With the for a potential B次元官网网址榳estside solutionB次元官网网址 to sewage treatment, weB次元官网网址檝e seemingly come back to where we climbed onto this carousel.
As a whole, the region is more than $50 million into this process now and weB次元官网网址檙e still at the B次元官网网址渓etB次元官网网址檚 explore optionsB次元官网网址 phase, which to many seems to be square one.
While those people are correct B次元官网网址 B次元官网网址渓etB次元官网网址檚 explore options and consult with the publicB次元官网网址 should have been the first phase of this process B次元官网网址 the Gazette is taking an B次元官网网址渁t least we got to square one eventuallyB次元官网网址 attitude about this whole thing.
Mistakes were made last time around, thereB次元官网网址檚 no arguing that. There should have been much more consultation with the public, and engagement within and between affected municipalities to determine whatB次元官网网址檚 best for the region in terms of sewage treatment, as there should be in all projects impacting the region as a whole.
Esquimalt did us all a huge service in shutting down the plans made in the initial try. As the Capital Regional District moves forward on separating plans for sewage treatment into two more manageable halves, the CRD knows it has to talk B次元官网网址榳ithB次元官网网址 us rather than B次元官网网址榓tB次元官网网址 us, and we have the chance to educate ourselves better and have more say in whatB次元官网网址檚 being done.
After all, weB次元官网网址檙e committing hundreds of millions B次元官网网址 if not billions B次元官网网址 of public dollars to this project. Its fiscal and environmental impacts will reach far into the future for our region, both for the west and east sides. ItB次元官网网址檚 not something we should have forced upon us, but something we should accomplish together.
Now itB次元官网网址檚 up to us. We need to examine the possibilities, become educated about the issues and take responsibility in addressing them.
Once Westside Solutions and its consultants come back to us with proposals based on what open house visitors told them during phase 1 of the reborn project B次元官网网址 we need to consider them critically and continue (or begin, if youB次元官网网址檇 rather) to move forward.
Sure, it would be nice if the people responsible for the debacle that was the first kick at this would stand up and admit they got it wrong, but whatB次元官网网址檚 most important now, in our view, is that theyB次元官网网址檙e finally doing it right.