Esquimalt council approves sewage-project rezoning

Council says township ‘taking one for the team’

With some of them saying the township was taking one for the team, Esquimalt councillors gave the green light Monday to zoning changes that will allow a regional sewage treatment plant to be built at McLoughlin Point.

“To the region and to the many communities that said no, they didn’t want to be a team player, you’re welcome. Esquimalt has class and we’ve followed this through with class,” said Coun. Meagan Brame.

“We’ve always said from the very beginning that we are not NIMBY. It’s not that we don’t want it, we just wanted a good project,” Brame said.

Brame’s comments were echoed by Mayor Barb Desjardins, who said the agreement to rezone the site “shows what kind of a community we are.” “We worked on this process to make it better for the region and we fought for a better project and we won a better project. So, as you said, the region can thank us.”

Desjardins said unlike the failed rezoning process in 2014, “this was a project that came forward with the things that we asked for last time that didn’t happen: respect collaboration, listening.”

Some, like councillors Susan Low and Lynda Hundleby, conceded they didn’t necessarily like what was being proposed but they didn’t believe they could stop it.

“I cannot stop this from happening by voting against it tonight and that really bugs me,” Low said.

Low said she had a problem using the site for something that she is not convinced is scientifically needed.

“I’m not usually a person to hold my nose and vote yes for something, but I am going to vote yes because I think that is the job I was put here to do with the options I have before me. I don’t like the options,” Low said.

Monday’s unanimous approval came following a low-key public hearing at which more than a dozen people spoke and several were in support.

While there were some opposed and others who had concerns about increased traffic and suggested changes in proposed amenities, many congratulated Esquimalt staff for negotiating a good deal for the township.

“I think they’ve done a great job on behalf of the municipality. Sure, some things may be better, but they’ve done a very good job,” said former Esquimalt councillor Terry Prentice.

Monday’s hearing was in stark contrast to 2014 when the prospect of a sewage treatment plant at McLoughlin drew more than 110 people from around the region to voice their concerns about everything from tsunami risk to plant aesthetics and inadequacy of the treatment proposed to the need for treatment at all.

After four days of hearings at the Esquimalt Recreation Centre, the council of the day unanimously rejected the plan put forward by the Capital Regional District.

That plan was for enhanced secondary treatment and the township was being offered about $13 million in amenities, including oceanfront walkways, a milliondollar bike and path system on Lyall Street, public art, bike lanes, road improvements and $55,000 a year for at least five years.

The township’s rejection — which the province subsequently refused to override — sent the CRD on a search for alternatives. But after about 18 months with the project once again stalling and time running out on hundreds of millions of federal grant dollars, the province did intercede, appointing an independent panel to take over the project on the CRD’s behalf. That panel, after reviewing all the information on hand, once again landed on a single regional treatment plant at McLoughlin as the best option.

This time, about $20 million in amenities were on the table for Esquimalt. Included in the mix are: a $55,000 annual payment to an Esquimalt reserve fund in lieu of property taxes; $7 million for waterfront parks; $5 million for community-recreation buildings and spaces; and $5 million for emergency services/public-safety facilities.

Also part of the package are an upgraded pump station at Macaulay Point, upgraded air filters for local schools, $100,000 for public art, $950,000 for improvements to Lyall Street and other local roads, and provision for traffic calming and bike-lane improvements.