Nanaimo Councillors have made a unanimous decision on what to do about the Colliery Dams.
Acting on a motion from Councillor Bill Yoachim they voted to go ahead with an auxiliary spillway option, at an estimated cost of between 2.8 and 4.6 million dollars.
It will meet the Dam Safety Branch’s requirements, and the province’s deadline.
Yoachim’s motion does more than move things forward, it calls for a look back to see how the process went off the rails.
But it’s still not clear if the decision will satisfy some of the opponents of the Dam Safety Branch’s remediation order.
Jeff Solomon of the Colliery Dam Park Preservation Society told Councillors no good decisions are motivated by threats.
Dave Cutts of the Dams Direct Action Group was also on hand for the Council meeting and raised the specter of large scale civil disobedience.
A couple of years ago the City went to court to get a preemptive injunction against Cutts to block protests.
Here’s the full text of Yoachim’s lengthy motion:
“WHEREAS the City of Nanaimo has been diligently pursuing a resolution to issues first raised in 2010 regarding the Colliery Dams.
This has included:
1. engagement with the public to take into consideration the importance of the Colliery Dams Park;
2. engagement with the Snuneymuxw First Nation;
3. securing further technical analysis regarding seismic concerns that made clear the dams are not a seismic risk;
4. pursuing further technical analysis regarding the hydrology of the Chase River watershed and the spillway capacity of the Lower Dam with the gaol of confirming and verifying engineering opinions provided to date;
AND WHEREAS a Select Committee is being established pursuant to a resolution on July 13, 2015, in part, to continue to pursue further technical analysis regarding the hydrology of the Chase River watershed and the spillway capacity of the Lower Dam;
AND WHEREAS the Comptroller of Water Rights issued an Order requiring the City of Nanaimo to choose between one of two options, which was further amended to include a conditional third option for overtopping;
AND WHEREAS the City has not been successful in convincing the Comptroller of Water Rights to suspend or withdraw the Order until further technical analysis can be undertaken to verify the need to spend significant public money;
THEREFORE pursuant to the Comptroller’s Order dated April 29, 2015, Council resolves to:
a. select the following Lower Dam remediation option:
Auxiliary Spillway (Labyrinth/Box Culvrt, Open Channel alternative)
AND FURTHER RESOLVE TO DIRECT STAFF TO:
b. immediately notify the Comptroller of this selection and to undertake the preparation of a design report and construction plan for Auxiliary Spillway to be provided to the Comptroller on or before July 24
c. prepare a conceptual plan for the Middle Colliery Dam for potential use once Lower Dam remediation is complete;
d. in collaboration with Council, in the spirit of transparency, develop Terms of Reference for a tendering process for the Auxiliary Spillway construction (Labyrinth/Box Culvert, Open Channel alternative) to be awarded no later than September 1, 2015;
e.Re-establish the Technical Committee as a Select Committee, including two serving Councillors and that the terms of reference include the select committee in a consultative role throughout the installation of the Auxiliary Spillway (Labyrinth/Box Culvert, Open Channel alternative) for the Lower Colliery Dam and the preparation of a conceptual plan for the Middle Colliery Dam;
f. in collaboration with Council to develop terms of reference for an independent investigation and report on the Colliery Dam process with a focus on problems and issues that have arisen related to engineering, governance, communications, and engagement with the public and other governments.
g. in collaboration with Council to draft a letter to the Provincial government outlining our concerns with respect to the process and the handling of this matter from a government to government basis.
h. abandon all legal proceedings before the Environmental Appeal Board.”
