One week after future residents of Cheakamus Crossing learned council signed an agreement to move an asphalt plant operation 150 metres from its current location, many are continuing to investigate the situation.
Worried homeowners are calling the Ministry of Environment, health professionals and the municipality, as well as combing through business license lists and environmental regulations to find reasons why the plant should not be allowed to operate so close to the new neighbourhood.
"The last open house left a lot of questions unanswered," said homeowner Tim Koshul. "I always go to these things with an open mind, and I always leave going, 'What was that all about?' I feel for our local politicians, but I need them to feel what we are going through."
Koshul is trying to find out if Alpine Paving has a business license in place, and he is trying to get an official medical opinion on the health impact of living next to an active asphalt plant.
His future neighbour, Natasha Fremont, echoed his concerns.
Fremont doesn't understand the municipality's support of the asphalt plant when the Official Community Plan and Whistler 2020 both say that heavy industry need to be moved out of Whistler.
She also wants to know how councillors voted during the closed council meeting when local lawmakers made their final decision.
"I find it somewhat appalling that we are not able to know who voted which way," said Fremont. "I want to know what that final vote was so I can know who of our council is so weak that they would stand up for our health in public and then sell us out in a protected shroud of secrecy."
The municipality announced on May 13 it had entered into an agreement with Alpine Paving Ltd. to relocate the plant behind a hill 150 metres south of its current site. The agreement includes a stringent new air quality bylaw, which will be implemented by Oct. 31.
Fremont guarantees she will continue to push for the plant to be moved permanently to an alternative, isolated setting.
"The choice to move the plant 150 metres was wimpy in my opinion," said Fremont. "Even people that aren't moving into the neighbourhood are just as shocked they are only moving it 150 metres."
The long list of resident concerns has continued to grow since the open house on Thursday, May 20 where residents got a chance to ask the mayor, municipal staff and representatives from the Ministry of Environment more questions about the asphalt plant situation.
About 50 people attended the information session, many of them bringing their children.
Questions came fast and furious during the open house, with the audience breaking out into yells at one point about the perceived lack of empathy from council and municipal staff.
Fremont also called for the residents to make sure they get medical checkups before moving into the neighbourhood.
"If everything goes forward as it does, we all need to be very careful here," she said. "We need to go out to our doctors and get complete bills to prove we are completely fit. This is something that all of us should be doing."
The open house attendees also went on a rainy walk to the gravel pit and asphalt plant, where Alpine Paving and Whistler Aggregates owner Frank Silveri met them.
Standing on the future asphalt plant site, Silveri - who also owns an asphalt plant in Squamish - was confident that he could meet the environmental standard set out in his agreement with the municipality.
In all his years of business, he has never heard of anyone getting sick from asphalt plants, he said.
"For some reason, there is so much fear," said Silveri. "People are misinformed."
Through the new agreement, Silveri has agreed to pay $1 million to move and upgrade the plant, with the municipality contributing approximately $400,000 in legal costs.
It is unclear how many residents remain against council's decision, however.
Since the open house some of those against the 150 metre move are voicing their outrage publicly on Facebook, although many more are part of an active emailing list that involves up to 50 messages a day.
Meanwhile, one resident who previously spoke out against the asphalt plant decision has decided to let the issue rest.
"I have been with the group and uncomfortable with it since the beginning," said Adam Protter. "I didn't want to be associated with that."
He added that his discomfort continued to resonate after reading G. D. Maxwell's column in the Pique last week.
"Walking through the plant at the open house, the whole thing just gelled," said Protter. "I saw how things looked and I thought about it and realized this is how I feel.
"The residents that are active in this whole thing want to find the smoking guns that will enable the plant to go away. I feel it is very difficult for them to accept the fact that the plant is happening whether they like it or not, and they need to focus on damage control."
