Coast Mountain News Thursday, April 28, 2011
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$1.00 + HST Vol. 27 | No. 9 Thursday, April 28, 2011
Janice Kyle photo
Olympic Bronze medallist Lynn Kanuka's visit to Acwsalcta School inspired 11 year old Leland Dester to complete the 10km Bella Coola Fun Run with his family. See story on page A7.
Hagensborg Water District hopeful point of entry system will soon be a reality BY CAITLIN THOMPSON It was a full house at the Hagensborg Fire Hall last week for the Hagensborg Water District’s annual general meeting. Water users gathered to hear clarification about the District’s long term capital development plans. Over the past few months’ the public has been questioning the District’s plans for the point of entry system and the
required upgrades, costs that are expected to exceed eight million dollars. Many felt as that the District was in over their heads financially, with costs above and beyond what water users could ever hope to afford. Trustee Ken Dunsworth was quick to confirm that water users will not be expected to cover the eight million dollar bill. “We are pursuing funding for 100 percent of this project,” he said. “If we
cannot obtain this funding as an Improvement District we will have to explore other options, such as becoming part of the CCRD.” As an Improvement District, Hagensborg does not qualify for capital grants and the CCRD refused to support a joint application for the Gas Tax General Strategic Priorities Fund (GSPF) and Innovations Fund (IF). The District now says that they are being encouraged to submit the
application on their own and have been refining it to meet the April 30 deadline. “We have been working with Vancouver Coastal Health and the Ministry of Community, Sport and Culture and they have encouraged us to submit our application,” said Dunsworth. “The province appears to be open to the idea that they may have to fund these projects.” The innovative nature of the chlorine-free Hagensborg proj-
ect has raised several issues with both Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and the provincial government. While VCH remains a staunch supporter of the point of entry (POE) system, it also drew attention to a major gap in their policy. Anticipating that other areas of the province may want to follow Hagensborg’s lead, VCH decided that it was necessary to SEE FUNDING ON PAGE 4