I attended the Municipal Utility Corporation (MUC) public hearing on Dec. 2, at which not one presenter was in favour of the MUC. Excellent points against the MUC were made by the presenters.
Coun. Hughes asked many critical questions pertaining to the business case to which, in my opinion, she didn’t receive adequate answers. The previously written submissions to council also contained many excellent questions and raised many issues.
The Mayor, according to the Gazette (Saturday, Dec. 7), puts her faith in the expert consultant; this while ignoring the expert input from the ‘intervenors’. Anyone who has worked with consultants knows that their input / report is not gospel and needs to be subjected to scrutiny and the report adjusted to accommodate the additional input as appropriate.
Why does council waste time holding a public hearing if the input they receive is not accepted and addressed? The Mayor calls the input political. I certainly didn’t see it that way but rather honest concerns of St Albert taxpayers.
The MUC should not proceed unless council convincingly addresses and publishes responses to all the questions and concerns. Let’s take the time to do it right and ensure that St. Albert taxpayers are respected and protected. We have the time. What’s the rush?
Don Diack, P.Eng.
St. Albert
