Dear Sir:
Recently I briefly attended the information meetings that were held in Prince Rupert regarding the plans for a sewage treatment system at Lakelse Lake.
Having listened to Mr. Roger Tooms deliver his information for some time I asked one question to which I received a highly unsatisfactory answer.
My question was, ‘And, how is all this going to be paid for?’
The response was, basically, ‘per parcel, not on assessed value’ and there was an explanation of parcel based on a Hazelton example – which only muddied the information being offered.
On further examination of the story boards set up around the room, I found a piece of information offering cost, amortized over 20 years would work out to about $800 a year.
The fact that quite a few property owners won’t, based on odds, be alive in 20 years makes that statement really annoying.
Now, I am not adverse to sewage treatment where needed.
Having said that, I certainly don’t want to be ‘the one’ contaminating the lake, nor do I want anyone else to do so.
But, we seem to be jumping from the least desirable method of sewage treatment (septic tanks and fields) to a Ferrari-level treatment system without overwhelming evidence that is what is required (the Ferrari, I mean).
From what I picked up at the open house, the biggest bug bear on the lake is the flood plain – for a number of reasons.
We are owners of a piece of property on that flood plain.
We bought that property about 33 years ago. We bought it as a recreational property. And, I might point out, at that time we were being taxed as a recreational property!
Needless to say, some years along, that got changed!
We use that property weekends during the summer months.
We do not have a dishwasher (the automatic kind) or laundry facilities. We take our garbage home with us.
My understanding is that, as well as paying for our share of the new system, we will be responsible for paying for our hookup to the main line.
Our property is over 440 feet long. And, it’s a property that does not lend itself to ‘running’ any kind of line through it.
I don’t know how many properties would be similar but it strikes me you are asking a few people to pay more that anyone else.
To be facing that kind of expense for a number of weekends, per year, that you can probably count on fingers and toes is mind- boggling.
Needless to say, you can count me on the ‘no’ side.
I believe there are other options we can go with before we have to hit the big time (like monitoring our area of the lake, sealed tanks, etc).
Joan Cassidy,
Prince Rupert, B.C.
