Sylvan Lake Town Council has approved a key document paving the way for the municipality to sign on to the regional wastewater line.

(Crews at work on the wastewater transmission system connecting Lacombe, Blackfalds and Lacombe County to the regional wastewater treatment facility in Red Deer, photo courtesy of the North Red Deer Regional Wastewater Services Commission and the City of Lacombe)

They voted in favour of adopting the Sylvan Lake Regional Wastewater Commission 2018 Business Plan.

Mayor Sean McIntyre calls it a crucial juncture necessary to proceed with the project at a time when their current lagoon system no longer meets regulations.

“Currently the Town of Sylvan Lake treats the wastewater for not only for the town but the summer villages and the counties as well through a septage receiving station, now we’re at the point where we’re ready to start construction on the main line to carry the regions waste to the City of Red Deer water treatment plant and in order to do that we needed to have a business plan and have everybody headed in the same direction to make that happen”.

The plan sets out rates for the municipality and costs for the project.

McIntrye says they run self-funded utilities so the town is already paying the full cost for the treatment of wastewater, and he admits those costs continue to increase.

“Costs may increase in the future but it will be at a more sustainable rate than has been in the last couple of years, but it does represent a change and in order to deal with our wastewater responsibly, we need to pay the costs associated with that”.

The Town's portion of the project cost is about 3.5 million, with a 2019 rate of $1.62 per cubic metre of wastewater that is transferred to Red Deer through the regional transmission line, the town will also have to contribute to the annual governance and administration costs of the Sylvan Lake Regional Wastewater Commission.

McIntyre says the Wastewater Commission is currently dealing with tenders for the work, which should start this spring or summer, with a completion date in early 2019.

https://lacombeonline.com/local/higher-utility-bills-coming-in-sylvan-lake