A group of people with good business sense gathered in a meeting room at Royal Colwood Golf Club this week to hear an overview on the Capital Regional DistrictB次元官网网址檚 sewage treatment project.

This endeavour has been the subject of much derision, head-scratching and frustration over the years, as the CRD, and its member municipalities that donB次元官网网址檛 already treat their sewage, work to find a solution that will satisfy provincial and federal regulations.

Making direct and specific presentations to the business community is a step that, according to Westside Solutions co-chairs Carol Hamilton and Barb Desjardins, hasnB次元官网网址檛 been done enough during the whole process.

So, it wasnB次元官网网址檛 all that surprising to hear West Shore Chamber of Commerce president Doug Kobayashi, one of the friendlier people one could find in our area, use the term B次元官网网址渙utragedB次元官网网址� when he and others in the room were asked for their comments on the state of the project or the details therein.

Consultants Urban Systems, hired to do the feasibility and costing analysis for the project, and Carrollo Associates, an engineering firm specializing in water and wastewater planning have been busy working on providing what the CRD has asked them for. Unfortunately, that hasnB次元官网网址檛 necessarily involved seeking out advice from the private sector on how to do a public-sector project like this one.

Urban SystemsB次元官网网址� Chris Town, who gave the technical presentation Tuesday, admitted afterward there are an B次元官网网址渋nfiniteB次元官网网址� number of ways to achieve the level of sewage treatment required under the provincial and federal guidelines. And he seemed open to some of the new ideas tossed out by local business people.

Many of the politicians making the ultimate decision on how to spend taxpayersB次元官网网址� money on treatment are not businesspeople. While many in that category are accustomed to asking for advice from people who are in business or management, it would have made sense for the CRD to seek out such people at the start of this second go-round at solving the sewage treatment puzzle.