August 20, 2012


 ARESSTERS: COME TO SEWAGE MEETING 22 AUG, 9:30AM, CRD BOARD ROOM 
CLICK HERE TO SIGN OUR PETITION! 924 signers. Let's reach 1,000
CORE AREA LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETS 9:30AM, 22 AUGUST
LETTER: SEWAGE TREATMENT PROJECT WILL HIT COST OVERRUNS (ROSE)
LETTER: WHAT IS THE CONTENT OF MARINE SEWAGE? (GOUDY)
LETTER: SEWAGE REPORT WASN'T FLAWED (BARR)
- CRD HIRING THE CONSULTANTS TO ADVISE ON SEWAGE COMMISSION HIRING
- BAN ON ALL MOTOR VEHICLES IS INEVITABLE (sewage plant governance conclusion)

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ARESSTERS: COME TO SEWAGE MEETING 22 AUG, 9 or 9:15AM, CRD BOARD ROOM 

The CRD's sewage committee (CALWMC) meets this Wednesday and would be great for those who wish to observe the meeting as individuals and button-hole some CRD Directors to come a  bit early, and get up to the Board Room with about 20 minutes to spare before meeting starts at 9:30am and introduce yourself to directors as they are milling about in the room,
hovering near their chairs. 

If you wish, stay to take some notes and see how the meeting progresses through the agenda below. At a future CALWMC meeting, you may wish to take advantage of the 5 minute public presentation time available to the public, with advance notice. 

 Note that they go in camera so public portion of meeting may only be about an hour long. 

Thanks to ARESST director Bob Furber for going to 8 August CALWMC meeting and making a short presentation (see Minutes Excerpt below).

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CORE AREA LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETS 9:30AM, 22 AUGUST

AGENDA EXCERPT: 

Notice of Meeting on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 9:30 am
Board Room, 6th floor, 625 Fisgard Street

5.Six-Month Budget Summary and Approval to Establish Program Management Office
corearealiquidwastem_/2012_/
08august22_/20120822srbudgetappr/20120822srbudgetappr.pdf

6.Revised Commission Bylaw
corearealiquidwastem_/2012_/
08august22_/20120822srrevisedcom/20120822srrevisedcom.pdf

7. Craigflower Pump Station – Engineering Services
corearealiquidwastem_/2012_/
08august22_/20120822signedcraigf/20120822signedcraigf.pdf

8.Program Management Consulting Services Work Program And Fees
corearealiquidwastem_/2012_/
08august22_/20120822signedprogra/20120822signedprogra.pdf

9. New Business

10. Motion to close the meeting in accordance with the Community Charter,

corearealiquidwastem_/2012_/
index.htm

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EXCERPT FROM MINUTES FROM 8 AUGUST CALWMC MEETING:

4.Presentations/Delegations

a. Bob Furber re item 7: Mr. Furber urged the Committee to take leadership and take the time to challenge the federal regulations. He indicated that there is no mechanism to appeal the regulations, and he feels that Victoria does not require secondary treatment.

6. Six-Month Plan – Core Area Wastewater Treatment Program

MOVED by Director Herbert, SECONDED by Director Brownoff,
That the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee receive the Six-Month Plan for the Core Area Wastewater Treatment Program for information.
CARRIED
Desjardins - OPPOSED

corearealiquidwastem_/2012_/
index.htm

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ARESST: To see estimate given by a professional engineer that the total cost over 25 years could amount to $1.43 billion, click here.

LETTER: SEWAGE TREATMENT PROJECT WILL HIT COST OVERRUNS (ROSE)

Victoria News, Saanich News
August 17, 2012 

The public should be aware that the much publicized cost of $780 million for regional sewage treatment is not much more than a guestimate, plus or minus 25 per cent at best.

A 25 per cent increase in cost on this project will almost double the amount the local taxpayer has to fund.

In discussions with the CRD, it seems as if very little of the necessary detailed engineering to produce a definitive estimate appears to have been done.

There are doubts about the ability of the CRD to give “due diligence” to a project of this nature and size on behalf of the taxpayer.

Recent large municipal projects have had overruns well in excess of that 25 per cent, and there is no reason to believe that the sewage project will be any different.

Bear in mind, too, that this plant has a finite life. It is designed to last 25 years, at which point all or part of it will need to be replaced. Like your car, it wears down.

If there is a decision to go ahead, then the most reasonable and least painful way to introduce water treatment would be to phase it in over a period of 25 years with smaller modular plants at say, three year intervals, costing no more than $50 to 80 million each.

It’s still a substantial investment, but certainly a better way to control cost overruns, and which gives you the opportunity to see if and how it works.

We need to continue to ask questions of the CRD, and request a public forum with their engineering department to better understand their capabilities and how they propose to conduct this project.

Tony Rose
Saanich

opinion/letters/166437756.html

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LETTER: WHAT IS THE CONTENT OF MARINE SEWAGE? (GOUDY)
John Goudy
Times Colonist
August 17, 2012

Re: "Look to the animals for sewage solution," Aug. 12.

