Recently, in order to resolve certain issues that have been brought to the Board’s attention in the last year, and to deal with some concerns about treatment of properties that were added to the OID in 2011 and 2012, the Board has revised the OID assessment bylaw, which was last changed in 1984.  For most properties, the changes to the assessment bylaw, which mainly concern land exceeding 2 acres in size where there is a pre-existing, operational alternative source of water that is used for agricultural irrigation, or for domestic supply, but not both, will have no discernible effect on land classification or invoicing.  For those few properties that are affected, the new bylaw recognizes that those properties do not require OID water for both these purposes, and should be charged accordingly.

Due to the change to our assessment bylaw it is necessary for us to mail assessment notices to all property owners in the OID.  These should be sent out early next week (ideally by March 30).  Any objections to these assessments need to be sent to us either by email, by April 15, or by regular mail, postmarked by April 15.  A Court of Revision will be held after this date to resolve any such objections.

In view of the timelines associated with this assessment process, mailing of invoices will be delayed until late in April.  Because of this delay, the due date for receiving payment for invoices has been extended for this year to FRIDAY MAY 29. After this time, late interest charges will be added to all outstanding amounts owing.

Please note that water rates (tolls and/or taxes) for 2020 are unchanged from 2019 (which in turn were unchanged from 2018).

On Saturday April 11, 2020 (Easter Saturday), we will change over from well water (periodically supplemented with lake water when demand exceeds the well’s capacity) to lake water for the irrigation season.  Irrigation systems should NOT be turned on before this time.  Where residential watering of plants, shrubs, etc., is required before this date, it should be done with a hand-held hose.
The water changeover is not expected to be accompanied by any loss of water pressure or water supply.

Although we are normally required to hold our Annual General Meeting (AGM) by April 30, we have been advised by the Provincial Government that, based on the ban concerning gatherings imposed by the BC Health Officer, our AGM should be postponed until after such bans have been lifted. We will advise when the AGM is rescheduled.

Fortis has just advised that they should have power restored to our lake pump house by 4 PM today, Thursday March 12. Once that happens, the lake pumps will help replenish the reservoir and water pressure (and supply) should return to normal soon thereafter.

FortisBC has just advised that almost our entire area will be without power on Wednesday March 11, from 9 am to 1 pm. This will mean that there will be no power to our well pump or booster pumps during that time. (The lake pumps are already out of action all week – see previous post). This may affect water availability during this time, as it will not be possible to replenish the reservoir .

Please restrict your water use as much as possible for the week of March 9 to March 13, inclusive.
FortisBC has just advised us that during this week they are going to dismantle and replace the transformers and transformer structure at our lakeside pumphouse, so that there will be no power to the lake pumps during this entire period.
Currently, the lake pumps are used to top up the reservoir when the well pump can’t keep up with demand, which is now occurring more frequently as the temperatures start to rise. During this week of the power outage, this topping up will not occur. If, as a result, the water level in the reservoir drops too low, water pressure will drop, and some users may not have any water.
So please use water sparingly during this week.

Fortis BC will be turning off the power on Friday November 8 between 9 AM and 2 PM in order to do some electrical work in the area. This will affect both the well pump and booster pump, so there may be limited or no water availability during this power shut-off.

Water will be shut off to all users starting just after noon today, Thurs Oct 3, for an undetermined period, which will be kept as short as possible. It has been impossible to isolate a line with a leak in it, meaning that there is possibly another water line inadvertently connected to our system. Until the water flow is stopped, the leak cannot be repaired. Apologies for the inconvenience.

There will be a water outage for properties served by the booster pump beginning at 7:30 AM on Thursday Oct 3. The outage, which is needed to effect another pipeline repair, is expected to last up to 4 hours.

The source of the water break has been identified. Parts are needed to effect a repair, which will not be completed until next week. However, the repair will not require a further water supply disruption. Water service has been restored to all except one customer.