At the Jan. 21 committee of the whole meeting, Williams Lake city council voted to push capital water projects to 2030.
Citing economic uncertainty and a goal to cut the tax increases, council voted four to two to push an estimated $6.39 million in water projects even further out, after having already deferred the projects to 2029.
Staff had recommended council agree to the possibility of borrowing the $5.1 million in extra funds the city would need to get these projects done in order to include them in the five-year financial plan.
The community charter requires the municipality to not show a deficit in order to pass a financial plan.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said the five-year plan is only a guide and that city council will continue to seek out grants for deferred projects. He said the parcel tax increase and water rate increases passed this year, after many years of no increases, need to be incremental in order to not overburden taxpayers.
The water projects include some water infrastructure pieces which could be missed if Williams Lake sees another year of drought or a severe fire event.
"Sometimes you have to take the risk and pray," said Rathor of the risks of pushing the projects off, acknowledging deferred projects will likely cost more later.
A deep well replacement to increase redundancy for the town's water supply has been deferred again. The current cost estimate for that project is around $2 million.
A new Tower Crescent reservoir, estimated to cost $3 million, is also on the list of deferred projects. The risks to not completing the project, as listed by staff in the report, include increased costs or needing to drain and re-line the aging reservoir if the existing reservoir fails before replacement, which would cost an additional $180,000 as per an estimate.
Western Avenue fireflow upgrades estimated at $300,000 are on the deferred list as well, with the risks to not completing the project including possible cost increases and potentially insufficient fireflow in an emergency.
Hodgson Road area water mains investigation and design are also deferred to 2030. The project, to make a plan to address the main line being in a historic landslide area, which carries a risk of line failure, is currently estimated at $100,000.
In a report to council, Chief Financial Officer Vitali Kozubenko provided four options for council to consider. The report recommended authorizing borrowing the $5.1 million the city would be short in order to complete the projects and balance the budget, with no requirement for the city to borrow the funds should revenues increase or grants be found.
However, council voted four to one in favour of option one, which defers the projects further out. This does not solve the deficit, but instead pushes the items beyond the five-year financial plan for the city. In one year, when the projects are again within the five-year planning window, council will have to revisit what to do with them.
Rathor said council will continue to work on seeking out and advocating for grants.
"If things come up (the city) will do it," he said, of the risks associated with deferring the projects.
The project deferral will now be forwarded to a regular meeting for council to adopt and pass before it becomes official.
