Dear editor,
Every now and then an editorial cartoon gets it right. Under the Glacier in your March 8 Record edition is right with regard to the sewer pump station siting at either Croteau Road or Beech Street when he asks, “Why is there always only two options”?
There are options. This is simply a rush to judgment by the Town of Comox which is being the classic NIMBY (not in my back yard) by not accepting the responsibility for its own effluent.
Shamefully, the Comox sewer committee representatives, along with the Air Force base representative, voted to shift the responsibility of the military and Comox effluent to the small community of Croteau Beach.
The history of taking the cheap way by placing the sewer mains in the estuary and along the Willemar Bluff has been a disaster in the making. Will this rush to judgment benefit the citizens of the Comox Valley into the future? No. Get the sewer main out of the estuary and away from the tide, storms and sea rise.
There is at least one option that is due some consideration. Let’s work together as one. There is an opportunity for the South Sewer CVRD Project which could cost up to $70 million to join forces and dollars with Courtenay/Comox who in a few short years will have to spend $40 or more millions on sewer and plant upgrades.
It is time we quit reacting to immediate needs and start working on joining forces on future needs.
The military could come to the rescue and join with Courtenay representatives for a reconsideration of the vote and examine other options, which the Courtenay representatives were prepared to do.
The first option would be for Comox to be responsible for its own pump station.
Jim Gillis
Area B