The first question ever posed to Port Edward council as part of its public question and answer period at the end of the regular meeting agenda took aim squarely at the impact of worker accommodation facilities proposed in the community.
“The camps are an issue. I have been reading many articles where there has been sexual assaults and heavy drinking. I myself have worked at camps and we would be pretty naive to think that guys don’t drink when they are in camp,” said Alice Kruta.
“There is lots of land just on the highway and I would like to put forward to the council … if they would have the camps moved out of the community.”
Noting the land was sold to Civeo and Quickload, the latter of which is leasing land to Black Diamond for a worker accommodation facility, Mayor Dave MacDonald said council wouldn’t be making such a request.
“We, as a council, would rather have the camps in town where we have some control and will also get some taxes from that land and the buildings upon it. We felt that was the right way to go,” he said.
“As well, there are an awful lot of good people that are going to come. Yes there are some bad people, none of us are that naive, but that is why there are police forces to take care of problems that you have.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Coun. Grant Moore, who said the prospect of losing a high-paying job means many in the camp strictly adhere to the rules. Moore also said he was happy with the information that had been coming from the two companies.
“I have met with Civeo and Black Diamond representatives to look over the layouts and the security they are going to be using. I was actually quite impressed, they are pretty top notch. The Civeo one, once it is built, you won’t even look at it like a camp because it is more like a resort,” he said.
As well as taxes, MacDonald and Coun. Dan Franzen said having the facilities in town could hold other benefits for Port Edward residents.
“They are talking about shared facilities. People may be able to use the gym at the site, they’re talking about putting in a coffee shop that residents could use,” said Franzen.
“They’re talking about emergency services possibly being shared and they may have a doctor on the site that might be accessible,” added MacDonald.
