Lantzville water deal ---- just bad for Nanaimo??

In the Nanaimo News Bulletin (Jan. 28) Mayor de Jong is quoted as saying he is willing to renegotiate the water deal with the City of Nanaimo around the housing project. In the Nanaimo Daily News (Feb.7) he is quoted as saying he is 'amused' the water deal is taking so long.

Nothing funny about giving Nanaimo water to Lantzville

As I recall when council passed the motion to allow a very limited number of Lantzville homes to connect to Nanaimo water, Mayor Ruttan excused himself given the obvious conflict of interest he would have, since he is a Lantzville resident. That vote passed I believe 5 - 3 but once again, you have to wonder if this city council has been given the full picture and full impact of what they approved.

City Manager Ted Swabey while addressing a recent Chamber of Commerce luncheon was quoted in the Daily as saying:

"He called the city's water supply the "probably (the) No. 1 issue" facing the municipality, noting the local government will need to find new sources of drinking water after 2024 to keep up with the current pace of population growth.

If that does not happen, the city will have to begin discussions on how to limit future growth, he said, similar to municipalities like Whistler."

There may be a report coming before city council in the near future which will detail the potential Lantzville water deal Nanaimo may be entering into. If this is the sound of the door cracking open for Lantzville to renegotiate the water deal with Nanaimo to accommodate the Foothills development this issue will require a lot more due diligence than has been done so far.