Editor:
Sechelt needs a new sewage treatment plant. Since our current government is astonishingly secretive, it is difficult to follow the process going on. Sechelt solicited proposals from experienced companies interested in building the new plant. Five companies responded. Veolia was not one of them. Now, mayor (and council?) has chosen Veolia plus two of the companies to build a waste water treatment plant at the Ebbtide plant location, a tiny area for a sewage treatment plant in a growing municipality.
Sechelt is the sole receiver of septage for both the lower and upper Sunshine Coast. Sechelt needs to treat septage (solids) as well as water. Three Sechelt employees, who do a very good job, manage and operate the two old plants. Our drinking water comes from mountain lakes and is the responsibility of the Regional District. Sechelt doesn't need an international water treatment company.
Our mayor seems to want to be an innovator. I think that jumping on something new and different doesn't count as innovative unless the municipality has researched the companies wanting to design and build the proposed plant.
Now, our mayor says a public meeting cannot be held until after contracts have been signed. We need to know what our tax dollars are doing before commitments are made. Sechelt is not a private company; it is a municipality that belongs to the people. Foolish extravagance comes out of our pockets.
Alice Janisch, Sechelt
