As you hopefully know, the Sage Mesa water system, which services Sage Mesa, Westwood Properties, and Husula Highlands, is privately owned.  There has been talk for years about transferring ownership to a local government (e.g., the RDOS).  The primary reason for this discussion is that only local governments are eligible for infrastructure grants from the federal/provincial governments.  In addition, local governments can borrow on favorable terms through the Municipal Finance Authority.  Access to grants and long term debt funding are clearly important for aging water systems in need of major upgrades.

Two things need to happen for this transfer of ownership to the RDOS to occur:

Recall that we have been piloting solar bollards on the dark bits of the West Bench walking path.  Although the lights are a bit underwhelming in the winter, their performance is much better in the summer (which is when most people use the path).  Part of the issue is that the lights have powersaving technology to avoid running the battery to zero before dawn. They switch to 30% output 5 hours after dusk, which is one of the reasons the lights are so dim on winter nights (dusk + 5 hours is still before my bedtime in December and January).

Did you know people on the West Bench are doing activities in West Bench Elementary School? Yoga, painting classes, and more?

The the constantly evolving RDOS PLAY Rec Guide for more information on programming throughout the region.