So let me get this straight. Water rates are going up dramatically to help cover the cost of the operating costs of the new sewage treatment plant. So to generate funds through metered water use, people actually have to use the water…and the more the better for generating revenue to fund the plant. The plant I assume also will need plenty of water to process the sewage. Also DDC’s paid by developers are designed and used to fund the upgrade of the existing water /sewer infrastructure.
In the meantime our mayor and council are promoting less water usage and more water conversation measures, limiting any new developments because of our limited water supply (so no DCC revenues from developers.) And all at the same the mayor and council have made 0 effort to make plans to increase Tofino’s summer raw water supply?? The recent water study basically said option 1 would be to expand the Ahkmaksis reservoir. So why aren’t they moving ahead with plans for that now!? Instead they have ordered another consultants study on expanding Tofino’s raw water suppy. huh..talk about kicking the preverbal can down the road. In the meantime the consumers of Tofino’s water will have 0 financial backing from the Mayor and Council. Less water use, no DCC’s = no revenue. Wow.
They don’t want to make decisions. Staff are paid to direct the mayor and council to make the wisest decisions. The current staff seem incapable of making decisions in the best interest of the citizens of the town. All they suggest are studies after more studies and to do nothing in the meantime.
Why doesn’t the mayor and council demand responsible decision making from the staff? If the staff can’t get themselves together enough to after having all those unneeded consultants come up with solid recommendations to council then perhaps it is time for them to A) do their jobs B) quit and get out of the way so someone who can do their jobs starts working here.
Just raise the Ahkmassis dam and replace the leaky water lines.
RE "Water Rates going up" Google "Luther Vandross.....A House is not a home." One of the all time musical classics It is a sad sad ode to.......sadness
There needs to be one more stanza to that melancholy tune..
A plan is not a plan, when there is no planning there.
Sums up just about everything about the last few councils.
"Just raise the Ahkmassis Creek and replace the leaky water lines".. are you flipping serious? That work has been on the scheduled to do list for about.... 18 years.. No need to rush into this. Hire a few more consultants and chill man.
4:17 When you refer to staff you mean the Superintendent of Public Works. That would be AAron Rodgers. Anti development Rodgers. He is the one in his report to council responding to the newly completed Water Master Plan that recommended, stricter water conservation, increased rain capture barrels and a new “limit growth policy” . He was also the one recommending the new Raw Water Supply study instead of recommending immediate work on how to increase the Ahlmasis Reservoir storage capacity. He also was the one who independently (no professional assistance) developed tofino’s current OCP that states that there will be no new developments approved, either residential or commercial South of Industrial Way. Wow, that land base (aka tax rev base) represents about 2/3 ‘s of Tofino land base. In speaking with a public works employee and asking why aren’t we (Public Works) working on increasing the storage at Ahkmaksis, he simply shrugged his shoulders,shook his head and said good question. . Nyla is doing a great job. After all she was the one who recommended council wait to opt in to the BC STR Act. like the majority of Toficians wanted to do. Then councillors thew her under the bus in a public council meeting. Tragic and sad.
The conversation brings to mind the problem: as an alleged tourist destination resort community the water shortage is a threat for a very short period of time, depending upon rainfall conditions, from August till about September 7. So why is there a big panic for the taxpayers to come up with a 45 day solution and pay for it so the tourists aren't inconvenienced? That brings us to the second big Panic about water the taxpayers are supposed to solve as well which is: what if the sewer system needs more water to make it work as planned? The wastewater consultant tells us with confidence that the plant will recycle sufficient water to keep the thing going the way it's supposed to. Sure. Now is there any kind of a back up plan just in case? Of course not. Just wait to see what happens and if we need more water we will divert perfectly good drinking water to run the sewage treatment plant......... but there won't be enough water to flush the toilets or shower.
Tofino is a quaint fishing village of 600 souls, perched on the senic west coast of Vancouver Island. The big lie.
If the lie is big enough, and you tell it often enough, eventually people will come to believe it true- Goebbels.
So make your reservations and haul your family here for your holiday this year. Until you get here, you won't know that there actually is no quaint village, you've been landed into the middle of today's 20,000 tourists, clogging up the streets like you were in Coney Island.Too bad, we got you now. Pay up. Thanks. Once again, the big lie worked.
Development would wreck this scam. If the place starts looking too rich, the fish might stop swimming into the trap. Keep it lookin' humble.
AAron, and Dan, and Tom, know exactly what they're doing. And why. So, we don't need any more water. We just need more money, so staff can better manage the water we have now.
