Oak Bay Council debates Uplands sewage again tomorrow night

The latest round of debate about the Uplands Sewage Separation project will happen during tomorrow night’s council meeting (PDF). This is the last meeting that Council can decide to move forward with the low-pressure system to respond to the federal and provincial funding deadline of Jan. 29th. The directors of the Oak Bay Community Association have also released a statement asking council to consider the financial impacts on the entire municipality when making a decision. Expect a packed room, so arrive before the 7:30pm start time.

Also up for tomorrow night is the public hearing and last reading (PDF) of the proposed greenhouse gas reduction amendment to the Official Community Plan (PDF). It is not available online, but you can view it at the Oak Bay Municipal Hall tomorrow until 4:30pm. As of Friday there were only a few written submissions, but some people may speak to the issue at the meeting itself. I have previously expressed disgust at the lack of binding targets, but that is a debate for another day.

Legalese shows true intent behind climate change policy

Oak Bay is changing it’s antiquated Official Community Plan (PDF) to include some new verbiage about climate change. On Dec 7th, the public will have a chance to speak to council about the issue (PDF). All of this is driven by an agreement between the Province and Union of BC Municipalities and their members regarding combating climate change. This is quite laudable but the actual agreement between the various parties is very neatly undermined by the final section of the agreement (PDF), which reads:

This Charter is not intended to be legally binding or impose legal obligations on any Party and will have no legal effect.

So much for that. More information about the actual amendment as I get it.