The Capital Regional District is backtracking on a plan to build a sewage sludge facility on Viewfield Road in Esquimalt.
CRD staff are recommending politicians vote to abandon the idea, after angry residents voiced strong opposition to the Viewfield location during recent public consultation sessions.
“I think that they heard loud and clear that this was not a good, well-thought-out idea and that they need to take it off the table,” said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins.
The public overwhelming prefers to build the sludge facility at Hartland landfill in Saanich, according to 441 online and in-person responses collected during eight open houses this month.
That led senior CRD officials to recommend to the CRD board in a staff report Friday “that the Viewfield Road site no longer be considered as an option for the Biosolids Energy Centre.”
Politicians, however, could choose to ignore the advice or pick an alternative action, such as scheduling another meeting that would allow for community delegations to present directly to the CRD.
The issue will be put to a non-weighted vote of the CRD board on Wednesday, which means several communities — such as Highlands and Metchosin — that aren’t part of the sewage project will nonetheless get to vote on the decision.
“I don’t know how the vote is going to shake out,” said Denise Blackwell, CRD sewage committee chairwoman. “It will be interesting.”
The CRD has been struggling with significant public blowback from the Viewfield proposal since it abruptly announced in late March that it had, in secret, spent $17 million to acquire the 4.2-acre Wilson Foods warehouse site as a potential location for a biosolids plant.
Esquimalt’s mayor and town council blasted the regional government for the move, saying the site is close to schools and homes, and would leave the town with both of the region’s planned sewage treatment facilities.
A treatment plant is already proposed for McLoughin Point in Esquimalt. The project, budgeted at $783-million, also requires a second facility to handle the leftover biosolid sludge, turning it into biogas and fertilizer.
There’s also a push from people who live near Hartland landfill to oppose a sludge site at that location as well, said Blackwell.
If the CRD votes to reject Viewfield, it will have to figure out what to do with the newly-purchased property.
The site, which is comprised of two properties, has a value of $12.9 million, according to B.C. Assessment records. The CRD paid $17 million, which is $4.1 million over assessed value.
“We have overpaid,” said Desjardins. “So how do we reduce the cost to the taxpayer? If we go to sell it, the CRD may lose money unless there’s somebody other than the CRD willing to overspend.”
Blackwell said the CRD hired an independent real estate consultant to buy the Viewfield site and paid the appraised commercial value, which was higher than the assessed value.
Also on Friday, the CRD’s civilian sewage commission shortlisted three companies that can bid on a tender for the McLoughlin site next month. Capital Clear, Harbour Resources Partners and PCL Partnerships are the shortlisted companies.
The civilian commission will select a company by spring 2014. The entire sewage project is expected to be completed in 2018.
