A lively meeting of Garden Bay Waterworks District (GBWD) and Hotel Lake water users ended Tuesday night with a decision to postpone the vote on whether to merge the two water systems.
At least 70 people squeezed into the Pender Harbour Resort hall for information and discussion of the GBWD and Sunshine Coast Regional District's proposal to create a new water service area linking Garden Bay's and Hotel Lake's systems. But Garden Bay customers voiced their need for more information before voting whether to go ahead with the merger.
"I think maybe you're premature in trying to do this," said former GBWD chair Tom Barker from the audience. "I'm not for it at all. I think you've made a big mistake." He requested a longer public consultation period so customers wouldn't have to vote one hour after a public meeting."We're going to vote tonight and we don't have the full report," Barker said.
The independent consultants hired to assess the merger found numerous benefits and released their findings in a 62-page report.
"It would bring in a lot more flexibility to the two systems for everyone concerned," Michael Jackson, president of Acroloxus Wet-lands Consultancy, said in his presentation.
The listed benefits were access to government grants, insurance, expertise, redundancy/extra storage capacity, local staffing, infrastructure improvements, environmental benefits and financial benefits.
But Barker called the government grants a "money tree" which they can't rely on getting.
Both the GBWD board and SCRD board have unanimously approved the merger in principle based on the report.The area's water service customers will be increasing with four new subdivision developments: Farrington Cove, Pender Harbour Landing, Pine Haven and Oyster Bay.
By an almost unanimous show of hands, Garden Bay customers voted to table the decision on the merger and to have a referendum via a yes/no ballot mailed out with the next water bills. The secret mail-in ballots were suggested so neighbours wouldn't be pitted against each other in the public vote. As well, the majority of the roughly 400 customers were not at the meeting to vote.
The meeting was adjourned and the crowd dispersed without concluding how the information would reach the customers. The suggestion had come up to put copies of the report in the general store for people to sign out.
GBWD chair Gerry Krantz confirmed after the meeting that GBWD will mail the consultants' report and ballot to every customer in its district in January to ensure every household in the district receives a copy.
"We think there are significant benefits of this merger for the customers who will live within this separate water district, and we really hope that everybody who has the chance to vote will," Krantz said.
