Road & culvert work - plus related vehicles and equipment - will bear high capital costs

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Perhaps the largest individual project on the horizon is Phase 2 upgrades to the Snug Cove Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Phase 1 work on the Dorman Road site is expected to be completed this month, connecting already existing properties along with a few in progress

Any future growth in the Cove however will require the far more substantial Phase 2 work however Graham estimates this will cost around $7 million, including $500,000 for design work, $5 5 million for the actual upgrades, and another $1 million for design and replacement of the outfall An approximate 100 metre squared size of land in neighbouring Crippen Park will also need to be acquired from Metro Vancouver to make room for the work

Graham said this project could be stretched over a long period of time, even 20 years, and completed in segments such as phased design work or delaying the outfall portion

An overhaul of the public works service yard on Carter Road will be a more immediate fix, and is estimated to cost around $3.5 million. Plans haven’t been finalized yet but the proposed idea has been for a full redesign of the yard, including a new works building and garage

Given the current timeline this work would be applied to the 2024/25 budgets For this year, $160,000 will be spent to install a temporary trailer on the site – the old one has become a health hazard to municipal staff for a number of reasons – and complete environmental assessment work in hopes of lifting a provincial building ban imposed after it was discovered the site was contaminated

Work on the Multi-Use Path (MUP) will also incur higher costs as the trail runs into challenging mid-island terrain. The path has received strong grant support though, including a combined $990,000 from four grants for the next stretch from its current end-point at Artisan Lane to the nearby Charlie’s Lane The total cost of this Phase 4 is around $1.6 million.

The entire Artisan Lane to Grafton Lake portion of the MUP is estimated at $3.150 million. The cost of Grafton Lake to Harding Road construction will be borne by the development company operating in the area, and the final MUP run from Harding Road to Bowen Bay Road will cost around $5 million.

One of the larger long-term projects will be road rehabilitation. Graham says repairs and upkeep on the approximately 500,000 square metres of island roads will run around $30 million over the next three decades. He suggested a contribution of $1 million a year over that time period to keep up.

Naturally road health is closely linked to that of culverts, which is the biggest reason for road failure. Bowen’s 343 municipal culverts are in need of varying stages of repair, which Graham estimates at around $18 million. He estimated it would take about $855,000 a year for the next 20 years to cover these costs.

Specific road projects include addressing the Carter Road bridge, which was identified as an issue in 2016 and has become unsafe for large vehicles such as buses Design and replacement will cost around $850,000 More work on the storm sewer system under Bowen Island Trunk Road is also needed. Repairs were completed on the north side of the road last year following a sink hole collapse, but fixes also need to happen across the street on the south side Graham says these should happen in the next five to 10 years and will run about $800,000.

In terms of the fleet and equipment needed to perform that, and other road work, Graham says a pair of new trucks should be a priority. One of the trucks will need to be replaced this year, and staff have said the department should