It’s bad enough that we have to endure the endless bullshit by this developer, now UBID has stepped in to do public relations on KIP’s behalf. Maybe McMahon just submitted it to UBID and they posted it on his behalf – nothing would surprise me where these characters are involved!
My guess is they’re doing damage control over the contaminated soil being excavated and spinning it that the developer is committed to providing a clean and healthy environment. Ya, KIP is doing a great job with covering the contaminated soil with those plastic condoms.
Can’t build even one house without a sewage system. Can’t build his cafe/deli or subdivide without “a release letter from the Director under the Environmental Management Act”. KIP has cleared land before at Argyle claiming that would be phase 1. I’ll believe it when he is allowed to subdivide – that’s the point when the MDA comes into effect – until then, it’s just more bullshit.
If it was a ‘cesspool of contaminants’ in 2009 with no remediation and ‘pollutants going out hundreds of feet’ – how do you spin that to something positive when this developer stated ‘they budgeted for it’ (the remediation) and then dumped their 27 acres of contamination back on the province (us)?
What prompted this? Why does the Admin have time to do pr for KIP and yet can’t/won’t answer any questions related to the unlawful acts 4 of the trustees and admin took part in? The media have given the board/chair many opportunities to provide answers and have simply refused.
Former Trustee Jim Elliott posted a great comment on the article:
Jim Elliott Why would this board wait until after the election? It’s not a case of the board having to make a decision to proceed or not. The contract has already been awarded. Perhaps it has more to do with “damage control” for the misleading statements by Loxam at the all candidates meeting when this question was asked.Maybe the chair will step up and inform the land owners of our finanacial liabilities. I would also hope that a proper five year financial plan will be presented. We seem to be riding on the dream that the develoment will rescue us. I challenge anyone to find an area that has grown and the taxes have gone down ! I do fully support buiding the water plant but tell us the truth about the costs!
At last years AGM the admin couldn’t answer financial questions and it looks like the landowners are going to be kept in the dark about the costs of the water treatment plant. We are locked out, have a board who simply refuses to respond to media questions or landowners questions, wants you to praise them for their wonderful work and never be so bold as to demand answers. Dictatorships are not known to be accountable.
Union Bay is pictured on the afternoon of March 18th, 2019. Photo by James Wood/98.9 The Goat/Vista Radio
UNION BAY, B.C- The exact parcel tax amount that Union Bay residents will pay for their new water treatment plant won’t be known by the public until after the election.
That’s according to the administrator of the Union Bay Improvement District (UBID), Gordon Mason.
The district has already put out a press release, indicating that parcel taxes for Union Bay will be going up by $46 in 2020, to a total of $391, in order to pay for the plant.
The total cost of the water treatment plant project is $4.2 million, with the district stating that $700,000 will be contributed from their Public Works Capital Reserve, and another $3.5 getting borrowed and amortized over the next 25 years.
However, the press release does not indicate how much of that $391 will be going towards the water treatment plant costs.
Asked for that amount, and whether or not any other services provided by UBID would be financially impacted by the treatment plant costs, Mason said the information being sought was part of a business case supplied to district trustees “in-camera”.
“This information is considered confidential and has to be approved by the board for release at an in -camera meeting in the near future,” said Mason, in an emailed response.
“I anticipate this happening after the UBID election.”
Asked if the additional $46 would be the only funds going towards the water treatment plant from parcel taxes, or if that hadn’t been determined yet, Mason said he couldn’t release that information until he had board approval.
A request for comment has made to UBID Chairperson Ted Haraldson on the matter.
Word has it that 440 ballots were cast at the advance poll yesterday (April 9) which is a good indicator that people are interested.
For those who haven’t voted yet, please exercise your democratic right to choose who you feel best represents your wishes and will guide Union Bay into a community that can afford to upgrade and prosper. Getting the biggest bang for our buck.
This is an election that will decide whether we sit and stagnate taking on more debt or whether we start planning the future of Union Bay making positive changes by electing officials who realize action needs to be taken now instead of putting off important decisions indefinitely.
With the right people who are capable and dedicated to what is best for our community, we can finally have confidence (again) knowing due diligence will be more than just words and that every landowner will be treated equally.
Paul Healey and Hein Vandenberg have immersed themselves in reports, minutes, etc., educating themselves on the issues and stating their beliefs on public meetings, transparency and their roles when elected. We need elected officials who want all of us to benefit and for our community to grow and be affordable.
Get out and vote!
Update: Just under 300 votes cast as of 3 pm. Hope this is a record turnout.
We can no longer just sit and wait for something to happen to improve the financial outlook for landowners. We have never had to bear the cost of a major infrastructure failure and it is only a matter of time before that happens. We are paying for every cent of the Water Treatment Facility with no grants or even a lower interest rate and this is just the beginning. Add on a new firehall for $4 Million and then there will be the need for an additional fire truck. Sewage costs will be forced on us in the near future. The total costs of the ‘knowns’ are staggering never mind the ‘unknowns’ that we will face with aging infrastructure.
As each month passes we are going to be facing even more debt. The sooner we find out if it is beneficial to become a service area of the CVRD the better. All these years we have been told the developer would be bearing the costs and that simply didn’t happen. It’s time to look elsewhere for assistance. We will become an expensive place to live in the valley if we’re paying 100% of the costs while everyone else gets grants and lower interest rates.
The first step is for the board to simply write the letter to the CVRD requesting they start the process of doing a study on the pros and cons so we can make an informed decision. The study is independent and doesn’t cost Union Bay landowners a cent or take away manpower from UBID.
