The saga of Target Marine continues as certain members of Sechelt council continue to dodge their responsibility.
In an unprecedented move, council voted four to three in favour of holding a non-binding referendum during November's municipal election asking the community whether they are for or against the Target Marine re-zoning application.
So, after months - check that, years - of debate, heated meetings, impassioned pleas from residents and business leaders both for and against this proposal, you would think that council has more than enough information to finally make a decision one way or another.
We know this decision will not be a popular one, as either way there will be a side to this issue that will not be happy with the final outcome. But delaying this application further is just that: a further stalling tactic by councillors Fred Taylor, who made the notice of motion and brought the referendum forward, and Keith Thirkell, who has gone back and forth so many times on this issue it has left our heads spinning.
Councillors Warren Allan and Alice Janisch have been against this application and have voted as such many times, so they're just going along for the ride here, it seems.
So why are Taylor and Thirkell going down this path? Why was this referendum idea not brought forward months ago? We could have held the referendum already, maybe right after the public hearing, and council would have their answer - an answer that seemingly some of them need, because clearly we have some councillors who can't make a decision.
Wasn't the public hearing a kind of referendum? What about all the correspondence, letters to the District, letters to this paper and the countless other presentations that members of the community have made at other meetings? Is that not enough information for council to weigh in on?
Allan said on Wednesday that he has no problem taking this to a referendum because he feels there is not enough support in the community for the application. OK, so if that's the case, then stick with your guns and vote the proposal down.
Why keep Target Marine in limbo for another five months? Is this how the District of Sechelt does business? If you were an outside investor wishing to do business in Sechelt, would you want to go through all the hoops and challenges that Target has gone through? Would you want to deal with this council?
We thought every council member was elected to do a job. He or she was elected to make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions, in an effort to move the community forward and ensure that the business of the community is done.
This is not driving the community forward - it's just another stall.
