Owners of condos at the King Coho development in Little River are being invited to an Aug. 24 meeting to discuss the regional district taking over their sewage treatment plant.
Right now the King Coho wastewater treatment system services three freehold strata corporations with a combined total of 37 units. It operates under a provincial waste management permit for the on-site treatment and marine discharge of wastewater.
There have been some management problems due to the complexities of a system servicing three separate stratas. In the past, disputes have ended in some legal action.
In May 2015, the regional district received a letter from one of the three strata corporations asking the district to explore the feasibility of taking over ownership, operation and management of the sewer treatment system.
Through an assortment of funds, grants and approval of 50 per cent funding by the three stratas, the regional district commissioned a condition assessment of the sewer system.
“The study found that the wastewater system at King Coho is not functioning efficiently and is out of compliance with several conditions of its operating permit,” said the report written by Darry Monteith, regional district engineering analyst.
Fixing the system will cost about $130,000, or $3,500 per condo unit.
Annual operation and maintenance costs are estimated at about $50,000 per year, or $1,334 per condo.
Regional district staff met with representatives of the two other strata corporations, and they were “generally positive” about the study and supportive of proceeding with a public meeting to gauge interest in converting to an RD service.
If strata owners want to proceed, the district can start taking steps towards the creation of a new wastewater local service area.
Staff are recommending the petition process be followed to obtain elector consent for service establishment.
Electoral Area B director Rod Nichol wondered if more units or houses could be hooked up to the King Coho system as “there are people with septic problems” in the Little River area.
The King Coho system, though, only allows for 50 units, and 37 are currently connected.
Nichol said he foresees “septage becoming a problem in that area” and wonders if and when people could hook up to servicing and the Brent Road treatment plant.
Although ultimately that area would be serviced, according to the sewer master plan finalized in 2011, that didn’t satisfy Electoral Area C director Ed Grieve.
“We’re already 10 years behind the times, and no appetite to look at the future,” he said. “I guess if we can cobble the thing together for a few more years … long-term planning seems not to be the topic of the day.”