The last attempt to develop a regional sewage-treatment plan collapsed when the site chosen failed to get zoning approval. This time around, the plan is threatened by too many choices.
Plans need to be firmed up soon if this project is to meet federal and provincial funding deadlines.
The Capital Regional District sewage-treatment subcommittee representing Victoria, Oak Bay and Saanich released a map Tuesday showing 40 public and private properties that have been identified as 鈥渢echnicallyfeasible.鈥�
Those properties 鈥� some of them absurd choices 鈥� include Ogden Point, Beacon Hill Park, Rock Bay, Saanich Public Works and several other parks, as well as private properties in the Gordon Head-Cadboro Bay and Tillicum south areas.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, who heads the committee, says the list will be whittled to about eight options after public discussions on May 30 and 31.
鈥淚n past iterations of this project, sites were purchased behind closed doors, then released to the public,鈥� said Helps. 鈥淪ites were chosen, then 鈥� some would argue 鈥� thrust on the public. We鈥檝e learned our lesson.鈥�
Despite the perception that the previous process lacked in public consultation, the CRD went to great lengths to stage workshops and other public-input opportunities.
In June 2009, when three locations were being considered, the CRD booked a second public meeting for Oak Bay and Saanich residents because one wouldn鈥檛 accommodate everyone who wanted to take part. Open houses the previous week in Cadboro Bay, Oak Bay and Gordon Head attracted more than 400 people.
The CRD continued to hold workshops and open houses as part of the process before and after choosing the McLoughlin Point site.
However, the surprise purchase of a Viewfield Road property for a biosolids plant was a major blunder, and the project came to a halt when Esquimalt refused to rezone the McLoughlin Point site.
And so we start again. This threatens to become Victoria鈥檚 version of Groundhog Day, the movie in which the main character keeps waking up to live the same day over and over again.
鈥淭he CRD has until June 30 to present plans for building treatment plants to the provincial government.鈥� That鈥檚 from a February 2007 sa国际传媒 article.
The same story quoted Alan Lowe, Victoria鈥檚 mayor at the time: 鈥淚 think that the committee is going to have to be strong in supporting whatever location we feel is best for this system.鈥�
It also quoted Frank Leonard, then Saanich鈥檚 mayor: 鈥淧ick a neighbourhood in any community and people are going to think of a better reason for it to be somewhere else. But you can鈥檛 have sewage treatment without sewage plants.鈥�
How will the current committee avoid a replay of the past several years? The CRD put millions of dollars and thousands of hours of technical expertise into a plan that was rejected. Can the committee come up with a better plan in a few weeks or months?
It must. Time is running out. Doing nothing isn鈥檛 an option 鈥� the federal and provincial governments will not back away from their decree that a sewage-treatment system be built.
The sewage subcommittee is to be commended for its efforts to consult and inform, but this isn鈥檛 a popularity contest. At some point 鈥� and very soon 鈥� difficult decisions will be required on what sort of facility to build and on what site or sites. No matter which site is chosen, it will be in someone鈥檚 backyard, literally or figuratively, and objections will be raised.
The committee鈥檚 task of narrowing the list of sites is an urgent one. The public should have a say on proposed sites, but presenting too many sites will only add confusion and slow the process.
