Snug Cove Sewer - Who pays?

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The Bowen Island Podcast

Snug Cove Sewer - Who pays?

Dec 10, 2022 · 44m 5s

In this episode, Tim Misko, Brad Hawthorn, and Nerys Poole join us to talk about Local Service Areas, the Ombudsperson investigation, and the Snug Cove sewage treatment plant.

Comments

Peter Frinton

1 year ago

One final thing- IF, as we were told, we have been exceeding the sewer operating capacity, why is it that new residences were being hooked up on the Rivendell estates extension? Why was the Bellringer apartment not only hooked up but not charged for doing so? And where went all the latecomer agreement fees for Snug Cove busineses starting with USSC on up the hill? Or were they not all paid in the first place? Some sleuthing is needed to reconstruct all fee payments since inception.

Peter Frinton

1 year ago

To simply amend the establishment bylaw would be quite inappropriate, for all the reasons given in the padcast. In addition, it would be politically unsavoury for the new Council to go along with this. However, the work on the sewer plant continues apace and it does need to be funded. My suggestion is that BIM absorb a portion of the cost on a 'special situation' basis- that it does lead to hookups for the community centre/muni. hall, the health centre, Snug Cove House, BIRCH and the rest of the Foxglove lots and the residences on Miller Road/Senior's Lane north of Bowen Court. This may displease the Urban Systems consultant, but at least the resulting sewer loading could face emprical testing, and my bet is that it would hold up to scrutiny.

Peter Frinton

1 year ago

The other issue has to be that of duelling engineers. Brad did not want to get into that in his portion of the podcast, but historic BOD overages (biochemical oxygen demand) and total flow are among the metrics used to ascertain how well a system is working. Turns out these were closely aligned with high rainfall events, pointing to storm water intrusion into our sanitary sewer at those times. IE our sewer lines are leaky, something which is not uncommon at all. Our previous engineering consultant and the past operator, Ecofluid, attested that the sewer system actually has been working very well. Past mayor Murray Skeels vehemently supports that view.

Peter Frinton

1 year ago

The 2010 Council decision to have all of Bowen pay $721,000 (1/3rd of the upgrade cost) was predicated on two things- that the municipal-owned 'community lands' be serviced by the expanded sewer capacity, AND, as Nerys pointed out, that the means to recapture some of those monies be explored. The sad reality is that neither of those happened, so the new community centre, the health centre and the other community lands do not derive the benefit that was promised. So the current rationale for burdening the entire community based on the 2010 decision collapses. Besides that, this is just 'Phase 1' ( a misnomer btw) as it is more like phase 3... To actually expand capacity to be able to service more hookups is slated to cost over $4 million more.

Peter Frinton

1 year ago

First of all- thank you Don and all three interviewees for the thoughtful and well-tempered discourse. There are a few sewer issues that have been glossed over, or simply left out as there is just so much one can digest at a sitting.

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Author	Don Shafer
Website	-
Tags	#bowenisland #bradhawthorne #britishcolumbia #bylaws #communitycharter #donshafer #neryspoole #ombudsperson #snugcove #thebowenislandpodcast #timmisko

Snug Cove Sewer - Who pays?

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