Plans for a new eco-depot near Cache Creek have taken a step forward.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District and a private landowner have signed a sale agreement for a piece of property on Highway 97C, adjacent to Highway 1.

Director of environmental services Jake Devlin says the sale depends on if rezoning is approved for the property.

“We’ll probably be referring to it as Boston Flats eco-depot. This is just a proposed site at this point in time, approximately eight hectares in size. This would be to replace the temporary transfer station, located just south of Cache Creek, that was put in in 2016 as an interim measure,” Devlin says.

“That facility has got less-than-adequate road access to it, it’s fairly far up the hill. It also has limited number of services available in terms of diverting materials and recyclables and that sort of thing.”

Devlin says the TNRD is hoping to start construction this year and says the cost of the eco depot, including the land purchase, is about $1.3 million.

“It may not be complete until late this year or early next year, but there are of course, as I mentioned, a number of hurdles to clear here with regards to securing the site and then issuing a construction contract and then going ahead and building the facility.”