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Cheakamus owners outraged over asphalt decision

But 150-metre relocation was the only realistic option, says mayor
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After listening to outraged Cheakamus Crossing homeowners vent their concerns regarding the nearby asphalt plant for nearly three hours Tuesday night, a visibly tired Mayor Ken Melamed said there was one thing he would like to stress.

"We are quite sympathetic," Melamed said following Tuesday's council meeting.

"We are not in an argument with the community. We agree with the community and we are not debating the issue. We were faced with one decision and one decision only, and that option goes a long way to address it. It may not go as far as council wanted, but it goes a long way to addressing the issue."

The municipality announced May 13 that it has entered into an agreement with Alpine Paving Ltd. to relocate its asphalt plant 150 metres south of its current site. The agreement includes a stringent new air quality bylaw, to be implemented by the municipality by Oct. 31, that Alpine Paving must comply with.

At the end of the day, council believes Cheakamus Crossing will be a great neighbourhood and a happy place for people to live, said Melamed.

"We have learned about the science and the health and safety, and we hope that people come to terms with their choice and the legacy will prove itself out."

But the deal didn't satisfy many people who will move into their new homes in Cheakamus Crossing this fall.

The anger was tangible during Tuesday's animated meeting which saw 50 emotional homeowners come to MY Millennium Place armed with reasons why an active asphalt plant should not be allowed to operate near their new neighbourhood.

Concerns ranged from the zoning, to how will the new emissions bylaw will be enforced, to the number of trucks travelling the road near Cheakamus Crossing in the summer. Over the course of the evening, 15 individuals got up to the podium to ask their questions - many of them repeatedly.

Patricia Westerholm, one of the most persistent voices throughout the night, expressed her severe disappointment the following morning over mayor and council's decisions.

"I think they paid us lip service in the fall so we would pay our deposits and not make a fuss during the Olympics," said Westerholm, a mother of three who purchased in the Cheakamus Crossing neighourhood. "They have turned around and defied us, and I feel blind-sided, and defeated, and sad."

For her, the issue now goes beyond the asphalt plant.

Among her concerns, she pointed to the fact that council has held 31 public meetings and 45 closed meetings in 2009 and 2010.

"Discovering that this council holds more closed meetings than they do regular council meetings was shocking for me," said Westerholm. "There are problems with the process that need to be dealt with as well."

At council's April 20 meeting nine options for the asphalt plant were presented. Council referred the report back to staff, who were expected to come back with recommendations.

But at a closed-door session last week council agreed on the deal with Alpine Paving. According to Melamed, the deal is finalized and the paper work has been signed.

Through the deal, Frank Silveri, the owner of Alpine Paving, has agreed to pay $1 million to upgrade the plant, with the municipality contributing approximately $400,000 so far in legal costs.

Alpine Paving will cease most of its operations by September and the plant will be completely moved by April 30, 2011.

The plant will also have to reduce its emissions to meet a proposed air quality bylaw, and the municipality will test the air at Cheakamus Crossing and post the results online by next summer.

Many residents have been rallying regarding the politics surrounding the asphalt plant.

The Cheakamus Crossing Facebook group has seen a flurry of activity and residents met privately in a "closed door" session on Monday night to discuss their options. They have started sending out letters to national media and they plan to come out again with their concerns at the municipality's open house today (May 20).

While last week's move appeared to go against council's statement to the community last month, that they were reviewing the nine options, Melamed said there was no alterative.

"This was a very sensitive negotiation and it needed to be signed to ensure our ability to deliver on this option," said the mayor. "The alternative was the status quo and that was not a place we were prepared to go."

Even though the municipality is not allowed to release the vote at last week's closed-door session, two councillors at the table on Tuesday night expressed their frustration with the process.

"I am not going to support this one going forward," said an angry Councillor Eckhard Zeidler.

"All we are doing is ensuring more and more of something that is going in the wrong direction. There seems to be two Whistlers. There is one Whistler where things at one point in time that are possibilities become impossibilities. What I have heard tonight is that something is impossible, or that it can't happen, or that it is out of the question.

"In the Whistler I live in, we don't do end-of-pipe solutions. We get to the source."

Councillor Ralph Forsyth shared his sentiments.

Despite Forsyth and Zeidler's objections, the majority of council voted to go ahead this week with the 150-metre move. Staff was directed to prepare an emission control bylaw and start an ambient air testing program in the spring of 2011.

Municipal staff also said once these measures are in place, the air quality at Cheakamus Crossing will likely be better than at Meadow Park Sports Centre.

Today's open house starts at 5 p.m. at Cheakamus Crossing and will include a tour of the asphalt plant and rock quarry. Representatives from the Ministry of Environment, Alpine Paving and the municipality will be on hand to field questions.

 

Agreement details

 

The asphalt plant agreement states that Alpine Paving must move the plant to its new site by April 30, 2011; complete major paving projects by Sept. 30 of this year; and cease manufacturing asphalt at the current site by Nov. 30, 2010.

Alpine Paving is also being directed to carry out site preparation for the facility so that the company is ready for the 2011 paving season. The municipality will implement a zoning amendment by Oct. 31 to allow the relocation.

The municipality will also adopt a new emissions control bylaw by Oct. 31 this year. The bylaw will set the same emission criteria as Metro Vancouver, which the municipality calls the "strictest in the province." Ambient air testing will begin at Cheakamus Crossing in the spring of 2011.

To meet the new emission standards Alpine Paving will upgrade its facility with a baghouse and other infrastructure or equipment. The new baghouse - a fabric filter system - removes and collects dust from the plant. According to the RMOW's release this system is considered 90 per cent more effective than the current wet scrubber system, which involves droplets of water being sprayed into the exhaust to remove particulates.

The municipality has spent between $30,000 and $40,000 on background studies into the possibility of moving the asphalt plant.