Without grant funding, the water separation and resurfacing work on Garnett Valley Road will be put on hold.
The project is the next phase in Summerland’s water system separation work, which is splitting the municipal water system into domestic and irrigation water streams.
The work on Garnett Valley Road and in the Jones Flat area has an estimated cost of $4 million.
Don Darling, director of works and utilities for the municipality, said a grant application last year was denied early this spring.
The municipality will apply for the funding once more this year, but without a grant, the project cannot proceed.
“If we don’t get the grant, we don’t know how long it will be before we get water separation,” he said. “If we get the funding next year, it will go ahead next year.”
The design work for the water system upgrade is already in place.
Darling said there is no timeline for the completion of the next phase of the water system separation work.
After the water line separation work is completed, the municipality will be able to get the road resurfaced.
For years, residents along Garnett Valley Road have complained about the condition of the road, which has numerous potholes and rough sections.
In July, council chose not proceed with road overlays and intermittent patching on Garnett Valley Road.
The proposal, at an estimated cost of $63,606.50, would have provided some relief for motorists on the road, but the work would then have to be torn up when the water system upgrade proceeds.
The works and utilities department identified nine capital projects for the community to undertake. The combined cost came to $1.254 million, but the municipality had $150,000 approved for sidewalks, drainage and paving upgrades for 2013.
As a result, two projects worth $59,000 were approved for this year, with the remaining money to go to next year’s projects.
Mayor Janice Perrino said funding these projects becomes difficult for the municipality.
While the total municipal budget for 2013 was $28,656,114, much of the money has been set aside earlier.
“By the time all the bills are paid, we have $675,000 left to pay for sidewalks, roads and extra projects,” she said. “That’s all we’ve got left.”