Peter McIntyre Thursday, 03 June 2010 16:18107.5 KISSFM
Devolution may be the only solution to Greater Vernon's water battle. That's one of the conclusions of a facilitator who will present his report on Greater Vernon's water service to local politicians on Friday. Allan Neilson-Welch says "Vernon's expectation of control over water decisions does not allow for a truly shared service." He says moving forward, the parties may wish to focus on "figuring out a workable model for devolution."
Coldstream mayor Jim Garlick (pictured) tells KISS FM they will go through the report at Friday's meeting, but won't participate any further while the city's appeal of an arbitration ruling is still on. Neilson-Welch also uses the report to shoot down many of the claims Vernon has made in the ongoing dispute. He says for instance, it's not accurate for the city to say domestic water users are "unfairly subsidizing" agricultural users. He also says Vernon's bid to withdraw from distribution services would not free city users from providing such subsidies, or save their users considerable amounts of money. "They presume that separation works in the Master Water Plan- works that have largely been postponed- will not be built, and that, as a consequence, agricultural users will be required to use (and pay for) treated potable water for irrigation."
2 comments:
And how much did this diatribe of Neilson-Welch cost?
I guess when they pay you $30,000+, you must be worth listening to.
Too bad about those RATE/TAXPAYERS who have been saying it FOR FREE all along.
Thank you Mayor Garlick for exercising your well-developed common sense. Why should anyone sit down to negotiate in good faith, while the City is still seeking court action?
How long before the consultant tells us that Vernon's expectation of control over decisions does not allow for ANY truly shared service? Some kids just don't play nice.
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