Turning point?

A commitment has been made. A commitment to rigour and discipline. A commitment that County residents won’t pay another dime toward the developers’ infrastructure—not without a guarantee of payback in an acceptable time frame. It is a good outcome.

We are in a better place. The County’s manager, Marcia Wallace, stood up for residents and water customers on Tuesday night—when many others wouldn’t. It means something. We have her commitment. It’s something to work with.

The Chief Administrative Officer didn’t have to do it. The votes were likely sufficient to get the tender for the design of the regional water plant across the finish line. Yet just before midnight, Wallace raised her hand anyway. She made a choice.

The County manager chose to support the Wellington councillor’s motion, knowing all it entailed. Her remarks signify a fundamental shift in how Shire Hall manages infrastructure development and financing in the weeks and months ahead. CAO Wallace has committed Shire Hall to do better.

Risks were acknowledged. The scale of the project was recognized as bigger and more dangerous than anything ever undertaken in this community. Shire Hall’s internal capacity and experience must be augmented and supported by those with the skills and track record of managing and delivering large infrastructure projects.

The Chief Administrative Officer acknowledged that financing massive expenditures remains a work in progress—that more work should have been done before now. She committed to a defined cost recovery plan before shovels meet dirt.

CAO Wallace committed to a bold new direction on Tuesday night.

Some, on either side of the debate, will choose to see the CAO’s speech as a tactic—as a means to get past a thorny issue before a rancorous crowd, and perhaps sidestep legal peril. I don’t believe it. I choose to take CAO Wallace at her word. The motion was definitive and detailed. The intent was clear. It presents an entirely new and rigorous framework for evaluating and managing large projects. When presented with a better path forward, CAO Wallace took it. That’s not calculation— that’s prudence.

Still, there are lingering concerns about the project in general. The case for a regional plant hasn’t been made satisfactorily. It remains unclear whether alternatives for Picton water were explored and vetted sufficiently. But there is another more serious problem.

How can the design of a regional water plant be prepared in isolation from the 20- km pipeline needed to deliver the water to Bloomfield and Picton? This is by far the riskiest bit. The two-kilometre pipe across Wellington is already a third over budget— with the addition of a $6 million pumping station—suggesting this part of the project is the most unpredictable. And costliest. Knowing everything about a new plant, treatment system, and intake pipe will tell us nothing about the risky enterprise of running a pipeline cross-country from Wellington to Picton. The design and cost estimates of the pipeline should be done in conjunction with the plant.

Only when this is known and the combined costs tallied will we know if any of it is viable. Only then will we learn if developers are serious about funding this work. It will set up the critical hardball negotiations with developers, which must be completed before construction begins. It will surely test Shire Hall’s resolve to rigour and discipline. We shall know soon enough. Before then, some council members will have to decide who they are working for.

To be clear, none of this happens without your participation or willingness to come out in droves and demand that municipal leaders answer your questions. To write letters. Sign petitions. Wear T-shirts inside- out. Not since the hospital was threatened have so many folks rallied together to push for positive change in this community.

You have been patronized, criticized and demonized for asking questions. When you rejected the non-answers, you were vilified as opponents to progress, growth and new homebuilding. You were told you were misinformed or wrong. You were mocked for defending fundamental principles—of fairness, transparency and accountability.

It wasn’t true. It was never true. It was never about development or developers. It was always about who would pay for their infrastructure. And when. No matter how many folks stood up to say they weren’t against growth but insisted instead that it be responsible growth, there were always those who would not listen. Could not hear. A handful sit around around the council table.

Council has plenty to account for in the wake of Tuesday night. Some will get sorted in the next election, but in the meantime, a majority of the council must follow the lead of its County manager. It must choose a better path. Council cannot continue to put the interests of developers ahead of residents.

Unless they enjoy council meetings with 500 folks hanging on every word.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca