By ROY WOOD
A plan given a tentative go-ahead by Osoyoos council Thursday, will see a new sewage lift station at the corner of 89th Street and Kingfisher Drive.
The building will house an upgraded pump complex that moves screened sewage up to the treatment ponds adjacent to the Osoyoos Golf Club. The pump station to be replaced sits in Jack Shaw Gardens near the spray park.
True Consulting engineer Steve Underwood described the proposed project to Osoyoos council during a special capital budget meeting Thursday.
In order to make room for the building adjacent to Legion Beach, the intersection of 89th and Kindfisher will have to be moved slightly to the north.
Councillor Mike Campol told the meeting, “I’m having nightmares about residents pushback.”
Mayor Sue McKortoff added, “That’s a huge change to that area.”
Underwood assured council that the rollout of the project includes a community consultation process, which would likely take place this summer
He said that because of the potential impact on residents along 89th Street, plans call for a low-profile building, which will be designed to be visually appealing. He said that True has already done considerable working ensuring that sightlines toward the lake will not be significantly affected.
Underwood said the tentative schedule calls for developing detailed plans over the spring, resident consultation in the summer and the realignment of Kingfisher in the fall.
The new lift station will see an increased pumping capacity as well as a switch to a process that will see solids screened out of the raw sewage and just liquid pumped up the hill. The solids are to be collected at the site and removed about once a week by truck.
The system is designed to minimize any odour problems, he said.