The writer raises a relevant question, which apparently the Capital Regional District has not addressed.

I asked the CRD staff about a year ago for an estimate of the annual amount of "natural" excrement from marine life, and was told that they do not keep that sort of information. I would expect that marine excrement to be just that - toxic-chemical-free, except for what they pick up from humans.

I wanted to know the ratio of human to marine excrement: If it is largely human and includes toxic substances, there may be an argument for this very expensive disposal plant; if it is largely marine, the argument for it is weaker.

John Goudy
Victoria

victoriatimescolonist/news/
comment/story.html?id=2e5c5c1e-4b38-4811-b379-a8c893a10ee2

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LETTER: SEWAGE REPORT WASN'T FLAWED (BARR)
Times Colonist
August 18, 2012

Re: "Move carefully on sewage plant," Aug. 15.

The editorial correctly states that the debate on sewage treatment is over. A political decision has been forced over sound, scientific objections.

However, the editorial refers to the "flawed" 2006 report. Having actually read the report several times, I disagree with the writer's interpretation. The report was not flawed - seabed contamination was minor and localized and the surface effect of rising sewage plumes also minor and also limited to certain conditions. The evidence did not justify the probable $1-billion cost of the proposed system.

Be that as it may, the decision to proceed has been made - by politicians, not experts. However, the editorial expresses concern that the project will be implemented by experts, not politicians. Perhaps the further politicians are removed from the scene, the better.

Although, on reflection, our local politicians can scarcely make things worse than the provincial and federal politicians who landed us in this cesspool to begin with.

Then again, it was a provincial politician who announced that experts, not local politicians, would implement the plan. Oh dear.-

M.R. Barr
Victoria

victoriatimescolonist/news/
comment/story.html?id=db759aa5-3ec6-47f4-ad5c-1bf4bf76970d


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CRD HIRING THE CONSULTANTS TO ADVISE ON SEWAGE COMMISSION HIRING



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ARESST: Excerpt from article below: 

Continuing the trend toward radical honesty, the CRD has announced that its controversial compliance with provincial and federal sewage treatment requirements will forge ahead with the creation of a seven-member expert steering committee. In keeping with governments’ general distaste for public involvement in the business of governance, the committee will not include any elected representatives from the capital region.

Residents worried about handing over one of the largest infrastructure projects the CRD has ever seen to an unelected body can rest easy though. According to a recent statement by CRD member Denise Blackwell, the bylaw which will give birth to the expert panel will also include “explicit language to ensure financial accountability.” Not to worry, government bodies always follow their own rules.

Normally, I would decry the tendency of the political class to dress their otherwise obvious bias and callousness up as somehow serving the best interest of the public. While neither of these events is surprising, we have to wonder if the powers that be in The Capital aren’t getting a bit too comfortable out in the open. 
BAN ON ALL MOTOR VEHICLES IS INEVITABLE (sewage plant conclusion)

Simon Nattrass
Monday Magazine
August 17, 2012 

Most weeks, my job is to sift through headlines and press releases in order to snatch a grain of truth from the heaps of pointless information flowing through media and political circles here in the City of Gardens. This week, it looks like the pols responsible for dressing up the facts have decided to make my job a little easier.

Presumably trying to defend The Capital’s No Fun City title against long-time rival Vancouver, the VicPD recently issued a press release declaring “downtown sidewalks no place for skateboards, bikes,” and announcing a crackdown on anyone foolish enough to use alternative transport in the city’s core. The release goes on to explain that “the enforcement campaign comes in response to an elderly tourist couple being injured by a skateboarder on the sidewalk in early July,” proving once again that the tourist is king in our sleepy little town.

This announcement surely heralds another which will be of greater concern to the broader public. Victoria Police responded to 715 motor vehicle collisions in 2007, 368 of which resulted in injury. If a single collision between a skateboarder and a tourist is enough to outlaw human-powered transport entirely, residents should expect VicPD to issue a ban on motor vehicles any day now.

Continuing the trend toward radical honesty, the CRD has announced that its controversial compliance with provincial and federal sewage treatment requirements will forge ahead with the creation of a seven-member expert steering committee. In keeping with governments’ general distaste for public involvement in the business of governance, the committee will not include any elected representatives from the capital region.

Residents worried about handing over one of the largest infrastructure projects the CRD has ever seen to an unelected body can rest easy though. According to a recent statement by CRD member Denise Blackwell, the bylaw which will give birth to the expert panel will also include “explicit language to ensure financial accountability.” Not to worry, government bodies always follow their own rules.

Normally, I would decry the tendency of the political class to dress their otherwise obvious bias and callousness up as somehow serving the best interest of the public. While neither of these events is surprising, we have to wonder if the powers that be in The Capital aren’t getting a bit too comfortable out in the open. 

opinion/166466766.html

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