Gibsons council has voted to approve a $1,050,000 contract for a new water system booster station at Parkland as part of the Town’s plan to switch Zone 3 from Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) water onto the aquifer.
CHB Services submitted the winning bid out of four. In presenting the results of the tendering process to council, director of infrastructure services Dave Newman noted that CHB, which was previously called R. Steele Mechanical, has done work for the Town in the past, including the recent retrofit of the Prowse Road sewer lift station.
Newman told council that while the booster station is only part of the infrastructure needed, “it’s a fairly significant part.”
Newman said CHB believes it can have the work completed in the spring of 2020, which fits with the Town’s goal of being able to make the switch from SCRD water by next summer. The Town will also need to modify the Reed Road water main, and Newman said staff are working on the best way to have that work done by the time the booster station is ready. Overall, he said, he’s “cautiously optimistic” about meeting the summer 2020 target.
The water for Zone 3 will be drawn from a newly-drilled well on Oceanmount Boulevard, known as Well 6. The Town is awaiting provincial certification and a licence for the new well.
Although other areas of Gibsons served by the aquifer do not require chlorination, Zone 3 will continue to get chlorinated water after the switch. In his report, Newman said the Town will still need SCRD water under certain circumstances and “Vancouver Coastal Health will not allow the dilution of the chlorine concentrations through mixing with an unchlorinated water source.”
Mayor Bill Beamish said he’s disappointed that chlorination can’t be avoided.
The total project budget is $3.3 million, which the Town is borrowing, although it hopes to cover most of the debt servicing costs through the money saved by not having to purchase water from the SCRD.