In preparation for January’s Round 2 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) 2025 budget debates, elected officials are to review reports on a potential construction phase for the Langdale Well Field and for planning to expand transit and fleet facilities. Those documents are included on the agenda for the Dec. 12 committee of the whole meeting.
Savings possible on making new Langdale well water safe to drink
To enrich the Chapman water system with flows from two primary-sized production wells (with a third as a backup) adjacent to the Langdale ferry terminal, staff recommended an option that would require the board-approved spending $17.1 million. That would cover design, engineering, property acquisition, administration, and building a new pump station, reservoir and raw and potable water mains. A 30 per cent cost contingency is included.
That proposal is over $5 million lower than one presented last January. When the board declined moving forward with a $22.75 million project that included a treatment plant at the site, staff “initiated a Cost Risk Assessment and Value Engineering analysis of several alternatives to evaluate the cost/benefit design alternatives” according to an agenda report. That analysis found options for blending Langdale and Church Road water, rather than adding a treatment plant, so the added water meets Canadian Drinking Water Quality standards for iron and manganese.
Two alternatives for where to join the water sources were identified. In their report, staff supported a North and Chamberlin Road watermain alignment as it “has a lower complexity and permitting risks” compared to another viable option, along the Langdale bypass (estimated to cost $18.7 million).
A project name change to Ch́’ḵw’elhp Well Field, is recommended by staff, following discussions with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and shíshálh Nations. The report outlined that First Nations engagement on the proposed well field development has “been positive with the only remaining concern being the waste stream produced by treatment if the SCRD was to proceed with that (not recommended) option."
Also still required are a water licence, approval from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, an agreement with BC Ferries, as well as permitting from Vancouver Coastal Health.
If the board includes the project in the 2025 budget, staff anticipate the earliest start of well field construction in mid-2026 and with commissioning in 2028.
Finding more room for buses and vehicles
Staff are recommending the board approve a start to planning for a new transit/SCRD fleet facility at a site separate from the existing one on West Sechelt’s Mason Road next year. With new buses, including electric powered ones coming, planning for an offsite satellite parking site needs also to begin in 2025 according to a report on the committee agenda.
While no dollar values for the proposed work in 2025 were included in the report, that document includes as estimate that once decisions on what, where and how to build are made, a suitable new facility for the region’s rolling stock could cost “up to $55 million, not including land acquisition costs."
The report outlined that the Mason Road yard is “at an important crossroads. To support growth, climate stewardship, operational efficiencies and transit expansion, short and long-term plans need to be developed and progressed."
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