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Sewage open house leaves Esquimalt residents cold

Longtime Esquimalt resident David Scudmore was shaking his head in dismay Thursday night as he left an open house on the proposed rezoning of McLoughlin Point for a sewage-treatment megaproject.
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Jill Stainforth shows her opposition to the sewage treatment plan at a meeting Thursday at the Esquimalt Royal Canadian Legion.

Longtime Esquimalt resident David Scudmore was shaking his head in dismay Thursday night as he left an open house on the proposed rezoning of McLoughlin Point for a sewage-treatment megaproject.

The open house, hosted by the Capital Regional District, was advertised as an opportunity for Esquimalt residents to obtain information, ask questions and provide comments on the proposed rezoning.

Scudmore left disappointed having expected to see design models — something that would tell him what the sewage facility would look like and what he was spending his tax dollars on. “There’s nothing to show what it will look like,” Scudmore, 65, said. “I agree with the plant [for treatment], but I hope they’ll put it underground.”

Many other longtime residents read the information available but felt the process was, as 62-year-old resident Eleanor Calder said: “A show and tell and not a real consultation.”

Ron Merk said the plans and even the rezoning were a “foregone conclusion.”

And while he and others strongly support secondary sewage treatment for the capital region, they can’t think of a worse place than McLoughlin Point for a wastewater treatment plant, and the residential area of Viewfield Road for the biosolids facility.

“I’m not one of those ‘Stop a Bad Plan’ people. I’m just a resident of Esquimalt, and the more I read and see about this plant, the more I can’t help but think it will be a disaster for the capital region,” Merk said.

“The CRD seems completely driven on accepting this plan and going forward, despite the feedback they are getting,” Merk added.

On Wednesday, the CRD board at an in-camera meeting voted to push the project forward — due to cost and time concerns — deciding to put the proposed McLoughlin Point treatment plant out for construction bids before Esquimalt council has ruled on whether to rezone the land to allow a plant.

A staff report said federal and provincial funding for the project, budgeted at $783 million, requires work to be completed by 2018.

But by not waiting, the CRD won’t be able to include Esquimalt’s planned design guidelines for the oceanfront sewage plant, said Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins. The CRD had asked Esquimalt to draft guidelines in response to fierce community opposition to the proposal.

Deane Strongitharm of City Spaces Consulting, who was at the open house Thursday, said the concerns and input of residents were received during a design workshop in mid-April and were included in design guidelines.

Esquimalt resident Monty Locke, 54, isn’t so sure their voices have been heard. “They’re moving ahead whether we provide useable input or not,” Locke said.

ceharnett@timescolonist.com