Editor:
This letter is for the residents of the Village of Queen Charlotte.
The purpose of the letter is to respectfully correct information presented by the Haida Gwaii Observer in the Nov. 3 and 24 editions pertaining to the proposed property purchase referendum for a sewage treatment plant for our community.
In the Nov. 3 Letter to the Editor from Edith Bell, the editor added a note about estimated costs to develop a sewage treatment plant at four different areas within Queen Charlotte. In this editor’s note, it was stated the 4603 Martynuik Road property that is to be voted on at the upcoming referendum was included in the 2010 cost estimate for the area known as Skidegate Landing West.
This incorrect information was repeated in a recent article by Andrew Hudson on Nov. 24, when he stated: “Based on general engineering reports done in 2010 and 2013, the village now estimates [a sewage treatment plant] would cost about … $8.6 million in Skidegate Landing West (the area that includes the 4603 Martynuik Road site council is proposing).”
The 4603 Martynuik Road site was not included in the area referred to as Skidegate Landing West in the 2010 Sewage Treatment and Disposal Feasibility Study. This report can be accessed through http://www.queencharlotte.ca/content/sewer-treatment-referendum.
After following this link, scroll down to background information and reports released from in-camera meetings of council.
In the PDF version of the 2010 Sewage Treatment and Disposal Feasibility Study, the map identifying the four areas assessed for a sewage treatment plant can be found on Page 43 (Figure 5-1). 4603 Martynuik Road is shown on this map as DL 18 – well outside the study area referred to as Skidegate Landing West.
There has been no engineering study or cost estimate conducted on 4603 Martynuik Road/District Lot DL 18 to assess the location’s viability for a sewage treatment plant.
Ruth Wheadon
Queen Charlotte
