Support for upcoming water, paving and housing projects is at the top of the District of 100 Mile House's wish list ahead of the 2025 Union of B.C. Municipalities (UCBM).
While the event is still several months away, during the June 10 District of 100 Mile House Committee of the Whole meeting, there was a discussion over meeting requests with cabinet ministers, the provincial government, staff and agencies. The first project the district wants to discuss is funding for a new water treatment plant, and Mayor Maureen Pinkney said the project will be expensive.
"I think we need to keep the pressure on them. There's one small grant that we can apply for that comes out, but that isn't going to be even close to what it's going to cost," Pinkney told council.
She added that the likely total cost of the water treatment plant will be somewhere between $20 to $30 million, which a small community like 100 Mile House "can't possibly pay for."
Coun. Dave Mingo said the mayor should talk to the Ministry of Transportation and Transit during the UBCM convention about paving some of the roads that fall under the District of 100 Mile House's jurisdiction.
"The main one I'm looking at that needs doing coming up soon, which is really a regional highway, not a district street, is Canim-Hendrix Road," Mingo stated.
Pinkney agreed, adding that there is a small portion of the road that the district has to take care of. Mingo stated that the road pavement for 100 Mile House is a huge amount of money for the district to take on.
In addition to Canim-Hendrix Lake Road, Exeter Station Road is another council would like to see repaved. It services the industrial area, which is the district's responsibility to maintain, but is also considered a provincial forestry road.
"If it's a forest industry out there, can we rattle some chains there? We get something to help us out there? And that would lighten the load on some of the other projects that we have that we need to do here for infrastructure," Mingo suggested.
Pinkney said that unfortunately, the funding 100 Mile House receives is per capita. While the community provides services for between 20,000 to 30,000 people, the number of people who live within the District of 100 Mile House itself is below 2,000. This means a smaller tax base is expected to maintain roads that people, both from the district and the broader region, use regularly.
Other plans for discussion at the UBCM conventions that the district will attempt to bring up will be seniors' housing within 100 Mile House.
Chief administrative officer Tammy Boulanger said if the district is successful in securing funding for these projects, it would reduce the "burden on the local taxpayers." The 2025 UBCM convention is set to take place between Sept. 22 and 26 in Victoria.
