We wanted to reach out to you to provide a quick update on the Cold Spring Creek Project. Here is the latest:

• A new grant program has been announced that would provide up to 100% funding for projects up to $10 million. Recognizing the incredible opportunity that a 100% funded project of this size could make for the community of Fairmont, the RDEK has applied.
• If we are successful in our nearly $10 million dollar grant application, we would have to meet very tight timelines and construction must be started by September 30, 2021.
• We are still waiting for additional information from the Province about the process that we need to follow. However, because of the tight timelines if we were to be successful, in order to meet regulatory requirements for a potential elector assent process, we would have to initiate the process by bringing the appropriate bylaws to the March Board Meeting.
• We will not know whether we are successful in our grant application until early April; however, will be bringing bylaws forward in March so that we do not miss out on the opportunity should we be successful.
• We know that there are lots of questions that will need to be answered and we are working very hard to answer them. There will be more information coming out in the coming weeks and months, starting with our next newsletter which we hope to have out in the next couple of weeks.

We had some requests from the community for additional information to be posted on the project page and I wanted to let you know where to find them:

• The 2020 inspection reports for Cold Spring Creek and Fairmont Creek are in the DOCUMENTS section in the “Annual Inspections” folder.
• The PowerPoint presentation delivered by Kara Zandbergen to the RDEK Board in December is in the DOCUMENTS section in the “Presentations” folder and it is posted with the notes view so you can see her speaking notes as well.

The Q&A tool is on the project page and the purpose of this tool is for questions about the project to be asked and answered so that others who may have the same questions can see the answers. To ask a question about the project or service area, the Q&A tool is on the main project page under the first section of text.

If you have comments you wish to share with the project team, you can send them to your Area Director or Kara Zandbergen. Their contact information is listed on the project page.

The project page is intended to be an information hub where you can access resources, get project updates and ask questions. It will be updated and have more information added as we get further into the process.

The project page can be found here: https://engage.rdek.bc.ca/debris

For today, we wanted to make you aware of the grant application and the rationale behind the bylaws having to come to Board.

If you have questions about the project in general, please contact Kara Zandbergen, Engineering and Water Resource Technician at 250-489-2791 or kzandbergen@rdek.bc.ca.