Click here to join us on Facebook
ACTIONS:
- Deceit and Deception: The CRD Story: trailer
- NEW MASCOT - PLUNGEE!
-------------------
CRD SEWAGE NEWS
- CHEK VIDEO ABOUT SWEETNAM
- It’s folly to consider Thetis Cove for treatment site, mayor says
- Sewage project boss hired for five years at $290,000 annually
- CRD engineer says region has chosen the right sewage treatment plan
- CTV: Whistler's award winning tertiary treatment plant
- How much did the CRD pay for Viewfield or McLoughlin?
- Derman July 24 CRD Video
- Cullington July 24, 2013 CRD Video
- Denise Blackwell was on CBC
- CULLINGTON ON CBC
- BROWNOFF ABOUT VIEWFIELD LOSS
LETTERS
- Thetis Cove land zoned residential (Baird)
- CRD needs simpler approach to sewage (Carere)
- Thetis Cove not available for sewage plant (Hill)
- View Royal’s chickens coming home to roost (Pollock)
- Clover Point sewage site could be underground (Sansom)
- Many people live near Thetis Cove (Steer)
- Thetis Cove is a heavily populated area (Walshe)
- SEND IN YOUR LETTERS!
------------------------------
ACTIONS:
Deceit and Deception: The CRD Story: trailer
http://stopabadplan.ca/media/
This Sunday July 28, 2013 CFAX interview with John recounts his experiences attending the Viewfield Open Houses and challenging the CRD's biased and misleading information.
Length: 20 mins.
------------------------------
NEW MASCOT - PLUNGEE!
From the creative cartoonists at Stop A Bad Plan.
------------------------------
CRD SEWAGE NEWS
CHEK VIDEO ABOUT SWEETNAM
------------------------
See Hill letter below in Letters section.
It’s folly to consider Thetis Cove for treatment site, mayor says
Times Colonist
1 August 2013
The Town of View Royal will not allow a sewage treatment plant to be built on undeveloped waterfront property at Thetis Cove, says Mayor Graham Hill.
“Let me be clear: This land behind Admirals Walk in View Royal is not available for sewage processing nor for any other industrial use,” Hill said in a letter to the Times Colonist, approved unanimously by his town council.
The property, at the end of Hallowell Road, is zoned residential, part of View Royal’s official community plan and currently before town staff as a potential residential development, Hill wrote. “It would be folly for the Capital Regional District to purchase another site only to learn that their investment is sown on infertile ground.”
Hill presented the letter to his council on Tuesday. Councillors unanimously endorsed the position.
In an interview, the mayor said he has already heard from numerous residents near the site who are worried their property values could drop if they become neighbours to a sewage facility.
“The basis of that is our official community plan,” Hill said. “When people invest in their homes, they rely on those plans for making the largest investment they are ever going to make. There are a few hundred homes there.”
The community plan also calls for amenities, such as parks, in the residential development, he said.
The owners of Thetis Cove recently went public to say the CRD failed to give their site a fair review as part of the planned $783million sewage treatment project.
The current CRD plan calls for a sewage treatment facility at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt, with the resulting sludge pumped 18 kilometres to a biosolids facility at Hartland Landfill in Saanich.
Thetis Cove’s owners say the View Royal site is large enough to accommodate both facilities, and $2 million cheaper than the $17 million the CRD paid for property on Viewfield Road that it considered and then rejected as a possible sewage plant location.
The CRD said it examined Thetis Cove but the site wasn’t large enough, was zoned residential and was close to nearby homes.
Several politicians on the CRD sewage committee have said they want staff to give Thetis Cove another look, as part of a motion that calls for new potential sites to be identified throughout the region.
Hill said all the speculation isn’t acceptable for his residents, who have put their faith in View Royal’s plans for the site.
[GVPL Library Press Display Viewer - no URL link to story]
----------------------------
Sewage project boss hired for five years at $290,000 annually
Rob Shaw
Times Colonist
1 August 2013, page A1. (major headline)
Greater Victoria’s controversial sewage treatment project is getting a new director, with a salary so large it will likely raise eyebrows.
Albert Sweetnam was named Wednesday as the incoming sewage treatment program director by the Capital Regional District’s civilian commission of wastewater experts.
