The Curtis Road Residents Association (CRRA) is requesting a bylaw amendment to add the Area B director as a voting member of the regional sewage commission. As it stands, the commission consists of three representatives each from Comox and Courtenay, and one from CFB Comox.
The Water Pollution Control Centre is located on Brent Road in Area B (Lazo North). At present, the group’s main concerns are bioreactor odour controls, and an equalization basin planned for a buffer zone between properties and the centre.
“We don’t just want the current problems resolved, we’re looking for something ongoing,” said CRRA member Jenny Steel, who has pitched the idea to the CVRD board and Comox council. “We’ve been fighting for this, against them, for a long time. We don’t understand what their beef is. It seems to be the democratic thing to do.”
One of the frustrations is that decisions concerning the neighbourhood are not known until plans are advanced.
At the last sewage commission meeting, Courtenay directors voted in favour of a non-voting seat for Area B at the table, but Comox reps voted against. CFB Comox director, Major Delta Gerard, was absent, so the motion was defeated.
“We thought it was ethically questionable on behalf of Comox,” said Steel, who feels Ken Grant and Russ Arnott moved a motion they planned to vote against. “Clearly, Courtenay was supportive of a non-voting seat.”
A non-voting seat would involve Area B in debate and plans.
“The recent odour concerns brought forward by the Curtis Road residents definitely need to be addressed,” said Grant, noting residents have been heard through direct access to staff, delegations, and at open houses. “The commission and staff are working on a solution. Their voices have been heard and continue to be heard.”
At its June 25 meeting, the CVRD board directed staff to prepare a report that responds to the CRRA’s request. The report is likely to appear at committee of the whole July 16.
“One of the things that clearly comes across to us is that a lot of people on these commissions aren’t reading the reports. They don’t know the background,” Steel said. “The discussion at the table, it’s obvious that Comox does not want us to have a seat on the commission. What we hear is that we’re already represented, that our voice is heard loud and clear. But the issue we have is that we shouldn’t, as an association, have to do this extraordinary effort that we go through in order to get our voices heard. They’re the ones getting paid to look after this, not us.”
Earlier in the year, Area B director Arzeena Hamir had requested a bylaw change that would give her position voting rights on the sewage commission. The commission referred her request for consideration as part of a Utilities Governance Study.
“The Town of Comox brought the motion to the regional district for a governance review which is where decisions of board structure should be made,” Grant said. “As board members, we get our agendas on Fridays with meetings on Tuesdays. Putting an Area B rep on the board will not help get information any faster.”
Though property owners in Lazo North do not receive sewage service, Hamir said that residents in the vicinity of the processing facility have faced persistent odour issues that have impacted their quality of life.
“In operation since 1984, the facility and its associated infrastructure has to date provided no discernible service or benefit to the taxpayers of Electoral Area B but has presented ongoing direct impacts, including environmental, social and economic,” she states in a March 15 letter to the commission.
By way of a host community impact agreement, Hamir said the Capital Regional District compensated Esquimalt residents and businesses affected by the McLoughlin Point Wastewater Treatment Plant with $17 million and an annual community impact mitigation fee.