Re: “Esquimalt doing what it’s supposed to be doing,” letter, March 8.
The letter accuses me of “taking almost an hour,” forcing Esquimalt to go to a third evening of public hearings.
On Feb. 18, I spoke to Esquimalt council concerning the rezoning of McLoughlin Point and then listened to the rest of the presentations. Many questions were asked and many inaccuracies presented, few of which were on the topic of the actual subject of the rezoning.
On Feb. 19, I signed up to speak, hoping to address these questions. At the beginning of the meeting, the mayor asked me to present and I declined, saying I would rather wait for others who had not had an opportunity to speak. The mayor insisted I go first. Following my presentation, I answered numerous questions from the mayor and council and indeed it did take up more time than was originally intended. However, it was not I who “forced a third date.”
The Capital Regional District has been working with Esquimalt to address concerns regarding the siting of the wastewater treatment plant and first submitted a rezoning application for the site in January 2013.
The CRD has since worked to address issues raised through open houses, community design workshops, presentations and several evenings of public hearings. Since 2006, there have been more than 150 public meetings and consultations on this issue.
The CRD and Seaterra program will continue to endeavour to address the township’s concerns and look forward to a successful completion of this process.
Albert Sweetnam, program director
Seaterra program
