By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle

Funding of a key rehabilitation project for irrigation pumping in Oliver got attention from Council, and resulted in a larger discussion about how to budget for similar projects moving forward.

The Rockcliffe irrigation pump station is in need of upgrades to ensure its reliability and state of good repair. Built in 1975, the Rockcliffe pump house is the biggest one in Oliver, pushing 34,069 litres per minute and servicing many of the local properties that are at higher elevations.

Electrical work, along with upgrading pump controls for better efficiency, are among the main components that need to be refurbished.

At the May 19 Committee of the Whole meeting, John Kurvink, the Town’s Chief Financial Officer, proposed initiating a process for borrowing funds from the Municipal Finance Authority, doing so so that the profile could then be forwarded to the RDOS for further consideration.

The Town would be able to receive up to $100,000 through this loan, at a 4.88 per cent interest rate, with the repayment period forecast to be 25 years in length.

Kurvink explained that, as with any matter going through the Municipal Finance Authority, there is a process associated with borrowing funds, and those funds would not actually show up right away.

“The borrowing wouldn’t actually take place until around October, and we wouldn’t see the funds until probably the end of the year,” Kurvink said.

The prospect of financing the project through loans, rather than through a reserve or municipal fund, gave pause to multiple Councillors. The primary voice of concern was Water Councillor Rick Machial, who was the first to ask about the balances of those municipal funds.

“Just wondering why we wouldn’t use some of that, instead of borrowing,” Machial said in reference to the Water Capital Reserve Fund.

Kurvink pointed out that money in the Fund was already allocated to other projects this year.

“The Water reserve will be drained with the capital projects this year, and then it’ll be replenished by net income.”

The BC Growing Communities Fund was brought up, first by Councillor Aimee Grice and then by Machial, as a potential option. However, Kurvink explained that funding the Rockcliffe rehabilitation project would not be a permitted use of dollars in that fund.

Machial suggested that that fund could cover other water projects in Oliver, to free up the necessary loan-free financial backing for the Rockcliffe project.

“We’ve had these discussions in the past, where it can be used to cover other water infrastructure within the Town.”

Councillor David Mattes was also on board with trying to find a way to cover the project cost through municipal funds, even going so far as to make a separate motion later on from the one initiating the loan approval process.

“Would it be possible, as another alternative, to redirect funds from that (Growing Communities Fund), towards a domestic project in town, and then take the funds that were earmarked for that (project), and spend it on the agriculture?” Mattes asked. “You’re shuffling the money around, but is that another option for funding this without borrowing?”

What would get the main goal of initiating the loan process to the finish line was Grice confirming that, even if Council went through with that process, they would not be obligated to borrow the full $100,000 amount.

“It’s ‘borrowed up to’; it’s the top limit,” Kurvink said. “You don’t necessarily have to borrow, when it comes time to do the draw, you don’t have to pull all the funds; that’s just a communication back and forth with MFA as we get closer to the (loan) date.”

Both the motion to initiate the loan approval process, along with Mattes’s motion directing staff to seek out other methods of funding the Rockcliffe project, were approved unanimously by Council.