Dear Editor:
Thank you to District of North Vancouver's Coun. Alan Nixon and City of North Vancouver's Coun. Guy Heywood for your educational letter regarding the proposed relocation of the primary waste treatment facility (North Shore News, May 1).
The analysis by both councillors of the relocation alternative for the facility from its present location on Squamish land, under the Lions Gate Bridge, is excellent. Indeed both the federal government and Metro Vancouver government have shared responsibility in the matter.
The confusion regarding the responsibility of Metro Vancouver for funding the relocation alternative creates further awareness of the need for an immediate discussion of municipal amalgamation across the Lower Mainland.
It is interesting that an initiative as important as this waste facility is not discussed in either the Metro Vancouver strategy document or in the District of North Vancouver and City of North Vancouver's official community plans. The absence of that discussion highlights a gap in the planning process among identification and matching of infrastructure needs with redevelopment. Redevelopment is generally a primary source of funding for infrastructure upgrades.
The option of relocation of the facility is pegged at $500 million. My independent analysis indicates a less expensive option may be considered. I suggest that expropriation of the lands the existing facility sits on be considered. Expropriation, under the First Nations Land Management Act, is a viable economic option. Upgrades to the facility can then be funded under a public-private partnership model promoted by Nixon and Heywood. That model might include levies on the redevelopment proposed on the North Shore over the next 20 years. This option is modest, and certainly not a marquee project. Yet it is a responsible option. This option would have a net cost of less than $50 million to taxpayers, after the Pemberton Avenue lands acquired for relocation are disposed. Funding could start immediately and spread out the impact to taxpayers in such a way to have only a one-to two-per-cent impact on annual property taxes.
Prudent management of municipal infrastructure is best achieved by a broad, integrated municipal plan tied to local official community plans, where the less costly options are funded by stakeholders including residents, and all levels of government.
Hazen Colbert North Vancouver (Editor's note: A letter from both North Vancouver mayors on this topic will run in Sunday's paper.)
