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Gibsons election will be fought over George

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If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind, the George debate will not be settled in any way, shape, form or character before next month’s election.

In fact, Tuesday’s council meeting in the Legion might well be the last “George” meeting of this term. As Mayor Wayne Rowe said about the still pending consultants’ report on aquifer impact, “I’m not sure we’ll even see it before the election.”

The report, it turns out, was held up because drilling has to be done on the two Gower Point Road parcels the developer purchased last year but didn’t take possession of until this month. Chalk one up in the delay category for the anti-George camp.

Assuming the report concludes the project could go ahead without damaging Gibsons’ prize-winning aquifer, then the foreplay is over and the application process can really start. Rowe called it “the beginning stages of a lot of negotiations,” and he said, “What we have to get past first of all is whether or not this in general terms … is in the best interests of our community.”

The Coriolis economic report presented Tuesday contained a lot of numbers and the two councillors who have unconditionally opposed the project, Lee Ann Johnson and Dan Bouman, took aim at some of those numbers. Not once did either of them even give a nod to the many benefits the George could bring to Gibsons, as listed in the report. What’s worse, both Johnson and Bouman show undisguised contempt for the developer.

Not that I’m thrilled by the other councillors’ approach to the George. They’ve been too passive. When they voted in favour of the project’s form and character, they missed the boat, in my opinion. They should have asked, there and then and before the other studies were undertaken, for the proponent to scale down the development.

Business cases are fine, but what about firefighting capabilities? We’ve heard nothing about that. Can the department knock down a fire at 25.5 metres (85 feet) above Gower Point Road or 36 metres (124 feet) from sea level? Is the developer going to have to buy a ladder and maybe a truck? We don’t know. And what about the Harbour Area Plan and all that talk about village character and scale? Come on, let’s get real.

At least the other three members of council are talking about negotiating, and by being as respectful as they have toward the developer, they’re in a position to do that. But I’d sure like to know what they’re planning to negotiate about. Coun. Charlene SanJenko said at Tuesday’s meeting: “There’s many more steps to be taken, but I think at this point attitudes and process continue to be important.” I agree, but a little more specificity would be helpful.

If the aquifer is not an issue, then there’s only one major issue left regarding the George: size. That’s what needs to be negotiated. The rest is relatively minor horse-trading and due diligence.

The George is already the big election issue in Gibsons.

The question every candidate should have to answer is: how high the George? And please be specific.