The votes have been received, and the residents have had their say. After being on a boil water advisory for over 15 years, the residents voted last night (Oct. 22) to accept the Robson/Raspberry Improvement District's (RRID) proposal for a new water water treatment plant.
"We're very happy about that," said Terry Harrison, RRID chair. "It feels really good to be able to go ahead with the project and get it done."
The vote was approximately 60% in favour of the treatment plant. The turnout was about 40% of eligible voters cast their votes.
The total cost of the project is expected to be $3.4 million. Robson/Raspberry residents will see their water bills increase from about $630 per year to $1,000 per year for a single unit.
"Nobody wants to spend that much money," said Harrison. "But it's not getting any cheaper and if we put it off any longer, it'll just get more expensive. I think people just decided, 'okay, it's time to do it. We need to get going on it and get it done and then eventually it will be paid off.'"
Depending on certain factor such as the weather, the work to complete the project should take about one year.
"The engineers will go into the detailed design which they submit to us for review. Then it goes to (Interior) Health for review, and then it goes out to tender," said Harrison. "We're hoping it will be up and running by October of 2012."