “On behalf of the board and ratepayers, I would like to thank the Government of Canada, and district staff look forward to providing additional information in the coming weeks regarding this pending agreement.”
Construction of the new plant at Maxwell Lake was mandated by Island Health as part of efforts to remove more of the organic matter that reacts with chlorine treatment to create trihalomethanes (THMs), such as chloroform and bromodichloromethane.
Health Canada has said the health risks of THMs are far lower than those from consuming water that has not been disinfected, but is nonetheless directing utilities — including NSSWD — to make every effort to keep THMs at the lowest levels possible, so long as they do so without compromising the effectiveness of disinfection.
The Crofton pump station upgrade project is meant to ultimately join the northern and southern “halves” of the NSSWD system into one, combining similarly treated water from Maxwell Lake and St. Mary Lake into a single more resilient source, according to the district. That, alongside the provincially funded $10-million project to raise the weir on St. Mary Lake at Duck Creek, is widely expected to eventually give the district more flexibility on capacity — and could result in freeing up additional new water connections. The district partially lifted what had been a decade-long moratorium on new taps just over a year ago, allowing the equivalent of 300 new connections — up to a maximum annual demand of 50,000 cubic metres — but only for properties on the Maxwell Lake side of the system. To date, according to Pyper, about 22 per cent of the available water supply from that policy change has been allocated.
Operations manager Ryan Moray said Wednesday that the trees had been cleared at the future plant’s location and ground preparation for the building’s foundation had already begun. Pyper added that the sale of timber from the site would bring about $70,000 to the district.
Pyper also said staff had made considerable planning progress on the weir-raising project, and that the NSSWD board would be reviewing the upgrade this summer before a required submission to the Government of B.C.
“The province will then take at least a year to review the application and receive feedback from lakeshore property owners and licence holders,” said Pyper. “Staff have provided several updates to property owners and water-right holders, and another update will come before the provincial submission is made.”
Pyper also thanked outgoing trustee Elizabeth FitzZaland for her three years of service.
New and returning trustees will enjoy a modest bump in remuneration for the service on the board, thanks to a successful motion from the floor that added another $25 per month; regular board members will now receive $425, with the chair receiving $475.