Building waterline for future

Photo: Colton Davies

Crews digging and installing a water pipeline on Penticton Indian Band land, just west of the Penticton Airport, on Dec. 12, 2017.

The Penticton Indian Band has been installing a water line to prepare for future development at Satikw Crossing.

Work on the pipeline, situated just west of the Penticton Airport, began on Dec. 8 and is expected to take at least a couple months, according to PIB spokesperson Dawn Russell.

Once constructed, the line is expected to service future construction on PIB land west of Channel Parkway as well as the airport, by providing improved fire protection.

A building permit for the project was approved by the federal government in August, but a number of factors pushed back the project's start date, Russell said.

A PIB member was on site Tuesday, monitoring the excavation in case artifacts were found.

Russell couldn't specify how much the water line was expected to cost, but said all costs incurred by the PIB will be recovered in development cost charges.

She said the project will help streamline the building process for future developers on the Channel lands.

"If you, as a business developer, want to build something, you don't want to wait three years for another permit to come through and actually bring the water to your lot. You want to choose a lot where the infrastructure is already in place and you just have to build your building," Russell said.

The water line project comes after the Satikw Crossing bridge was completed about two years ago, which Russell acknowledged has had a nickname as the 'bridge to nowhere' among locals.

"We are quickly gaining steam and will be able to develop in a fraction of time, compared to where we were at the start of construction for the bridge," she said.

Construction is currently underway on a Nissan dealership just over the bridge.