Is City Hall Serious??
The friends of the Colliery Park Lakes Dams appeared again before city council to express their concern for the process of reviewing alternatives to the removal of the dams.
Councilor McKay and others expressed their opinion that in voting for this review last December he thought he was voting for some action to be taken on considering the options, rather than funding yet another study of the matter.
This is an excellent point and makes one wonder if the city staff have any real intention of entertaining the proposals put forth by Mr. Gale, an engineer associated with the group wanting to see the lakes retained in Colliery Park.
It still appears that some on council simply don't understand what was put forward by Mr. Gale last December as regards the options that would satisfy the Dam Safety Branch while allowing for the retention of the lakes in the park.
City Hall Wasting Another $60,000 On A Needless Study?
If there was any genuine desire on the part of city hall to seriously investigate the options put forth by the friends of Colliery they would simply invite Mr. Gale to discuss with them the options which he sees as viable alternatives. This he offered to do without charge, and had they taken him up on that offer the taxpayers would arguably not be spending another $60,000 on another untendered engineers study.
Does Council 'Get It?'
It was apparent at the December meeting where Mr. Gale presented options to dam removal, that councilors Brennan, Greves and Anderson simply did not get the concept and it appears they still find it a mystery. What is a little concerning is the fact that city council as a group does not seem interested enough in the options as to actually invite this group to present their options directly to them.
As usual they seem content to take all their direction from city staff, and are not willing to take the time to consider the evidence as put forth by the friends of Colliery Dam. For example, the meeting last Dec. with city staff, dam safety and the engineering firm who studied the dams, city council was discouraged from attending. Why?
Will Council Listen?? Or Just Waste Money on Studies?
If history is a judge, council as a whole, will agree to yet more studies and base their decisions strictly on what staff tells them to do. Which is exactly why I wonder sometimes what is the point of paying for a council when the real policy decisions are made by city staff.
City staff had decided back in 2010 that removal of the dams was the preferred course of action, and never so much as asked city council if they should investigate retaining the dams given the political nature of such a decision.
It would seem they are unwilling to make a genuine attempt to understand the options being put forth by the friends of Colliery dam and council is content to once again go along for the ride.
If the friends of Colliery Dam want their options to be really considered they need to sit down with city council and present their options to them, as clearly city staff have no interest in seriously looking into the options to dam removal.
great blog jim. i believe they are using this study tactic as a stalling device to avoid the confrontation with the public until the deed is done. the cost of the studies is going staight from the tax payers pocket into Klohn Crippen Burger's bank account. The number of untendered, uncontested contracts they have been given in the past few months is incredible, could someone have an interest in this company or is this company just that good, i don't think so, i met one of their engineers at communitity meeting put on by the city, regarding the destruction of the dams, of course he was spouting the city spin, i listen politely to nonsense, having been born and raise only a block away from the dams, on Hillcrest avenue, and spending my entire young life exploring the dams and associated property, i knew of what i spoke, he didn't. here before me was a man who was trying to justify the destruction of one the most important aspect of my young life with his lies. As i listened to him i detected an accent, so, my first question was, where did you come from, his answer--Nanaimo. i asked, how did you get your accent, sheepishly he admitted, i'm from Ireland. so now i have a man, an admitted outsider, not only from a different town, not only a different province, but from a different country telling me why i should accept the destruction of the dams.
ReplyDeletethank you jim, this is a continuation of my previous commemt. So now i have before me an outsider, a proven lier, knows nothing of what he spoke, i tore him to shreds with my questioning, how dare he have such gaul, how dare he have so much disreguard for something so important to so many people, in my books, Klohn Crippen Burger have no credibility, their studies, their reports, are nothing more than fabrications designed to support the position of the person who contracted the work, at $65,000.00 a pop, i'd say anything too. there were two other presenters at that so called community meeting, those two are another story, for another time, one thing i'll say is, they two felt the sting of my wrath and contempt before i left, which they so royally deserved.
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