|
Council wastes no time in picking ASD |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 |
Make no mistake - a lot of time and effort and research went into the town's decision to decide on the Alternative Services Delivery model for its wastewater treatment plant.
Consultants were hired, proposals were examined and even lawyers were brought into the fray.
After months and months of discussion, however, town council did what the public expected all along - it went with EPCOR's plan.
Opponents of the EPCOR bid to take over Taber's wastewater treatment plant project upgrades, and its operation for a period of 20 years, knew they were fighting an uphill battle.
Just how uphill that battle really was however, was proved Monday night. Town council selected, by a 6-1 vote, the ASD approach for not only the plant but for stormwater system upgrades and operation of the town's water, wastewater and stormwater systems.
The fact the vote was held so quickly after the last open house, which took place the previous Monday on Sept. 17, showed that for many on council, EPCOR's eventual victory was a forgone conclusion.
Those on council also, obviously, did not want the wastewater treatment plant to become an election issue. Despite the opinion of one councillor, who after the meeting suggested the town should go back and get an updated estimate from Associated Engineering, one which would compare in scope to EPCOR's plan, council has forged ahead.
Council did this without fully answering the key question regarding the large cost difference between EPCOR's plan and Associated Engineering.
To date, the competitive process, which EPCOR took part in, is the main explanation given as to why Associated Engineering's proposal came in twice as expensive.
Diving into the issue regarding the cost difference was very difficult, as Associated Engineering would not speak on the record about it, although the firm did draft a letter to council to explain its position. The engineering firm would not discuss the contents of that letter, and the town took steps to distance itself from the letter. Even at Monday's council meeting, where a decision was to take place on the ASD proposal the letter was not made public in the agenda package.
But despite that bit of secrecy, the process was certainly made public, through two open houses, which certainly got both the town's and EPCOR's point of view across.
The short turnaround from the last open house to the actual vote, however, may have some citizens wondering how valuable those sessions were, as there certainly was not much time for the public to study the issue and formulate a solid opinion.
Just how the public feels may come through come election time, or perhaps when the town publicizes its borrowing bylaw to pay EPCOR. At that point, citizens, should they choose, would have the option of putting the bylaw, and in effect the whole EPCOR plan, to a plebiscite through a petition.
But for now, the ASD process has won out, a process which, on paper, figures to save the town and its taxpayers a lot of money. We will just have to see in the coming months, whether or not the public is behind the plan. |
