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How will you ensure a project or projects benefiting Peachland’s watershed receives provincial attention and funding?
If elected I will support policy and initiatives aimed at protecting Peachland's watershed. I will encourage the district to identify opportunities at the Provincial and Federal level that will protect/benefit Peachland's watershed and source water. I will continue to lobby higher levels of government to curtail harmful logging practices in our watershed.
How would you make this happen?
These type of initiative require collaboration between stakeholders. If there is a unified and coordinated effort towards a common goal the likelihood of success is far greater. I will support the improvement of stakeholder relationships and communication on all matters related to watershed protection.
Explain how you would implement this or why you would not.
In theory this is a good idea but likely has several major legal problems with its implementation. A municipality is limited by the local government act with regards to who/what they can charge and how it can implement taxation.
What additions would you suggest to this second request letter, considering clear cutting has continued for the intervening three-plus years and still further road building and tree removal are planned?
I would seek input from the HWC who have been tasked with brainstorming this issue for their recommendations for additions or edits to the letter.
. Costs to upgrade, expand or build a new Water Treatment Plant: In 2015, an amendment to the Peachland Water Master Plan was completed by Urban Systems, the conclusion of the report noted that “sufficient water is available within the Peachland Creek watershed to meet the demands of the District of Peachland and the environmental flows as required by the Ministry” at that time. As of today, the existing treatment and distribution system is appropriate for approximately 7100 people. With a future population projection in the region of 15,000, there will need to be some upgrades undertaken to meet those flow demands. For example, after the 7100 threshold is reached, an upgrade in storage / reservoir capacity at the treatment plant will be required. Similarly, once the 11,300 threshold is reached, an upgrade of the treatment plant (allowing us to generate more treated water) will be required. As these costs are principally related to further development, the cost will be borne by the developers through the mechanism of development cost charges. The most recent DCC update report estimates the overall costs for all of these upgrades to be approximately $45M. All previous and current developments did not supply near enough money to pay for the costs of the past WTP nor current new WTP, (usage fees, a $400 annual WTP tax, Federal and Provincial grants contributed to the costs). If elected, how will you ensure that these new costs will not be borne AGAIN by the current residents but, by the developers and the future residents through the mechanism of development cost charges, as the district staff suggest? Do you believe this is even possible? If so, how will you ensure Peachland starts to collect a portion of this $45M in your four-year term?
7100 before reservoir capacity would require an upgrade and 11,300 before plant expansion would be required. The water treatment plant was purpose built to be able to be upgraded over time as the population expands. All future upgrades are to be borne by developers since these costs are principally related to new development unlike before. These are collected though development cost charges.