Greater Victoria politicians have rubber-stamped the region’s long-awaited sewage plant, which will be built in Esquimalt by 2020.
After a five-hour meeting Wednesday, the Capital Regional District board voted 14-1 in favour of building the plant at McLoughlin Point, with the lone dissenting vote coming from Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell.
The $765-million project will also include a solids processing facility in Saanich.
CRD members said the sewage plant is something that’s been in the making for more than 10 years.
“A lot of people will say it’s long overdue, and I agree,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. “Having said that, the last two years we’ve spent getting extra input from the public, doing all of the extra work has actually brought us a better plan.”
Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen, who floated the idea of revisiting McLoughlin Point months ago, said he thinks everybody can benefit from the Esquimalt location.
“I think it’s very good for the region,” said Jensen. “I think it’s in keeping with our tourism goals, our business goals and our environmental goals, so I think it’s a win-win for everybody.”
McLoughlin Point was discussed as an option years ago, but the community ultimately decided against it and the CRD looked at other locations.
But earlier this year, with a deadline for a decision looming, the province stepped in and appointed its own board to determine a location – bringing things full circle back to McLoughlin Point.
While the overwhelming majority of the CRD board was in favour of the motion, Atwell cast the dissenting vote saying that building the plant in Esquimalt was not an innovative idea.
“It’s the same plan as before, except, and I think taxpayers really need to understand this, it comes with $47-million less funding than before, and our cost has gone up $30-million,” he said. “So we’ve got less funding and a higher cost for the same plan, and I think that doesn’t serve the residents of this region.”
The CRD will be tapped to pay $311-million for the project, while the provincial and federal governments will kick in the rest.
The Core Area Wastewater Treatment Project Board’s full report can be found here.
