A proposed sewage-treatment site near Victoria General Hospital has been given a second thumbs-down by Saanich council.
Council had voted 5-4 on June 22 against sending a portion of a privately owned 30-acre Agricultural Land Reserve parcel on Watkiss Way to the Capital Regional District for consideration as a location for treatment. They followed that up Monday night with a 4-4 vote. Coun. Dean Murdock, who had previously voted against the motion, was away on Monday.
The tie means the motion to send the proposal to the CRD was defeated.
There had been a June 24 deadline for private sites in the area covered by the CRD’s Eastside Select Committee, which includes Saanich, to be vetted through municipalities prior to being forwarded to the CRD.
There was no such process for Westside Solutions, the committee looking at sewage-treatment sites in the western part of the region.
The Watkiss proposal, which looks to use about 12 acres for a treatment facility, was on the agenda again after being brought forward by Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell, who voted in June to send the proposal to the CRD.
“After an examination of the public reaction to the decision, from Saanich residents and indeed from citizens across the region, I have elected to bring this decision back to council for reconsideration,” he said Monday, reading from a memo to council.
The land is owned by Allan Vandekerkhove, which has raised questions about campaign donations made during last November’s municipal elections. Vandekerkhove donated $5,000 to the campaign of Saanich Coun. Fred Haynes, while a numbered company listing Vandekerkhove as its director gave $10,000 to Atwell’s campaign.
Haynes, who also supported sending the Watkiss proposal to the CRD, said his lawyer told him there is no conflict in the situation. Haynes said he simply feels the Watkiss proposal deserves a closer look.
“Anybody can donate,” Haynes said. “It doesn’t matter the size of the donation. The question is ‘Was that donation given or received in response to a commitment for decisions or favour?’ And so in the absence of that there is no conflict.”
Atwell responded to the conflict question in an email, pointing out no financial decisions are being made about the property.
“It is only a decision to forward or not to forward this property to the CRD for technical analysis.”
Atwell’s memo to council pointed out that the Watkiss site is close to the sewer main running down Burnside Road West from the Marigold pump station and is in the area of the recently upgraded Craigflower pump station. The memo said the site could also be used for greenhouses that would use ambient heat from the plant.
Concerns raised about the site Monday included the fact the land is in the ALR.
