An attempt was made to pull the Chapman Lake expansion project from the second round of the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) budget talks so that it would have to be voted on at an upcoming board meeting, potentially bringing an end to the project.
SCRD chair and District of Sechelt director Bruce Milne attempted to force a decision during Round 2 of the SCRD budget talks on March 5, when he requested to pull the Chapman expansion project for consideration at the upcoming board meeting on March 8. The carry-forward amount in the 2018-2022 Financial Plan for the Chapman Lake Water Expansion is approximately $4.5 million. Final budget adoption, including the financial plan, is expected to be approved at the March 22 board meeting.
Staff warned that if the Chapman project was not decided upon by March 22, the financial plan might miss deadline. “The risk of not adopting the financial plan by March 31 is that on April 1 we lock the doors and don’t do business,” said Angie Legeault, senior manager, administration and legislative services.
The motion failed on a tie vote, with West Howe Sound director Ian Winn, Milne, District of Sechelt director Darren Inkster, and Elphinstone director Lorne Lewis voting in favour, and Halfmoon Bay director Garry Nohr, Roberts Creek director Mark Lebbell, Town of Gibsons director Jeremy Valeriote and Area A director Frank Mauro opposed. Keith Julius, director for shíshálh Nation, was not in attendance.
It was the second time District of Sechelt directors attempted to bring the Chapman project back for reconsideration at the board.
At a special infrastructure meeting on March 1, both Sechelt directors attempted to force a decision, first by making a motion to hold a special board meeting, and then by making a motion to confirm the 2015 decision to go forward with the expansion project. Such a confirmation would then have had to be brought to the board and voted on. Because of weighted voting at the board, Sechelt directors hedged the motion would be defeated at that time, killing the project.
“We’ve argued here before that spending five million for an emergency system for Stage 4 could be better spent for keeping the siphon in and moving quickly on water supply and storage. I hope that’s what we continue to do,” said Milne.
However, the attempt to pass the motion became hung up on procedural issues and failed, with all committee members voting against it.
