It was no surprise that Mayor Corner employed chicanery in preventing residents from speaking about the sewer issue at the last Public Hearing. He already demonstrated how he felt about Coldstream’s OCP during the Sports Complex debacle. His vision of Coldstream’s future departs from those of the majority of residents.
He ruled out of order any reference to sewer during the hearing then had the District Engineer introduce the sewer issue, extol the advantages of “option 1" (the option to build a sewer main down Aberdeen Road) and thereby preventing any residents from registering their views and objections.
Those of you interested in Coldstream’s future should take a look at the map of Coldstream (click on the blue “map” above). At a magnification of 400-600 you can follow the proposed sewer route on Aberdeen Road from the site of the proposed development (marked 9728-9724 just below the present development). Note the 13 properties on the west side of the road (9704-9202). For 700 meters the only properties that could be sewered are on the west side. The east side is occupied by the Spicer Block of Sports Complex fame.
In all, no more than 37-38 properties could be considered available for connection. I am sure most of those property owners would disagree with the need for sewer connection. In fact, only 8 of the responding residents on Aberdeen Road favoured sewer, 16 (61%) opposed and 2 had no opinion.
The total length of the proposed sewer line is about 1.7 km. It snakes through a typical Coldstream landscape: residences interspersed with agricultural land and agricultural activities. The true rural living.
There were omissions from the engineers report.
First and foremost, having this new line constructed will put a tremendous pressure on future Councils to consider further developments. It’s the proverbial “foot-in-the-door”. I know there are people who think we need more and more development within our agricultural heartland. I am not one of them.
So far increased development never reduced my taxes and service fees. They keep going up with no appreciable improvement in service. Just consider the water situation: over 130% increase in water rates in the last six years and, except for a few homes, there is no improvement in water quality and more and more restrictions on consumption.
The report by our engineer also indicated the need for the replacement of the trunk sewer line from McClounie Drive to Alpine Centre. This line is only thirty years old. The only reason it needs to be replaced is growth. Yet the staff proposal before Council is to have those sewer customers who paid for the construction of the original line to save up in a reserve account 50% of the cost of replacing the relatively new line. There is something wrong with this kind of mentality. Perhaps the fact that the majority of staff and Council does not pay those costs is a factor in considering these proposals.
We still have not resolved the problems created by the gifting of a new sewer trunk line to Coldstream Meadows. Staff and Council is in a real conundrum over this issue and adding to this mess is totally unfair for the next and subsequent Councils. The present Council inherited the difficulties from the previous one, thus, they should understand the unfairness of passing on a new set of troubles to future Councils. The financial implications are mind boggling. They only have five months left to resolve those issues, November is election time!
Then there are the physical problems. An oversized pipeline, 1.7 km long with only a small volume of sewage flowing in it will have the same problem as the City of Vernon has in the Landing area. There is not enough sewage to facilitate adequate flows and frequent flushing with fresh (expensive) water is required to reduce odour problems. I believe this problem is also surfacing with the trunk line from Mackie Drive to McClounie Road.
Let’s not forget the cost of maintenance of these sewer lines. Regardless of how many people are connected to the line it has to be maintained. Proposal before Council requires that all properties fronting sewer lines pay for maintenance. This fee is proposed to be $320 annually and you pay it even if you are not connected. There will be some angry residents addressing Council when they realize this onerous new fee.
The parallels are interesting. Previous Council made its fateful decision to rob sewer customers of their reserves during their last meeting before the election. By the time this mess is finalized we will be on the verge of new elections. Let the new guys and gals worry about the mess left behind!
The over emphasized problem of working in another Municipality could be resolved by willing partners. The City will need to increase capacity of their line from 15th Street on in the future as they also grow. An amicable agreement could be reached with shared costs. Of course, it is a bit more work for staff but that is why they draw their comfortable wages.
As for the need for this development: if the developer believes he can make a go of it and the people generally do not object its OK. However, I have a couple of questions on the statistics.
The developer predicts 24% growth in the next 10 years. Statistics Canada reports 18% growth for Coldstream from 1991 to 2006, an annual rate of 1.2%. Closer to today, growth from 2001 to 2006 was 4%, or 0.8% annually. Can we really expect a three fold jump in growth rate in the next 10 years? What would be the consequences if that happens for service provision and costs of those services? Just some questions to think about.
The Bylaw had three readings now. Council can still stop final adoption if they receive enough opposition from residents. Don’t forget, most of them want to be reelected. However, it appears that except for Councillors Garlick and Firman, the present Council gives little consideration for the maintenance of Coldstream’s historic character.
If you are interested in upholding the OCP you should inform members of Council while you still can. Write, phone, email Council even if you disagree with me. They ought to know if there is support for their stance as well. Inform your neighbours who may not be aware of what is happening. Some of your neighbours are not aware of this blog and the information it provides. Give them a chance for voicing their opinions.