He’s a former vice-president of nuclear projects at Ontario Power Generation Inc. and a former vice-president at engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
“We were very impressed with Albert’s breadth of experience,” said Brenda Eaton, commission chairwoman. “For us, obviously a key thing is he’s good at project development and knows how to develop a project and bring it in on time and budget.”
With a budget of $783-million, the CRD sewage treatment plan is one of the largest projects in the region’s history.
Sweetnam will be in charge of signing contracts, overseeing construction and guiding the plan to completion by 2018.
He’ll earn $290,000 annually, plus benefits, on a fiveyear contract, said Eaton.
That’s more than any other civic or regional public official on Vancouver Island, and more than most deputy ministers and cabinet ministers in the B.C. government. It’s also roughly $100,000 more than Jack Hull, the retiring interim project director whom Sweetnam is replacing.
“I know this is difficult for the CRD and for CRD politicians to feel comfortable with,” said Eaton. “And I realize in our context … it does seem like a high salary. But for a project director of a project this size, if you look at what individuals earn across the country, you’ll find this is a very moderate salary for a project like this.”
The salary was set by the civilian commission, not regional politicians. Putting the commission of experts in charge of day-to-day decisions on the project was a condition of provincial and federal funding.
It’s also a big pay cut for Sweetnam, who earned $834,095, plus benefits, at his Ontario power job in 2012, according to public records.
A Toronto Star report on Sweetnam’s departure from Ontario Power Generation in March noted he left abruptly due to what a power spokesman called “a mismatch of management approach.”
The commission did not ask specifically about Sweetnam’s departure from Ontario Power Generation, but it did “extensive reference checks for people who had reported to him and worked with him,” Eaton said. “His references are incredibly strong.”
At SNC-Lavalin, Sweetnam was project director of the $5.3-billion Ambatovy nickel mine in Madagascar.
One investor in the project, Takota Asset Management Inc., has called for a potential lawsuit against SNC-Lavalin for cost overruns and delays on the project, according to a National Post report in May.
Eaton said Sweetnam was involved in “the early stages” of that mine project and “the reference checks that we got didn’t lay any negatives or blame at the feet of Albert.”
She said Sweetnam is excited to tackle his new job, and travelled to Victoria to visit various sewage sites before accepting the post. Though he lacks a background in sewage treatment, Sweetnam will have expert advisers on technical issues, Eaton said.
He starts Sept. 9.
[GVPL Library Press Display - no URL link]
Rob Shaw
Times Colonist
1 August 2013, page A1. (major headline)
Greater Victoria’s controversial sewage treatment project is getting a new director, with a salary so large it will likely raise eyebrows.
Albert Sweetnam was named Wednesday as the incoming sewage treatment program director by the Capital Regional District’s civilian commission of wastewater experts.
He’s a former vice-president of nuclear projects at Ontario Power Generation Inc. and a former vice-president at engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.
“We were very impressed with Albert’s breadth of experience,” said Brenda Eaton, commission chairwoman. “For us, obviously a key thing is he’s good at project development and knows how to develop a project and bring it in on time and budget.”
With a budget of $783-million, the CRD sewage treatment plan is one of the largest projects in the region’s history.
Sweetnam will be in charge of signing contracts, overseeing construction and guiding the plan to completion by 2018.
He’ll earn $290,000 annually, plus benefits, on a fiveyear contract, said Eaton.
That’s more than any other civic or regional public official on Vancouver Island, and more than most deputy ministers and cabinet ministers in the B.C. government. It’s also roughly $100,000 more than Jack Hull, the retiring interim project director whom Sweetnam is replacing.
“I know this is difficult for the CRD and for CRD politicians to feel comfortable with,” said Eaton. “And I realize in our context … it does seem like a high salary. But for a project director of a project this size, if you look at what individuals earn across the country, you’ll find this is a very moderate salary for a project like this.”
The salary was set by the civilian commission, not regional politicians. Putting the commission of experts in charge of day-to-day decisions on the project was a condition of provincial and federal funding.
It’s also a big pay cut for Sweetnam, who earned $834,095, plus benefits, at his Ontario power job in 2012, according to public records.
