Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell鈥檚 attempt to do an end run around the appointed sewage board is puzzling and counterproductive. He should abandon his attempt and leave the issue to the experts.
Atwell met with the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association board Monday, asking to book space for a presentation in which John Knappett would be able to answer questions about his proposal to build an underground sewage-treatment plant at Clover Point.
Experts hired by the Capital Regional District have already rejected that proposal, telling the CRD board: 鈥淭here are no built examples of deep-shaft [wastewater treatment plants] at this scale.鈥�
The provincial and federal governments have ordered the CRD to stop discharging sewage into the ocean and to build a sewage-treatment system. But the project has stalled, paralyzed by intermunicipal wranglings, political indecision and widely divergent opinions on sewage treatment. At the insistence of the province, the CRD is in the process of appointing an expert panel to oversee the region鈥檚 sewage-treatment project.
That鈥檚 how it should be. The senior governments have made it clear they will not rescind the order to build the sewage system. The project needs to be removed from the political arena and handed over to the engineers and others who are qualified to plan and implement the project.
Atwell is vice-chairman of the CRD鈥檚 core-area wastewater-treatment committee, but he says he is acting on his own and isn鈥檛 doing anything wrong 鈥� he is simply trying to engage with residents and continue the discussion about sewage-treatment options.
He said some sort of treatment plant at Clover Point should be considered, and there has been 鈥渁 lot of misunderstanding鈥� about the impacts of the proposal for the site.
鈥淪o I wanted to bring some information that was just glanced at, at the CRD, into the community so we could just have a discussion about it.鈥�
It is within the right of an ordinary citizen to seek public airing of an issue, but Atwell stopped being an ordinary citizen when he took on the responsibilities as mayor of Saanich and as a member of the CRD board.
It鈥檚 obvious he鈥檚 frustrated at the dismissal of what appears to him to be a good proposal; it鈥檚 understandable that he wants to see it explored further. But he should present those concerns to the CRD board, the sewage committee or the expert panel.
It might be wishful thinking to assume the government鈥檚 plan will bring the sewage-treatment project closer to completion, but that has a better chance than trying to make engineering and siting decisions by a show of hands at town-hall meetings.
Atwell should work with the process, not against it.
