West Kelowna council officially approves borrowing plan for Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant

Photo: City of West Kelowna

The City of West Kelowna now knows how it will fund its portion of construction of the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant.

Council Tuesday formally adopted a long-term borrowing bylaw which sets out repayment of a loan for the city's share of the $75 million water treatment plant.

The bylaw will allow the nearly 8,300 future users of the Rose Valley plant to either pay an up-front lump sun payment of $2,815, or an additional $34 a year, on top of the $116 property owners currently pay, over the next 25 years.

Both options don't kick in until 2022.

"The city will contact future plant users with further information in 2022, before the plant goes into operation," city officials stated in a news release.

“Earlier this month council had the opportunity to see first-hand the construction progress well underway that will lead to the delivery of clean, safe and reliable drinking water in 2022,” said Mayor Gord Milsom.

“This final step was largely about how users prefer to pay for their service when the plant opens in 2022. Long-term borrowing is a proven cost-effective solution used on other large infrastructure projects and council is pleased the community continues to endorse this model.”