A Toronto Star report on Sweetnam’s departure from Ontario Power Generation in March noted he left abruptly due to what a power spokesman called “a mismatch of management approach.”
The commission did not ask specifically about Sweetnam’s departure from Ontario Power Generation, but it did “extensive reference checks for people who had reported to him and worked with him,” Eaton said. “His references are incredibly strong.”
At SNC-Lavalin, Sweetnam was project director of the $5.3-billion Ambatovy nickel mine in Madagascar.
One investor in the project, Takota Asset Management Inc., has called for a potential lawsuit against SNC-Lavalin for cost overruns and delays on the project, according to a National Post report in May.
Eaton said Sweetnam was involved in “the early stages” of that mine project and “the reference checks that we got didn’t lay any negatives or blame at the feet of Albert.”
She said Sweetnam is excited to tackle his new job, and travelled to Victoria to visit various sewage sites before accepting the post. Though he lacks a background in sewage treatment, Sweetnam will have expert advisers on technical issues, Eaton said.
He starts Sept. 9.
[GVPL Library Press Display - no URL link]
-----------------------------
Here it is: this morning's CFAX interview with CRD Staff on Frank Stanford's Show (9am) and my afternoon interview on CFAX with Ian Jessop (2:30pm):
Length: 22min
Length: 37min
There was plenty of time to comment on some of the statements that were made. I recommend you listen to my interview first...
-------------------------
CRD engineer says region has chosen the right sewage treatment plan
Frank Stanford
CFAX 1070
July 31, 2013 11:26
The CRD's Chief Engineer says a so-called "distributed system" model for sewage treatment, with a number of small plants rather than one large one, is do-able, but would cost significantly more money.
Jack Hull says the design being proposed for the CRD takes advantage of economies of scale. He contrasted it with the Dockside Green example that's often cited by doubters of the regional project...
“The cost per cubic metre of capacity at that plant is over 20 thousand dollars…per cubic metre. With our facility, as it is now, including the bio-solids processing, it’s about seven thousand dollars a cubic metre”
Hull is confident the current plan...for sewage treatment at McLoughlin Point, and piping the sludge to the Hartland landfill, is the best solution available, and would have been the best solution even if the Board had not refused to consider properties in the ALR.
The Board voted early in the process not to consider any sites that are within the ALR; and not to expropriate any property. Hull says that even without those stipulations no better site would have been found...
“I don’t think so. To go…the further away you go from the outfalls where they exist now at Clover and MacAuley, your costs escalate substantially. Because now you’re taking all the sewage that’s come to those locations, and if you go to agricultural land, which is further inland, you’re going higher elevation, you’re going further away from the coast; you’re looking at major pumping facilities; you’re looking at a six foot diameter pipe to take the sewage to that location, and another six foot diameter pipe to bring it back to the ocean outfalls”
Hull says the pipe that is proposed to carry sludge from McLoughlin to the Hartland landfill will be nowhere near as challenging, because unlike the main sewage pipe, it can be less than one foot in diametre.
Hull was on C-FAX1070 with Frank Stanford this morning.
----------------
CTV: Whistler's award winning tertiary treatment plant
Also interviewed are Vic Derman (Saanich Councillor and CRD Director) and Bill Brown (Director of Development Services - Township of Esquimalt) who worked at the Whistler facility.
------------------
How much did the CRD pay for Viewfield or McLoughlin?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
No one knows. The purchase hasn't been made public but the property has been included in the CRD's budget and released in a public report. The property value remains obscured from taxpayers.
Listen to CRD Director and Esquimalt Mayor ask that the public be informed about their own expenses in a more transparent manner.
----------------------
Derman July 24 CRD Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
CRD Director Vic Derman (Saanich) has repeatedly pleaded for CRD staff to investigate gasification of sewage sludge but staff are committed to inefficient anaerobic digestion.
CRD Alternate Director Paul Gerrard (Saanich) cautions the committee not to let expediency drive the project off the cliff while CRD Chair Blackwell clock watches.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
CRD Director Vic Derman (Saanich) has repeatedly pleaded for CRD staff to investigate gasification of sewage sludge but staff are committed to inefficient anaerobic digestion.
CRD Alternate Director Paul Gerrard (Saanich) cautions the committee not to let expediency drive the project off the cliff while CRD Chair Blackwell clock watches.
