Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: City council has a lot of explaining to do to Turtle Valley

Apr 30, 2019 | 10:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — THE TURTLE VALLEY protest is heating up and it’s time for Kamloops City council to wake up and — as concerned residents suggest — smell the biosolids.

Unfortunately, it won’t have another meeting until next week due to the Easter break and a Southern Interior Local Government Association convention in Penticton that got underway yesterday.

Councillors couldn’t have picked a worse time to be away, as the protest rally last weekend was quickly followed by a blockade preventing trucks carrying biosolids to reach the site in Turtle Valley.

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Before opponents of the biosolids project come down on council too hard, though, indications are that the turn of events has taken council by surprise. While it was obviously aware of the original plan for the biosolids to be used at the Talking Rock golf course, it apparently was caught off guard by the switch to the Turtle Valley Bison Ranch.

Aside from whatever lack of internal communication was at play, the City’s vaunted communications strategy clearly dropped the ball on this one. Given the sensitivity and high profile of the biosolids issue, one would have thought the City would go out of its way to be extra careful to consult with nearby residents, even though the site is far away from City boundaries.

And where was the City’s biosolids stakeholders group when the change in location came into play?

One would like to be a fly on the wall in the offices at City Hall right now but one thing is certain: the buck stops with City council, and City council as a whole has the responsibility of fully engaging with Turtle Valley residents to deal with their concerns.

Councillors will have a lot of explaining to do when they get back in town.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.