SMWS Update: Potential Referendum Date

2025-08-15

The board intended to set a referendum (vote) date at this Thursday's August 21 board meeting. However, the RDOS CAO and I have two upcoming Ministry meetings regarding the SMWS, and it is worthwhile to see how those discussions unfold first.

Short-term Timeline:

• August 18 – meeting with Mr. Bedford, Executive Director, Local Government Infrastructure and Finance, Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs.

• August 21 - RDOS Board Meeting (referendum date will not be set)

• September 3 – second meeting with the Honourable Anderson, Minister of State.

• September 4 - RDOS Board Meeting

• September 10 - SMWS Community Meeting at West Bench Elementary

• September 18 - RDOS Board Meeting

  
  

The SMWS referendum involves both borrowing money and establishing a new RDOS service; therefore, the bylaw must be reviewed by the Inspector of Municipalities before the referendum can take place. Since the RDOS Board will not discuss the referendum date until at least September, and considering the time required for the province to fulfill its obligations, it is expected that the referendum will take place in early 2026.

The third community meeting will be on September 10, 2025, at West Bench Elementary.

• SMWS acquisition information will continue to be shared publicly via the RDOS Regional Connections site, RDOS information releases, and the upcoming public meeting on September 10. I will also continue to use this blog.

• The RDOS was asked by the owners of the Sage Mesa Water and Public Service Company to consider acquiring the system.

  
  

• The RDOS can only present what RDOS ownership would look like, and ratepayers decide through a referendum whether the RDOS acquisition process proceeds to the next step.

As you all know, this system has been under provincial oversight for 35 years. If you want to share your concerns, petitions, or questions with your Ministry representatives, their email addresses are listed below. For background on RDOS and Ministry conversations, see this post from a few days ago.

• Minister Randene Neill, WLRS: WLRS.Minister@gov.bc.ca

• Minister Brittny Anderson, Minister of State: MSP.Minister@gov.bc.ca

• Minister Christine Boyle, Housing in Municipal Affairs: HMA.Correspondence@gov.bc.ca

Your MLA and MP are also working hard to raise the profile of this issue.

• MLA: Amelia.Boultbee.MLA@leg.bc.ca

• MP: helena.konanz@parl.gc.ca

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email rgettens@rdos.bc.ca or call me at 250-488-0246.

Thank you,

Riley