At the city council meeting of March 16/15 City Councillor Gord Fuller attended his first council meeting since his heart attack on Jan. 25. He felt the Colliery Dams issue was far too important to not participate in the recommendation before council which was to spend an 'estimated' $3 - $6 million or a high of an estimated $7.3 million on options presented by city staff.
A total of 9 delegates addressed city council and the 'common' message from everyone is that no one was convinced the Colliery dams should require the type of expenditure that was being put forward. There was also considerable scepticism expressed by the delegates as to the integrity and credibility of the staff/engineer process that has come to this conclusion.
Concern that Councillor Yoachim's motion of Feb. 2 had been ignored by city staff was also expressed by several of the delegates. One delegate bluntly asked "who is running things here, council or staff?'.
The recommendations put forward by city staff were defeated by council at which point Councillor Fuller brought a motion which was successful. The motion says (E&OE):
That staff work with the Colliery Dams Technical Committee:
1. to develop and implement a revised and comprehensive Colliery Dams Emergency Preparedness Plan that describes the actions to be taken in the event of an emergency at the Colliery Dams, and to submit the plan for acceptance by the Dam Safety Officer by March 27, 2015:
2. to develop and implement a Colliery Dams Surveillance Plan by a date to be determined in cooperation with the Dam Safety Branch that allows the City to track potential flood events and measure water flow and volume in the Colliery Dams;
3. to develop and implement a Colliery Dams Flood Routing Capacity Action Plan, including the stockpiling of necessary materials to be utilized in accordance with the Action Plan, by a date to be determined in cooperation with the Dam Safety Branch to prevent risk of overtopping of the Colliery Dams in the event of a significant flood: and,
4. to confirm with the BC Dams Safety Branch Comptroller of Water Rights that the combination of revised and comprehensive plans listed below provides an acceptable approach to issues identified in his letter of February 25, 2015:
a. Colliery Dams Emergency Preparedness Plan;
b. Colliery Dams Surveillance Plan; and,
c. Colliery Dams Flood Routing Capacity Action Plan.
5. Correspondence with the BC Dams Safety Branch Comptroller of Water Rights is forwarded to Mayor & Council prior to being sent.
Jim. You hit the nail on the head. Thank god that Gord was able to be there although we all share concerns for his health. Your comments about staff are also true. I was shocked and amazed last night to watch Swabey and Seward actively enter the debate against the city council that employs them. I for one put it on the record that their terms of employment requires a review and am sticking by that. They appear to want full control over city council and the affairs of the City of Nanaimo. At the very least they should be censured to meet their contractual obligations.................in reality, from what I have witnessed they should be dismissed.
ReplyDeleteIt is disgusting to see the city corporation bullying and trying to push its ill-informed ways on some councillors and the citizens who pay their salaries. It even looks like they are now employing police-state tactics.
ReplyDeleteLast night there were two plain-clothes RCMP officers in the audience and when the meeting started Mayor McKay read-out the riot act, a list of dos and don'ts he said MUST be adhered to for citizens and councillors alike. Why does he want to turn Nanaimo into a dictatorship like Syria or Iran? Where has "Councillor" McKay disappeared to?
It was even more disgusting to see senior city staff arguing with Coun. Kipp like they are part of the elected body sitting at the table. They are there to answer questions when spoken to by their superiors - the people we elected.
This circus side-show has gone on long enough - as the pions are trying to take over the ship. It is not the tail of the dog which should be leading our city.
Kevan Shaw