A representative of Dairy Lane Strata asked Williams Lake City Council for help in covering costs to fix a water main leak, but was denied.
A water leak was discovered in June 2025 at Dairy Lane Strata Park, which will cost the small community of 47 people around $12,000 to fix. Although getting fixed this time, Shelly Shobridge, a resident of the Dairy Lane Strata, says that through their investigation, they are being told this issue can happen more times in the future.
“We’ve had one failure. Logic says we’ll probably have eight more off that line at some point in time,” Shobridge said to the Williams Lake City Council.
“We’re talking seniors that don’t have that kind of money to fix this every single time.”
The waterline goes through the Strata Park and connects to “about seven or eight houses,” according to the Shobridge. While having no issue that the Strata is responsible for the maintenance and repairs of the waterline within the Park’s zone. Shobridge pointed out that on either side of the Park, the waterline is owned by the City and services other homes and residences in those areas.
Shobridge argues that whenever the City has to do work in those other areas and shuts off the waterline, Dairy Lane Strata Park has their water shut off as well. The Strata Park is asking the City to help with the financial costs of the repairs.
Replacing the line would be even more expensive, “to a tune of” around $250,000 costed to the Strata members, according to Shobridge. The Strata’s “depreciation guy” recommended that the members will need to put aside roughly $10,000 each year on top of the fees and contingency funds the Strata already pays, to be able to afford the costs of repairs and damages that could be caused by the waterline.
“ That to me is not fair. I know many of the seniors in our park will find that very, very unfair,” Shobridge said. “There’s just this one house, and there’s no way I can get $10,000 a year out of eight houses. We’ll have seniors starving to death.”
Another issue with the water main, Shobridge explained, was that the pipe itself was larger than what is normally necessary for private residences. The pipe that was put in when the are was developped close to the 30 years ago, was a 12 inch pipe, when most property lines only require and have a four inch pipe.
Shobridge says a 12 inch pipe was decided to be used by the then City Staff and Council with the Developer, as part of a plan to develop more housing in the acreage around the area located at 2010 Third Avenue North. However, no developments have been built or planned in the area since, “it’s all sitting there as bare land.”
The City Staff, while agreeing that the Municipality owns the water main that runs through the Strata Park, pointed out that when these residences were built nearly 30 years ago in 1997, the City made an agreement with the Developpers, Westbend Holdings Ltd. that “maintenance and repair of infrastructure, e.g. internal road and underground water and sewer utilities, will be the responsibility of the property owner, or strata corporation when established.” Written by the City’s then Director of Planning and Engineering.
Current City Staff also pointed out its report that according to Section 1 of Part 7 Plumbing Requirments under the City’s Waterworks Bylaw No. 1972, 2005; “all connections to the City’s water works system ‘shall be installed and maintained by owners of the lands or by their agents at their own expenses” absolving the City to be required to repair any leaks in the waterline that services the private homes in the Strata Park.
Furthermore, City Staff argued that if Council approves providing any financial support the Strata Park would “set precedent going forward” for Council to approve repairs in other private residences and stratas that face similar situations, that “taxpayers may be responsible for.”
Shobridge also asked, if the City could not help with any financials, or repairing the watermain itself, could they make a policy that gives City Staff and Council the right to disapprove of “sweetheart deals” to developpers again.
“ 28 years ago, it seemed like a hell of an idea, but I can tell you that this has caused me five months of hell trying to deal with it,” Shobridge said.
“If you can’t do a damn thing else, could you please give the staff here at the city hall that the, the right to turn these stupid sweetheart deals down because you don’t know what’s coming down the pike 28 years, 30 years later. We’ve got 47 people that are hurting and we are gonna have to raise our Strata fee. It’s going to cost some people to be able to lose their homes because they can’t afford it.”
With no “good” options, the City Council approved City Staff’s recommendation and denied the Strata financial assistance.
Approvals:
City Council did approve funding for two needed infrastructure projects, which were “in the City’s budget and limits,” according to Mayor Surinderpal Rathor.
The first purchase involved City Staff asking City Council to waive a Purchasing Policy No. 138, which allowed Council to directly award the purchasing of a new control kiosk for the North Lakeside Lift Station to Northlands Water & Sewer Supplies.
The Lift Station, which services 22 properties to pump sewage up the hill, was installed in 1986, and the kiosk, which had only been retrofitted has “needed replacement” per the City Staff’s report, since 1997.
City Council approved the purchase of the new kiosk for the price of $89,613.96.
Council also approved the authorization of $52,000 out of the Williams Lake Regional Airport Reserves for new Airside Fuel Cabinets.
The motion was to award the tender for the supply and installation of the new fuel cabinets to Code Project Enterprise Ltd. Code Project is purchasing the new fuel cabinets for $343,873, which includes the applicable taxes. The remaining $52,000 will be covered by the Airport Reserves.
The three fuel cabinets will allow commercial jets, medivac, and wildfire aircraft to refuel more effectively and efficiently. One of the cabinets will be located at the helicopter apron for refueling of helicopters.
“We did assessments on this particular project back in 2019, and we went for grants and got approximately $233,000 from BCAAP, which is important,” said Councillor Scott Nelson. “The rest is coming from the reserves. It’s a project that is much needed in terms of continuing to upgrade our airport facilities. Specifically tied to the gas up there.”
“ In February, we did an appropriate budget, which was $50,000. When we updated our application, which was approved recently, its now at $52,000, the price has gone up from February, now there’s a lesson to be learned from the council, and the staff,” said Mayor Surinderpal Rathor. “That’s all the prices of the construction on anything going up. It’s a 75% grant, and I’m very delighted, very happy. We are getting a 25-cent tax at $2 cost to the City taxpayer, and it’s going from the airport reserve.”
The fuel cabinets that are currently being used at the Williams Lake Regional Airport, and will now soon be replaced, were purchased as used, but refurbished units, back in 1998.
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