Chain of Lakes Trail obfuscation continues

When it came to the proposal to put a sewer pipe under the Chain of Lakes Trail, two city councillors had a novel approach to public consultation: They first voted in favour of the project, then consulted their constituents.

“We are writing to inform you of construction that Halifax Water is planning on the Chain of Lakes Trail as part of the Lakeside Pumping Station Diversion Project,” wrote councillors Linda Mosher and Russell Walker in a co-signed letter to their constituents dated August 6. Mosher and Walker had voted in favour of the project a week before, on July 30.

The two councillors had not broadly consulted with their constituents before the vote, and most residents were completely unaware of the project until after the July 30 vote. Typically, public consultation works the other way around: consult, then vote.

The letter states as fact that 90 percent of the cost of the project will be paid by regional development charges levied against new construction, and that the remaining 10 percent will come from Halifax Water ratepayers. This is certainly one of two contradictory explanations about funding of the project issued by Halifax Water’s acting director, John Sheppard. The other is that ratepayers will pay for all of it.

Moreover, the letter from Mosher and Russell doesn’t give the total dollar amount of the sewer project, leaving constituents with the impression that the 10 percent left to ratepayers is inconsequential. But as the total cost is $20-$25 million, that means $2 to $2.5 million will be paid for via an increase in water bills.

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This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2013.