No Development.... then there will be no DCC's collected. About 18 years ago chief bottle washer( you know the guy who left in disgrace) announced a tripling of Dcc's to pay for the project of getting water from Kennedy Lake.....No bull crap. That happened. Council did that on advice from the guy who left in disgrace.. How did that work out?. The moneys collected ,meagre as they were(remember, no development mo Dcc's collected) was spent on......??? Other things....Is that even legal? Can you do that? Take peoples money under false pretense. Certainly it was not spent not spent on the water system to Kennedy Lake. That was a pipe dream. Ha Ha pun intended. If you don't approve development you don't collect.....The current Infrastructure guru learned his trade from Smith. He has been destroying the community for decades. Set the DCC rate at whatever you want. It is all smoke mirrors and bull crap.
The whole point of the DCC charge is to get the new development to pay for the improvements necessitated by that growth, so the existing tax base doesn't get taxed into oblivion.. How is that working out for you tax payers? .
Council after council feeds you bull crap... Just pay up!
Town looks like shit. Trailers and motorhomes everywhere serving as housing. Illegal under the Bylaws but hey. It can't be helped. Gotta do what we gotta do.....Right.....But you...you taxpayers.....just shut up and pay...Cause we are stupid. Town is run by buffoons. but it is on us. We let them get away with it. Elect a few more social justice warriors to finish the job.
OMG!! Water in Tofino is the same as gasoline in Ottawa!! The solution is simple. Make it so expensive that folks just won't use it, same theory as carbon tax. We are so fortunate to have these wonderful political leaders to steer us into the future....
Keeping everyone in a trailer keeps these idiots at DOT in power. This ain't by accident. Most folks only live here for a season or a year or two and are susceptible to the BS and obfuscation. These transients, nice as they may be for a conversation or for renting surfboards, are part of the Tofino great replacement theory. Counting newbies, population gets 100% replacement in 10 years. Let's put our money into more staff employment at the District, instead of fixing anything. If it's broken don't fix it....kick the can down the road and tell the world about your accomplishments and woes......Remember.... while speaking about VCR's, the Mayor say he "grieves" for the children that aren't here.....What is that? Virtue signaling? Come on. Get real. Solve real problems.
Council has waged war on Vacation Rentals but actively supports rvs , trailers and people sleeping in cars. At least Vacation Rentals provide caretaker housing and pay property taxes .
Don't know how to solve a problem or what to do? Tax it! It's how the government seems to work here. The problem is unintended consequences. Carbon tax is a prime example as well as the empty home tax. Seems like a good idea until you dig into some of the reality. Vancouver is seeing an increase in gang members moving to high end neighbourhoods like coal harbour. Condos that have sat empty for years and owned by off shore residents are coming onto the rental market. Many of these condos were purchased with money laundering funds and dark money. Now the owners don't want to pay the tax so the are entering the rental market just as the government had hoped. The only problem is they are renting for over 10k a month and the only people who can afford it are the gangsters coming in from surrey. Suddenly people's quiet little affluent condo buildings are being taken over by gangsters in Vancouver highest end hoods. Try and control markets and they end up controlling you in unimaginable ways. Solve problems with actions not taxes. Have a housing shortage? Build more homes. Have a water shortage? Increase your storage. We are being taxed to death and the government thinks its solving problems. Here's an idea... maybe the DOT could try promoting business and not controlling, over regulating and taxing the crap right out of us.
@5:27 not to mention some of the illegal rentals, owned by staff, that were in gibson heights. Is it a two tiered system with two sets of rules? Your thoughts?
When is our next election? It seems as though Council is out of its depth. We no longer celebrate Canada day due to multiple woks guilt issues. Our water is some of the most expensive in Canada yet we are near one of the wettest places in Canada. Government Salaries are skyrocketing up in a town of 2500 ( look up in the last financial report). Taxes going up and up and up. Time for a change, more qualified council and staff. Fiscal restraint. Nonstakeholders paying their fair share for the benefits they receive. Nice people who can’t get the job done need to be moved along. If you think Tofino can survive anything take a look at all the small seaside towns in Oregon that were once flourishing. Time for some hard decisions
We could save some cash by relying more on staff than consultants. Again, we paid $700k more in 2023 for our new tier of "manager" staff than Ukee did. Not sure how that gets justified by mayor and council, especially in light of tax and utility increases like this.
The problem I see with relying on staff is that it just might rub tourism Tofino and the chamber of commerce the wrong way. Staff doesn't wanna do anything that might either interrupt coffee break or annoy someone who has to do something so the responsibility is passed to a consultant. Staff thinks it's their job instead of actually thinking and adding and subtracting and putting together plans for what if? Like, what if we run out of water? Like what if the sewage treatment plant needs more water? and if Staff doesn't know there's quite a few people in town that have been here for years that do you know and can add and subtract........ Even multiply.