Consider this: a property valued at $450,000 pays Coldstream $715 in taxes. At the same time this property pays $568 in sewer fees regardless of the size of the family occupying the home. Do you consider this reasonable? Yet the proposals before Council will guarantee continued increases on these ridiculous rates.
He ruled out of order any reference to sewer during the hearing then had the District Engineer introduce the sewer issue, extol the advantages of “option 1" (the option to build a sewer main down Aberdeen Road) and thereby preventing any residents from registering their views and objections.
Those of you interested in Coldstream’s future should take a look at the map of Coldstream (click on the blue “map” above). At a magnification of 400-600 you can follow the proposed sewer route on Aberdeen Road from the site of the proposed development (marked 9728-9724 just below the present development). Note the 13 properties on the west side of the road (9704-9202). For 700 meters the only properties that could be sewered are on the west side. The east side is occupied by the Spicer Block of Sports Complex fame.
In all, no more than 37-38 properties could be considered available for connection. I am sure most of those property owners would disagree with the need for sewer connection. In fact, only 8 of the responding residents on Aberdeen Road favoured sewer, 16 (61%) opposed and 2 had no opinion.
The total length of the proposed sewer line is about 1.7 km. It snakes through a typical Coldstream landscape: residences interspersed with agricultural land and agricultural activities. The true rural living.
There were omissions from the engineers report.
First and foremost, having this new line constructed will put a tremendous pressure on future Councils to consider further developments. It’s the proverbial “foot-in-the-door”. I know there are people who think we need more and more development within our agricultural heartland. I am not one of them.
So far increased development never reduced my taxes and service fees. They keep going up with no appreciable improvement in service. Just consider the water situation: over 130% increase in water rates in the last six years and, except for a few homes, there is no improvement in water quality and more and more restrictions on consumption.
The report by our engineer also indicated the need for the replacement of the trunk sewer line from McClounie Drive to Alpine Centre. This line is only thirty years old. The only reason it needs to be replaced is growth. Yet the staff proposal before Council is to have those sewer customers who paid for the construction of the original line to save up in a reserve account 50% of the cost of replacing the relatively new line. There is something wrong with this kind of mentality. Perhaps the fact that the majority of staff and Council does not pay those costs is a factor in considering these proposals.
We still have not resolved the problems created by the gifting of a new sewer trunk line to Coldstream Meadows. Staff and Council is in a real conundrum over this issue and adding to this mess is totally unfair for the next and subsequent Councils. The present Council inherited the difficulties from the previous one, thus, they should understand the unfairness of passing on a new set of troubles to future Councils. The financial implications are mind boggling. They only have five months left to resolve those issues, November is election time!
Then there are the physical problems. An oversized pipeline, 1.7 km long with only a small volume of sewage flowing in it will have the same problem as the City of Vernon has in the Landing area. There is not enough sewage to facilitate adequate flows and frequent flushing with fresh (expensive) water is required to reduce odour problems. I believe this problem is also surfacing with the trunk line from Mackie Drive to McClounie Road.
Let’s not forget the cost of maintenance of these sewer lines. Regardless of how many people are connected to the line it has to be maintained. Proposal before Council requires that all properties fronting sewer lines pay for maintenance. This fee is proposed to be $320 annually and you pay it even if you are not connected. There will be some angry residents addressing Council when they realize this onerous new fee.
The parallels are interesting. Previous Council made its fateful decision to rob sewer customers of their reserves during their last meeting before the election. By the time this mess is finalized we will be on the verge of new elections. Let the new guys and gals worry about the mess left behind!
The over emphasized problem of working in another Municipality could be resolved by willing partners. The City will need to increase capacity of their line from 15th Street on in the future as they also grow. An amicable agreement could be reached with shared costs. Of course, it is a bit more work for staff but that is why they draw their comfortable wages.
As for the need for this development: if the developer believes he can make a go of it and the people generally do not object its OK. However, I have a couple of questions on the statistics.
The developer predicts 24% growth in the next 10 years. Statistics Canada reports 18% growth for Coldstream from 1991 to 2006, an annual rate of 1.2%. Closer to today, growth from 2001 to 2006 was 4%, or 0.8% annually. Can we really expect a three fold jump in growth rate in the next 10 years? What would be the consequences if that happens for service provision and costs of those services? Just some questions to think about.
The Bylaw had three readings now. Council can still stop final adoption if they receive enough opposition from residents. Don’t forget, most of them want to be reelected. However, it appears that except for Councillors Garlick and Firman, the present Council gives little consideration for the maintenance of Coldstream’s historic character.
If you are interested in upholding the OCP you should inform members of Council while you still can. Write, phone, email Council even if you disagree with me. They ought to know if there is support for their stance as well. Inform your neighbours who may not be aware of what is happening. Some of your neighbours are not aware of this blog and the information it provides. Give them a chance for voicing their opinions.
Consider this: a property valued at $450,000 pays Coldstream $715 in taxes. At the same time this property pays $568 in sewer fees regardless of the size of the family occupying the home. Do you consider this reasonable? Yet the proposals before Council will guarantee continued increases on these ridiculous rates.
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