Annual Reports 2016 | Page 46

2016 Achievements Infrastructure Services New Playground at Pioneer Park Pioneer Park in Oyama got a facelift and new playground funded by a $35,000 provincial grant. Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick joined Mayor James Baker and Lake Country Council members, staff and community members to celebrate the completion of the park upgrades July 12 th , 2016. “The Infrastructure Services staff worked together to deliver an outstanding playground for families in Oyama,” said Mayor James Baker. “The location at the south end of Kalamalka Lake is beautiful and now the park is more animated for use by families with young children.” Universal Water Metering Universal metering was approved by Council as part of the Water Master Plan in 2012 after an extensive public consultation process. In 2014 the first phase of water meter installations occurred in the Oyama area, focusing on irrigation connections. In 2015-2016 the second phase was focused on installing water meters on all residential services connected to the Lake Country water system. It also included upgrading the existing meters to make them compatible with the District’s new reading system, and completing irrigation installations. Council approved $1.5 million dollars for this phase, funded from within the existing general water revenues and revenues generated from the Eldorado micro-hydro generation facility. The benefits of water metering are numerous:     Metering has been shown to reduce consumption by 15% to 30%; Those that use less and conserve water will pay less, compared to those that don’t; When a community uses less water, future water infrastructure upgrades can be reduced and deferred, saving rate payers money in the long term; and With better information, the District can more quickly identify and control leaks. Newly-metered customers will be charged based on their consumption in 2017 after the 2016 one year ‘mock billing’ cycle. Water rate increases identified through the Water Master Plan are to be fully implemented by 2017 – after which rates are expected to remain stable. Initiatives, such as universal metering, detailed in the Water Master Plan will ensure Lake Country’s water system can support our growing community and is resilient to future climate and regulatory changes. 2016 Annual Report 46 | P a g e