So let me get this straight. Water rates are going up dramatically to help cover the cost of the operating costs of the new sewage treatment plant. So to generate funds through metered water use, people actually have to use the water…and the more the better for generating revenue to fund the plant. The plant I assume also will need plenty of water to process the sewage. Also DDC’s paid by developers are designed and used to fund the upgrade of the existing water /sewer infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime our mayor and council are promoting less water usage and more water conversation measures, limiting any new developments because of our limited water supply (so no DCC revenues from developers.) And all at the same the mayor and council have made 0 effort to make plans to increase Tofino’s summer raw water supply?? The recent water study basically said option 1 would be to expand the Ahkmaksis reservoir. So why aren’t they moving ahead with plans for that now!? Instead they have ordered another consultants study on expanding Tofino’s raw water suppy. huh..talk about kicking the preverbal can down the road. In the meantime the consumers of Tofino’s water will have 0 financial backing from the Mayor and Council. Less water use, no DCC’s = no revenue. Wow.
They don’t want to make decisions.
ReplyDeleteStaff are paid to direct the mayor and council to make the wisest decisions. The current staff seem incapable of making decisions in the best interest of the citizens of the town. All they suggest are studies after more studies and to do nothing in the meantime.
Why doesn’t the mayor and council demand responsible decision making from the staff?
If the staff can’t get themselves together enough to after having all those unneeded consultants come up with solid recommendations to council then perhaps it is time for them to A) do their jobs B) quit and get out of the way so someone who can do their jobs starts working here.
Just raise the Ahkmassis dam and replace the leaky water lines.
RE "Water Rates going up" Google "Luther Vandross.....A House is not a home." One of the all time musical classics It is a sad sad ode to.......sadness
ReplyDeleteThere needs to be one more stanza to that melancholy tune..
A plan is not a plan, when there is no planning there.
Sums up just about everything about the last few councils.
"Just raise the Ahkmassis Creek and replace the leaky water lines".. are you flipping serious? That work has been on the scheduled to do list for about.... 18 years.. No need to rush into this. Hire a few more consultants and chill man.
ReplyDelete4:17 When you refer to staff you mean the Superintendent of Public Works. That would be AAron Rodgers. Anti development Rodgers. He is the one in his report to council responding to the newly completed Water Master Plan that recommended, stricter water conservation, increased rain capture barrels and a new “limit growth policy” . He was also the one recommending the new Raw Water Supply study instead of recommending immediate work on how to increase the Ahlmasis Reservoir storage capacity. He also was the one who independently (no professional assistance) developed tofino’s current OCP that states that there will be no new developments approved, either residential or commercial South of Industrial Way. Wow, that land base (aka tax rev base) represents about 2/3 ‘s of Tofino land base. In speaking with a public works employee and asking why aren’t we (Public Works) working on increasing the storage at Ahkmaksis, he simply shrugged his shoulders,shook his head and said good question. . Nyla is doing a great job. After all she was the one who recommended council wait to opt in to the BC STR Act. like the majority of Toficians wanted to do. Then councillors thew her under the bus in a public council meeting. Tragic and sad.
ReplyDeleteThe conversation brings to mind the problem: as an alleged tourist destination resort community the water shortage is a threat for a very short period of time, depending upon rainfall conditions, from August till about September 7. So why is there a big panic for the taxpayers to come up with a 45 day solution and pay for it so the tourists aren't inconvenienced?
ReplyDeleteThat brings us to the second big Panic about water the taxpayers are supposed to solve as well which is: what if the sewer system needs more water to make it work as planned? The wastewater consultant tells us with confidence that the plant will recycle sufficient water to keep the thing going the way it's supposed to. Sure. Now is there any kind of a back up plan just in case? Of course not. Just wait to see what happens and if we need more water we will divert perfectly good drinking water to run the sewage treatment plant......... but there won't be enough water to flush the toilets or shower.
Tofino is a quaint fishing village of 600 souls, perched on the senic west coast of Vancouver Island. The big lie.
ReplyDeleteIf the lie is big enough, and you tell it often enough, eventually people will come to believe it true- Goebbels.
So make your reservations and haul your family here for your holiday this year. Until you get here, you won't know that there actually is no quaint village, you've been landed into the middle of today's 20,000 tourists, clogging up the streets like you were in Coney Island.Too bad, we got you now. Pay up. Thanks. Once again, the big lie worked.
Development would wreck this scam. If the place starts looking too rich, the fish might stop swimming into the trap. Keep it lookin' humble.
AAron, and Dan, and Tom, know exactly what they're doing. And why.
So, we don't need any more water.
