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More properties want to hook up to Q-Cove sewer extension

The sewer project extends sewer service on Heriot Bay Road and out towards the foreshore and Pidcock Road areas of Quadra Island

The Strathcona Regional District board of directors has approved a request from another property owner who wants his two properties included in the Quadra Island sewer project.

It’s not the first time that Quadra Islanders have come forward wanting to be a part of the project since the Quathiaski Cove sewer extension was approved in a 2014 referendum.

Two properties on Pidcock Road were added to the sewer boundaries a couple of months ago.

While the most recent request was approved by the board at its March 11 meeting, there may not be enough time to include the two new additions in the first phase of the sewer project.

“Further investigation is required to determine if it can be done in the current phase of the sewer extension, or in the second phase that may be pursued in the future,” wrote Patti Wells, the regional district’s operations engineer, in a report to the board. “The current phase one is in the design stage and is expected to be tendered (this month).

“The inclusion of these two subject properties will require the amendment of existing or the creation of new establishing bylaws to determine the boundaries for the ‘inclusion-project’ and authorize capital cost expenditures.”

The sewer project, which extends sewer service on Heriot Bay Road and out towards the foreshore and Pidcock Road areas of Quadra Island, will serve 38 properties, up from the original 36, which are each expected to pay $9,100 plus an additional cost to hook their property up to the sewer line – a cost which will vary from home to home.

Wells warned, however, that the same cost may not apply to additional properties who ask to join.

“This same ceiling amount may not be possible for latecomers as the cost of extending the sewer line and potential proportional contribution from Community Works Funds from Electoral Area C still needs to be determined,” Wells wrote. “The inclusion of the two additional properties within the current phase one sewer extension project will result in the interim, financing costs between $3,000 and $5,000 and will potentially require an increase in the Community Works Fund allocated to Electoral Area C for this project.”

The board has already approved spending $392,400 from the Community Works Fund, which is made up of Gas Tax funds from the federal government, on the project.

That injection of funds lowered the original price of $16,630 that property owners were first being asked to pay.

The project originally failed after the regional district did not garner the necessary support through a petition.

But once the Community Works Funds were applied, and the price went down, Quadra Islanders changed their minds. A referendum was held last summer and 18 of the 33 affected property owners, or 55 per cent, voted in favour of moving ahead with the sewer extension.

Phase one of the project is expected to be constructed over the course of the summer.