Skip to content

Residents share ideas at event

Lively evening leads to significant amount of input
Laura Walz

A proposal to treat the City of Powell River’s sewage at Catalyst Paper Corporation’s mill site did not receive any verbal support during an event about the liquid waste management plan.

About 150 people attended a World Café on Tuesday, May 17 at Dwight Hall. The event was structured to allow people to comment on five questions. Participants gathered at tables and jointly answered the questions. A recorder at each table wrote down their answers. Participants also had an opportunity to write comments on index cards, which were then posted on the wall.

Before participants switched tables to answer the next question, Geoff Allan, the event’s facilitator, asked representatives from four tables to read out their answers to the group.

Sustained applause, clapping and the stamping of feet greeted the last response of the evening. “The topic of industrial taxation should be separated from the issue of the waste treatment plant.”

Throughout the night, participants heard statements opposing the joint treatment option. Another comment pointed out the risks. “What happens when the mill changes ownership? What happens to the existing contract? What new demands will management make?”

In answering a question about the matrix used to evaluate sites, another table commented, “The matrix is all important. It can’t be considered in isolation. People need to be asked what they want, then build a matrix to reflect the community’s values and the sustainability charter.”

Allan is gathering all of the information from the event into a report, which was presented to the joint local-technical advisory committee at its meeting on Tuesday, May 24.

The advisory committee will make a recommendation to the steering committee to choose either joint treatment or a consolidated plant. The steering committee in turn will make a recommendation that will be referred to city council for the final decision.