The old expression, B次元官网网址測ou made your bed, you have to lay in it,B次元官网网址� could be used when describing the Capital Regional DistrictB次元官网网址檚 current predicament around sewage treatment.
Unable to achieve much in the way of concrete progress since the single-plant solution for McLoughlin Point was scuttled by the Town of Esquimalt in 2014, CRD directors are now standing on the sidelines, where theyB次元官网网址檒l mostly watch the newly appointed project board roll up their sleeves and do the heavy lifting on this project.
Any final recommendation from the project board will still need the approval of the CRD board. But having had their ability to discuss this project at length taken away by the province B次元官网网址� either at the sewage committee level or the full CRD board B次元官网网址� the regional government has been effectively neutered on this project.
We worry that with a similar cast of characters on the new board, another project director due to come in and a similar set of goals and priorities laid out as were in place for the Seaterra Commission, this process looks and sounds a lot like the previous regime.
The hope is that with the province paying closer attention to the work being done by the new group that such grievous errors as trying to ram an oversized McLoughlin Point plant through at Esquimalt council, or spending $17 million on land on spec as a biosolids centre will be avoided.
View Royal Mayor David Screech rightly voiced discomfort with the fact the new board will meet behind closed doors and make only semi-regular progress reports to the CRD board. That means the public wonB次元官网网址檛 hear discussions on siting, integrated resource management, land acquisitions or other aspects of whatever plan is brought forward.
Giving local politicians less opportunities to extend this process further may prove to be a good thing. But we still expect them to hold the new boardB次元官网网址檚 feet to the fire and provide them with details relevant to local communities.
The situation requires our elected officials and ourselves to trust others. We only hope the province has our backs in this situation.