----------------------
Cullington July 24, 2013 CRD Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
CRD Director Judith Cullington (Colwood) is being asked to approve a motion to go forward with public consultation on Hartland but after the Viewfield fiasco she tries to convince the sewage committee that Hartland is an equally untenable option.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
CRD Director Judith Cullington (Colwood) is being asked to approve a motion to go forward with public consultation on Hartland but after the Viewfield fiasco she tries to convince the sewage committee that Hartland is an equally untenable option.
----------------------
Denise Blackwell was on CBC
Khalil Akhtar did a great job of interviewing her and coaxed out of her that she was going on yet another tour of the Washington state sewage treatment plants.
Two plants this time and while she couldn't remember the name of the second plant, she let slip that it was the CRD Sewage Commission that was going on the tour. OMG.
This commission was supposed to be a panel of industry experts tasked with procuring two treatment facilities (McLoughlin and Hartland).
Why on Earth are they going on a fact finding tour and after they let an RFP out the door on July 12? This is incredible.
------------------------
CULLINGTON ON CBC
After the July 24, 2013 CALWMC meeting, CRD Director and Colwood Councillor Judith Cullington went on CBC Radio (90.5 FM) to talk about the meeting:
---------------------
BROWNOFF ABOUT VIEWFIELD LOSS
July 4, 2013 CBC interview with a deflated Judy Brownoff talking about the Viewfield loss:
3m45s - Listen to Brownoff state that no studies were done ahead of time (before buying Viewfield for $17m) because she wanted to hear about all the issues from the public at the Open Houses.
"If we would have done more studies ahead of time, would have told me [the public] that we pre-selected Viewfield"
What utter nonsense but exactly what happened. The CRD spent $17m before it has a good reason to and should have known better. The failure of the land owner to let the CRD purchase an option should have been a red flag.
5m30s - Brownoff still doesn't get it. Viewfield is a mixed use neighbourhood with homes only 15m across the road.
Talking about the possibility of selling Viewfield she downplayed the difficulty saying, "Neighbourhood opposition is moot because it is an established industrial park".
None of this really gives much hope to anything thinking that the CRD will be able to turn itself around...
------------------------------
LETTERS
Thetis Cove land zoned residential (Baird)
TIMES COLONIST
AUGUST 3, 2013
Re: “Many people live near Thetis Cove,” July 31.
We completely agree with the points made by the writers.
We also find it quite amazing, yet very disturbing, that there may be a reconsideration of moving the sewage facility to Thetis Cove. This land is residentially zoned and was purchased for home-building purposes.
In addition, we were wondering why it seems to be impossible to find an industrial area for this sewage processor? We can think of one or two sites in the Selkirk area that seem to be logical strategic alternatives.
Finally, kudos to Mayor Graham Hill and our council for their well-thought-out statement (“Thetis Cove not available for sewage plant,” letter, Aug. 31).
Duncan and Pat Baird
View Royal
----------------------------
CRD needs simpler approach to sewage (Carere)
TIMES COLONIST
AUGUST 2, 2013
Re: “Hartland sludge site ‘insane’: politicians,” July 25.
The devil is in the details.
The Capital Regional District’s narrow focus on a centralized sewage treatment plan is why we are seeing so much resistance to this plan.
I was opposed to the Viewfield site and I have a problem with the McLoughlin site. I also fully understand the angst now being felt by those who live around Thetis Cove. But don’t assume I am opposed to sewage treatment. It’s just the type of treatment and the plan being proposed by the CRD that so many of us informed citizens are against.
The CRD should show us a smaller Dockside Green approach, with the facility buried underground, water features and trails above ground, resource-recovery benefits to the surrounding community with appropriate development integrated into the plan generating tax revenue for each host community. Then I will show you neighbourhoods welcoming sewage treatment with open arms.
The conversation needs to move away from one big centralized dinosaur that nobody wants in their backyard to a modern and visionary distributed system that is an asset to host communities.
Plain and simple.
Willy Carere
Saanich
-----------------------
Thetis Cove not available for sewage plant (Hill)
Times Colonist
1 August 2013, page A11
Re: “Why are they not coming to us?” July 26, and “Thetis Cove to get 2nd look as sewage site,” July 30.
