Council seeks infrastructure upgrades as Revelstoke systems strain with age, development

Development activity is increasing in Revelstoke and, if our upward trajectory continues, upgrades to our community infrastructure will be needed to deal with capacity issues.

At the Revelstoke City Council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8, a plan to apply for a grant to replace the Front and Wales Streets lift station, which moves the flow of sewage from Lower Town to the treatment plant, was approved.

The project cost is estimated at $785,000 to replace the lift station’s aging equipment and improve capacity. Another grant will apply for a replacement of the Illecillewaet Waterline for $733,000. The city hopes the provincial and federal governments will pony up 83 per cent of these project costs (read the report here).

The Revelstoke Sewage Treatment Plant is located between the Southside neighbourhood and the city;s industrial park. Image: Google Maps

The waterline project is to rebury a water pipe that crosses under the Illecillewaet River and serves Arrow Heights. In 2013, city staff discovered the pipe had been exposed by erosion.

There is a future need to upgrade Revelstoke’s overall sewage treatment plant and, when the time comes, it will be expensive. The city is expected to begin the process with a sewage master plan next year.

“It certainly is a concern with a growing community, you want to make sure you have the appropriate capacity with the water and sewer, and that is part of why we’re doing the sewer master plan,” City of Revelstoke’s director of engineering and development services Mike Thomas said.

“I think we can say that we will need to upgrade the sewer treatment plant to handle all of the proposed development, whether that is up at the resort (Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s development potential is over 10,000 bed units) or Nichol Road (the proposed Mackenzie Village development will have about 1,100 units) there will need to be upgrades.

“Part of the process is understanding who is going to pay for those upgrades, [and] how we’re going to get that money.”

The sewer upgrade will likely cost millions. Thomas said the upgrade will likely be a conversion from an aerated lagoon to a mechanical system. He believes the existing system was built around 1974 and has had a number of upgrades since then.

“It’s awesome to see this growth in the community, and we just want to make sure we have the infrastructure to support it,” Thomas said. ” I think there is a real balance to providing it upfront and potentially having to wait for the development to come.”

Along with the sewer master agreement, the city also plans to review the Development Cost Charges bylaw in the next few years, which looks at how much developers pay to offset infrastructure costs.

Thomas said the sewer treatment plant is more of a priority than water, with our water treatment plant still having good capacity.

Revelstoke City Council also looked at the Big Eddy water system upgrade project at the council meeting. They approved a recommendation to not go to a tender process and award the project contract to MMM Group, who have the initial complex knowledge of the system needed for the project (read the report).

The project is expected to cost around $6 million and work is likely to begin in early 2017. It could take about five years but Thomas believes it is feasible to be done in three.