We just need more money, so staff can better manage the water we have now.
more money to waste
ReplyDeleteNo Development.... then there will be no DCC's collected. About 18 years ago chief bottle washer( you know the guy who left in disgrace) announced a tripling of Dcc's to pay for the project of getting water from Kennedy Lake.....No bull crap. That happened. Council did that on advice from the guy who left in disgrace.. How did that work out?. The moneys collected ,meagre as they were(remember, no development mo Dcc's collected) was spent on......??? Other things....Is that even legal? Can you do that? Take peoples money under false pretense. Certainly it was not spent not spent on the water system to Kennedy Lake. That was a pipe dream. Ha Ha pun intended. If you don't approve development you don't collect.....The current Infrastructure guru learned his trade from Smith. He has been destroying the community for decades. Set the DCC rate at whatever you want. It is all smoke mirrors and bull crap.
ReplyDeleteThe whole point of the DCC charge is to get the new development to pay for the improvements necessitated by that growth, so the existing tax base doesn't get taxed into oblivion.. How is that working out for you tax payers? .
Council after council feeds you bull crap... Just pay up!
Town looks like shit. Trailers and motorhomes everywhere serving as housing. Illegal under the Bylaws but hey. It can't be helped. Gotta do what we gotta do.....Right.....But you...you taxpayers.....just shut up and pay...Cause we are stupid. Town is run by buffoons. but it is on us. We let them get away with it. Elect a few more social justice warriors to finish the job.
OMG!! Water in Tofino is the same as gasoline in Ottawa!! The solution is simple. Make it so expensive that folks just won't use it, same theory as carbon tax.
ReplyDeleteWe are so fortunate to have these wonderful political leaders to steer us into the future....
Keeping everyone in a trailer keeps these idiots at DOT in power. This ain't by accident. Most folks only live here for a season or a year or two and are susceptible to the BS and obfuscation. These transients, nice as they may be for a conversation or for renting surfboards, are part of the Tofino great replacement theory. Counting newbies, population gets 100% replacement in 10 years.
ReplyDeleteLet's put our money into more staff employment at the District, instead of fixing anything. If it's broken don't fix it....kick the can down the road and tell the world about your accomplishments and woes......Remember.... while speaking about VCR's, the Mayor say he "grieves" for the children that aren't here.....What is that? Virtue signaling? Come on. Get real. Solve real problems.
Council has waged war on Vacation Rentals but actively supports rvs , trailers and people sleeping in cars. At least Vacation Rentals provide caretaker housing and pay property taxes .
ReplyDeleteDon't know how to solve a problem or what to do? Tax it! It's how the government seems to work here. The problem is unintended consequences. Carbon tax is a prime example as well as the empty home tax. Seems like a good idea until you dig into some of the reality. Vancouver is seeing an increase in gang members moving to high end neighbourhoods like coal harbour. Condos that have sat empty for years and owned by off shore residents are coming onto the rental market. Many of these condos were purchased with money laundering funds and dark money. Now the owners don't want to pay the tax so the are entering the rental market just as the government had hoped. The only problem is they are renting for over 10k a month and the only people who can afford it are the gangsters coming in from surrey. Suddenly people's quiet little affluent condo buildings are being taken over by gangsters in Vancouver highest end hoods. Try and control markets and they end up controlling you in unimaginable ways. Solve problems with actions not taxes. Have a housing shortage? Build more homes. Have a water shortage? Increase your storage. We are being taxed to death and the government thinks its solving problems. Here's an idea... maybe the DOT could try promoting business and not controlling, over regulating and taxing the crap right out of us.
ReplyDeleteA lot of the building , sales and subdivisions in the last few years were done by District staff. Your thoughts ?
ReplyDelete@5:27 not to mention some of the illegal rentals, owned by staff, that were in gibson heights. Is it a two tiered system with two sets of rules? Your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteWhen is our next election? It seems as though Council is out of its depth. We no longer celebrate Canada day due to multiple woks guilt issues. Our water is some of the most expensive in Canada yet we are near one of the wettest places in Canada. Government Salaries are skyrocketing up in a town of 2500 ( look up in the last financial report). Taxes going up and up and up.
ReplyDeleteTime for a change, more qualified council and staff. Fiscal restraint. Nonstakeholders paying their fair share for the benefits they receive.
Nice people who can’t get the job done need to be moved along. If you think Tofino can survive anything take a look at all the small seaside towns in Oregon that were once flourishing.
Time for some hard decisions
We could save some cash by relying more on staff than consultants. Again, we paid $700k more in 2023 for our new tier of "manager" staff than Ukee did. Not sure how that gets justified by mayor and council, especially in light of tax and utility increases like this.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I see with relying on staff is that it just might rub tourism Tofino and the chamber of commerce the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteStaff doesn't wanna do anything that might either interrupt coffee break or annoy someone who has to do something so the responsibility is passed to a consultant. Staff thinks it's their job instead of actually thinking and adding and subtracting and putting together plans for what if? Like, what if we run out of water? Like what if the sewage treatment plant needs more water? and if Staff doesn't know there's quite a few people in town that have been here for years that do you know and can add and subtract........ Even multiply.