Dear editor:

During the past number of months, the public has made requests for information and clarification from town staff regarding town infrastructure.

The information provided by town staff seemed to have technical discrepancies that could impact any valid conclusions regarding the adequacy of that particular infrastructure to service the community’s needs and any approved expansion plans.

Subsequent emails pointed out those discrepancies along with information for town staff’s consideration. Delayed or no responses from town staff were followed up with emails (as would normally be the case) regarding these outstanding matters.

Well, it seems that some members of council and the lord mayor have taken exception to these requests for specific information.

Information which appears to have mysteriously disappeared from their data banks, specifically the most recent St. Davids urban area water distribution and sanitary sewer system master plan (possibly completed somewhere between 2003 and 2005).

A master plan that would have identified projected infrastructure capacities to handle ongoing real estate developments. 

Town council(s) should be, (or should have been), extraordinarily attentive to this subject matter.

Comparing what the system/infrastructure was technically able to cope with on a projected basis (which a master plan would have identified) with the residential/commercial expansion that has occurred during the last 20 years would have been invaluable impactful information to consider in their recent decision-making process during their term in office, if not the most important consideration.

An infrastructure which requires significant capital expenditures because of years of neglect would require a significant increase in the town’s normal budget, with probable resulting increases in property taxes affecting each and every taxpayer in NOTL.

Did council and town staff take the capacity of the infrastructure into account when approving residential and commercial real estate developments?

And what are we to think of the town’s record-keeping — where did that master plan go? You would think that they would approach the original consultant for another copy, but it appears that course of action isn’t being followed up on.

Lord Mayor Zalepa, rather than striving for better relations with the public vis-à-vis these informational requests, has characterized these legitimate requests for information as accusations of town staff’s incompetence and indicated these requests represent harassment and intimidation.

Quite a push back.

Staff’s difficulty in sourcing specific answers to these questions surely cannot be construed as an accusation of incompetence?

The lord mayor appears to be refusing to provide the information and has instructed the new CAO to merely prepare a summary of the historical correspondence and to “close the loop.”

What seems to be the message from the lord mayor is that no further clarification on the adequacy of infrastructure will be provided, and excellent questions are left in limbo. Mum’s the word, I guess.

What, pray tell, are we the electorate to think of these actions?

Gienek Ksiazkiewicz
NOTL