Saturday is the day - here is my pledge!

Please make sure you get out and vote regardless of whom you support!

My pledge to you, should you decide to support me, is that I will continue my vigilant assessment of the newest Master Water Plan. That plan is currently being developed by the consultants and it is imperative that this time they have it right.

To date there were two plans. The first one, the more reasonable one, which included separation of agricultural and domestic water supplies and filtration, was discarded two years after having been approved by the electorate by way of the 2003 elections. That  plan cost a total of about $500,000, including the demonstration treatment plants on Middleton Mountain.

In 2004 the current plan was put before the electorate in a referendum. Politicians of the time strongly supported this plan as a perfect cheap alternative. They were aware, or should have been aware (I reminded them often enough) of the fact that this plan was considered and discarded by the creators of the first plan. Their objection was due to the fact that this plan would have been $49 million more costly than the one they produced. The main reason was the wasteful treatment of huge volumes of water that was used for crop irrigation. They should have been aware of the fact that peak demands could not be met by the new plant and water advisories or boil water advisories were inevitable in the future. Staff knew that and I would be surprised if they did not warn politicians of this issue.

What happens is that when the demand exceeds the capacity of the plant treated water is mixed with untreated water negating the benefit of the treatment. Although this did not happen this year the potential of this happening was so close that staff declared water advisories for much of the summer. As it happens, it was not even a hot summer.

Now that a new "Super Master Plan" is in the works I would love to be there to scrutinize of how it is developed. I would also like to continue the development of water pricing policies to ensure they are as close to fairness as possible. My presentation today at GVAC was debated and eventually tabled to the new Committee to be created after the election. I would love to defend the proposal I put forward to the Committee.

As an added benefit I would continue to see that sewer costs are kept to a minimum. No sewer extension at taxpayers expense!

So, if you consider my pledge worth while and you want to have a watch dog to ensure you get the best plan for you money I would be honored to be selected. However, if you believe others will do a better job by all means, I'll accept your verdict without a grudge. I will keep you informed either way.

 It was an honour to serve for the past three years and if you so wish it will be an honour to represent you for the next three!

 Thank you!

Gyula.

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