The Gazette did a good job of reporting on the 5 p.m. public hearing on the proposed utility corp on Dec. 2 which was packed with over fifty citizens, some of which had to stand or sit on the floor and stairs. However, after almost forty minutes of blather by the city CAO about city finances which many felt had little to do with the Public Utility issue that could not have been covered in five minutes, along with uninformed responses by the Grant Thornton consultant and other senior staff, folks started to leave. I was the first presenter to speak and didn't get that chance until after 7 p.m. and only got five minutes, which only allowed me to make some brief points and conclusions even though I had studied the Grant Thornton report, the city background material and did research on several existing waste-to-energy plants around the world.
I've attended public hearings in two other municipalities where I was given the time necessary to complete my presentation. In fact, that last public hearing I attended at Sturgeon County, when I asked how much time I had, the response was: "As long as it takes, as long as you stick to the subject matter." I have concluded that the Mayor and her camp followers do not want to hear from informed citizens or learn anything that might detract from their determination to force this plan upon us without serious review or debate.
During my research, I found several newly developed waste-to-energy plants and found one that began production in 2015 and has turned out to be one of the most efficient in the world. I have passed my research on to Coun. Hughes who has demonstrated that she is prepared to do the necessary research and ask the tough questions that we expect from our elected officials. I have visited this Florida plant and have offered to give a copy of my research to the city CAO if he buys me breakfast because he made some comments about a waste-to-energy facility which alarms me because he demonstrated that he is not aware of some of the advanced processes for turning waste to energy that are now being used.
Because this hearing dragged on into the evening, many people had to leave. I had three different charming senior ladies sit beside me during the evening, but all three eventually left to go home. One was worried about her senior husband and whether he could navigate the dangerous little staircase down to the podium to talk to council, so she took him home. But that's another story the Gazette has well covered.
The Grant Thornton report was so unreliable as to financial projections that they even added their own disclaimer stating that "Since the city has provided much of the material used in this study, we specifically disclaim any responsibility for losses incurred from the use of the report." I note Mayor Heron has stated that she has to rely on the experts (Grant Thornton), to which I reply that it was experts that designed the Titanic and left space above the forward bulkheads which allowed water to flow aft and eventually sink this ocean liner. And her disparaging suggestion that people don't even understand what a public utility corp is is just nonsense. Almost as stupid as the comment from Coun. Jacquie Hansen who suggests that the folks who did speak did not provide a good balance of views because they were all opposed to the proposal. Coun. Joly on the other hand says she is looking forward to debating at the Dec. 16 meeting of council. l hope she is better prepared than she was for last week's meeting.
The basic facts of the issue are hard to dispute, The factors that brought the Chestermere Lake utility corp to insolvency apply as well to St. Albert. Chestermere Lake had no direct supply of water, electricity or natural gas, while Grande Prairie (Aquatera) and Medicine Hat have a supply of good water. When I reviewed their financials, it was clear that the treatment of and supply of water was a critical positive factor in the profitability of those two utility corporations. Without any direct source of utilities, we will have to buy those from primary producers and then add a service charge which will surely result in higher utility costs.
It's time for our council to discard this ill-conceived proposal and get back to work cutting costs so I and my many fellow senior citizens can afford to stay living in St. Albert.
Bob Russell, St. Albert
