Dear Editor,
In a July 5, 2010 FAQ sheet, the RMOW states that they are “often spending up to $400,000 on asphalt.” The Cheakamus Crossing residents have posted on their Facebook page some figures garnered from a recent Freedom of Information request on the RMOW’s annual cost of asphalt. In 2001, the expenditure was $585,883.86, in 2002 it was $766,989.63, in 2003 it was $820,220.30, in 2004 it was $569,000.91, in 2005 it was$619,429.15, and in 2006 it was $884,422.42. No FIA numbers were available for 2007, 2008, and 2009, a time of heavy municipal construction. To get an idea of the difference, when you add up all six years, you get a total of $4,425,946.27, whereas the FAQ figure over the same period is a number that could be as high as $2,400,000, a difference of at least 77 per cent. Keep in mind that this isn’t our numbers versus their numbers, but the numbers the RMOW said they were paying versus the numbers they actually paid out.
The RMOW’s reason for bringing the rezoning for expanding the Cheakamus Crossing gravel mine and entrenching the asphalt plant in such a speedy and ill-prepared manner (when asked what the net change in the size of the gravel mine would be, two municipal staffers had to pull out calculators to try and figure out that basic question while standing at the council chamber lectern), is that the conditions of the agreement with Alpine Paving required that the rezoning be completed by Oct. 31. Where the hell did that come from? Since when did the municipality start showing any concern at all for anybody else’s time constraints? Is this part of the legal “settlement” with Alpine Paving, that hasn’t actually come to court, that nobody’s allowed to talk about except when they want cram through destructive rezoning, or illegally slide a private company $400,000 without an explanation?
It’s painfully evident that the stream of information from the RMOW is badly flawed, to put it gently. Mayor and council’s role is to stand up for the community that elected them, not to do what they’re told, and should put an end to this farce.
David Buzzard
Whistler
