The Village of Burns Lake has recently developed a three-year strategy which includes a possible boundaries expansion.
The document states that the objective of this strategy is for “discussion purposes only,” and does not represent commitments by the municipality until they are confirmed as publicly stated annual municipal objectives.
The area considered to be included in the village’s boundaries is located along Gowan Road, which starts at the top of Fifth Avenue and continues toward Boer Mountain.
Although the area is not densely occupied, the village says the area could be targeted for future development, which would result in an expansion of the village’s tax base.
The village’s current tax revenue ($1.54 million) covers less than half of its total annual costs ($3.6 million). The remainder of the costs is largely paid by grants ($1.1 million) and user fees ($514,000).
But apart from the benefits of increasing the village’s tax base, Burns Lake Mayor Chris Beach said council has been discussing this topic because it’s often brought up by residents living outside the municipality.
“We have identified the area surrounding Gowan Road as an area that may be feasible to bring into the village,” he said. “This would be a comprehensive process that would involve extensive consultation with the province, local First Nations and the regional district.”
“The village needs to balance the costs of expanding into a given area against the benefits of future taxation and service provision to new residents,” he continued. “For many areas, the costs of putting in water and sewer lines and taking over management of road infrastructure could greatly outweigh any future economic benefit to the village and could place a significant financial burden on the current and newly expanded tax base.”
In the past, village council has also considered expanding the village’s boundaries to include Gerow Island, which is located south of Burns Lake directly across from Radley Beach.
“We currently have a septic system and a private well, so options for getting on a municipal system would be interesting to look at,” said Gerow Island resident Carla Lewis. “I would also like garbage and recycling.”
However, Lewis says she would need more information on the pros and cons before making a decision, including the costs and how her consulting company would be affected.
Mayor Beach said that while some people are in favour of expansion and would like to have municipal water, sewer and garbage collection, others do not want to pay probable infrastructure expansion costs nor village taxes.
“People’s opinions on this seems to vary greatly from household to household, even in the same area,” said Beach.
The village’s three-year plan also identifies the opportunity of developing the lakeshore area to attract more people to the municipality, as well as increasing support for local tourism.
