City to lobby province after Ministry of Environment says no to phased approach for wastewater upgrades
The City of Revelstoke plans to lobby the BC government after the Ministry of Environment reneged on a plan to allow the city to upgrade its wastewater management system using a phased approach.
The ministry is now demanding the city meet immediate compliance with municipal wastewater regulations, increasing the project cost from $14 million to $35 million. The city would have met compliance, but not until later in the project.
At its meeting on March 12, council approved a committee of the whole recommendation for Mayor Gary Sulz, director of engineering Steve Black and two council members to travel to Victoria to ask the province for additional funding and/or respect the original intent of the liquid waste management plan.
The city completed its liquid waste management plan two years ago. Once the city reached the design phase of the upgrades, Black said the province appeared to lose interest in allowing the phased approach.