It is not View Royal’s practice to recommend projects for other municipalities, so it struck me as unusual that Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins thinks Thetis Cove, undeveloped waterfront in the Town of View Royal, should be considered a candidate for a sewage treatment plant.
Apart from the fact that such a plant would fall at the feet of a scenic and populated neighbourhood, a project of such magnitude and impact has to be the result of planning of the highest order and not a hot potato passed from the hands of one offended community to another.
Let me be clear: This land behind Admirals Walk in View Royal is not available for sewage processing nor for any other industrial use.
Our town has gone through a process of engaging the entire community to establish an official community plan that views this enviable property as an opportunity for residential and commercial development. We look forward to this waterfront parcel becoming integrated with Portage Park through trails and water access. It is a development that will reflect the needs and values of View Royal. We established this land use in 2005 and have been committed to creating a development that complements the neighbourhood and adds value to our community.
It would be folly for the Capital Regional District to purchase another site only to learn that their investment is sown on infertile ground. A fundamental principle in local government is that of transparency and due process.
The CRD must complete its due diligence and find a site that works, including all the social, economic and environmental considerations. They must stop the “decide and defend” approach and establish a path that has regional acceptance.
Graham Hill,
mayor Town of View Royal
[GVPL Library Press Display Viewer - no URL link to story]
-------------------
View Royal’s chickens coming home to roost (Pollock)
TIMES COLONIST
AUGUST 2, 2013
Re: “Thetis Cove not available for sewage plant,” Aug. 1.
The land at Thetis Cove has much to recommend it as a potential sewage site, despite what the neighbours might think.
View Royal council must know that the province may eventually step in to force the issue. Over the past decade, View Royal has filled in many areas with dense housing requiring sewage collection and treatment. The planners knew that the ultimate destination for sewage would be well outside View Royal’s boundaries. The town’s chickens are now returning to roost.
For example, are there any plans for the collection and treatment of sewage for the newly announced Eagle Creek project near the hospital?
David Pollock
Victoria
----------------------
Clover Point sewage site could be underground (Sansom)
TIMES COLONIST
JULY 31, 2013
Re: “Clover Point could be sewage site,” letter, July 28.
The idea of cutting into the Dallas Road cliffs and corralling a portion of the shallow foreshore for the construction of a treatment plant adjacent to Clover Point was mooted some 20 years ago.
A similar facility could be built at Macaulay Point, thus eliminating the need for costly pressure mains and pumping stations and, being smaller plants, could include the treatment of biosolids. This would also be in keeping with the mayor’s idea of sharing the responsibility between municipalities.
A plant at Clover Point would be underground and not seen from Dallas Road. The area could continue to be used by those who enjoy walking and running along the waterfront.
John D. Sansom
Former Victoria city engineer, 1975-95
-----------------------
Many people live near Thetis Cove (Steer)
TIMES COLONIST
JULY 31, 2013
Re: “Thetis Cove to get 2nd look as sewage site,” July 30.
In regard to Thetis Cove, Capital Regional District spokesman Andy Orr says it is close to several homes. This is not true.
There are hundreds of residents living within a stone’s throw of this site. This is a ridiculous spot for this project, just as were the sites in Esquimalt and the Hartland area.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins should remember her opposition to the Esquimalt proposals and the fact that Esquimalt now refuses to rezone McLoughlin Point. We don’t want this here any more than any other location, especially when it is prime waterfront property, close to many residences whose quality of life and property values would be dramatically affected by such an installation, just as in Esquimalt.
Paul and Norma Steer
View Royal
-----------------------------
Thetis Cove is a heavily populated area (Walshe)
TIMES COLONIST
JULY 30, 2013
Re: “Why are they not coming to us?” July 26.
Of course the Capital Regional District overlooked the site at Thetis Cove which the Colliers International Real Estate organization is trying to promote.
It is absolutely ridiculous to consider the property as a potential sewage-plant site. The property is surrounded by six stratas densely populated by townhouses and apartment buildings.
There are hundreds of people living within a stone’s throw of the proposed site. It makes absolutely no sense to even consider this site.
Nancy Walshe
View Royal
---------------------------
SEND IN YOUR LETTERS!
------------------------------
