Letter to Council

I recently wrote a letter to all the members of the council, in response to their unfortunate decision to hold the public open house AFTER making key decisions like extending the boundary for their golf course and authorizing themselves to borrow $7 million for infrastructure work:

Greetings Your Worship and Members of Council,

I noticed on the municipal web site that the deadline for opposition to your plans to authorize the borrowing of $7 million for water and sewer upgrades is the exact same moment (4:00pm) that the public open house begins on February 22nd.

For citizens to make informed decisions about initiatives they want to support or oppose, they need information. Giving citizens less than two weeks to learn enough about the plans for the water system and organize any cohesive response makes it look like council is hoping to avoid hearing from the public on this issue at all. Offering us the information at the open house moments after we've lost the right to influence the decision is an empty gesture.

I have one question and one suggestion. I would appreciate a timely response to both from any or all of you:

Question: Is a $6 million water system required if Summerland's population was to grow at a rate of one or two percent a year, or is it an attempt to meet the needs 30,000 residents by 2025?

Suggestion: Please consider moving the deadline for public feedback later, so that you can use the public open house to properly inform people. How about two weeks after the open house? Or better yet, wait until the community has finalized their direction for future growth in the official community plan. Then council gets to look good for solving water issues and listening to an informed electorate.