To make way for the auxiliary spillway at Colliery Dams a wide swath of trees had to be felled. The above picture was taken on Sept. 19/15 and only shows one woodpile.
I have no idea how many board feet of timber would come out of these trees but have spoken with some who suggest it could easily be $100,000 worth and perhaps considerably more.
I have asked the city manager for the volume of timber and what it's market value is, and as yet have not had a reply. From comments made at the last COW meeting it sounds as if the city manager took it upon himself to give this timber to SFN for firewood and ceremonial use. He said he had no direction from council and said it was a no-brainer to give it to SFN.
I will be interested to know by what authority the city manager can dispose of city assets without the approval of council.
Added Oct.4/15
Mayor McKay has taken exception to my reference to the value of the trees. He has challenged the validity of my statement that someone (not unfamiliar with the business) thought the timber might be worth $100,000. Of course it has been impossible for an independent scaler to evaluate this timber as access to the area has been restricted and it appears the timber is all being processed on site.
In my opinion, it is not the value of the timber that is the issue, it is the fact the city manager, seemingly with the blessing of the Mayor took it upon himself to dispose of this asset without the consent of council. That question itself should require some serious legal scrutiny as there are far reaching implications if the city manager can dispose of a city asset without the consent of council.
Here are a couple of other pictures which show more than the one pile. These pictures were taken on Sept. 19 and I was not back after that, so I do not know if any more trees were actually cut down.
There are felled trees on both the right and left extreme of this picture
And will the city manager take it upon himself to give away the old garbage trucks to his friends? According to Facebook ' A Bitter Nanaimo' group the mayor says it was all Swabey's decision to take city assets and give them away!
ReplyDeleteHey Teddy, can you give me a new pickup truck?
In all fairness to the city manager - If council does not make a motion (and you cannot micro-manage everything....where have I heard that before?) the manager does need to take it upon himself, or who will?
ReplyDeleteMore motions from council and follow-throughs to make sure they happen!
Kev
I think the biggest disappointment was that there were NOT the anticipated changes that so many believed they were voting to support...the NEW Council does not work......YET????
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is right, you cannot blame Staff for doing their jobs, when the Council does NOT know how to govern. Staff has the legal responsibility to operate the City. Council needs to get their %#@$ together! More than anything else they need to fulfill their obligation to be informed and to attend ALL the committee meetings they have agreed to chair or participate in...in essence they are acting on YOUR behalf so they need to understand and make clear decisions so that Staff doesn't have to. In most businesses, the role of an employee is clearly defined.........but if there is a question they would go to their department head for clarification. This is the gap that Nanaimo is in the midst of presently....this is why The City Manager has to do what he believes to be the expected course of action, because there has been NO direction. He IS the Manager, Council is like the Board of Directors. I told you all about the email I got from the Mayor on the 15th of September - this was after I sent the following email individually to each person on council -
Dear Bill,
Is there any way you could ameliorate the angst of those who didn’t want those trees removed in the park?
My suggestion is that they be donated for carving, I know when Mike Patton was head of Parks and that sort of stuff, the wood was usually not destroyed....it would be a huge opportunity to do something good with the trees.
It could lead to a Totem village somewhere in Town, right now the while issue is souring people against Council, I see this as a way of making Lemonade. You aren’t to blame for the issue, but the solution to the question is not popular and this Council is getting slammed for Provincial decision.
It could be so positive.
--------Council should have taken ownership at that time!! But they did nothing! They (by implication) left that up to Staff.......so I think everyone should stop blaming staff.