City of Powell River officials are sending out mixed messages about the liquid waste management plan and the strongly-opposed co-treatment option. On the one hand, they tell the public consultation takes time and they want to ensure the process is thorough. On the other hand, they have submitted a grant application for one option that indicates the city is prepared to start the project in April and are hoping for early approval.
It’s no wonder many residents feel co-treatment is a done deal, despite official protestations to the contrary. Staff, at the direction of council, have embarked on contradictory paths, which breeds suspicion and mistrust of the entire process.
Misleading statements in the city’s application for co-treatment funding adds to the growing suspicion that officials are on a fast-track to one option only. The city applied to the Innovations Fund, a program administered by the Union of BC Municipalities, for the total estimated costs of co-treating its sewage at Catalyst Paper Corporation’s Powell River division. The application contained what to some appeared to be shocking statements, including an assertion that co-treatment had been selected in consultation with stakeholders and that the city’s liquid waste management plan included extensive consultation with community members and other stakeholders.
In fact, officials are still developing a consultation plan. They have recently hired a professional facilitator to provide a plan that ensures the public has an opportunity to both become informed and provide input into the issue.
The purpose of revising the consultation plan was to ensure the public had an opportunity to influence the final decision. But the city’s actions cast doubt on whether any public input actually matters at this point. It appears the city is going through the motions of consulting the public because it has to, under provincial regulations.
City officials have to regain the public’s trust in order for the consultation process to have any meaning. They must convince the public co-treatment is not a done deal and that public input can actually influence the final decision.
