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Confidential report slams P3 paper

Dayton Knight report not included in council's background package
1319sewage
A newly-released report condemns the P3 option chosen by council for Whistler's wastewater treatment plant. File photo

A confidential engineering report, made public this week, has two councillors "deeply troubled" about council’s decision to pursue a public-private partnership for Whistler’s sewage treatment plant.

Reading the report, said Councillor Eckhard Zeidler, has shed a whole new light on the topic and where once he was willing to try to remain neutral and allow voters to decide on the P3 for themselves, he will now be vociferous in his opposition.

"I’m not going to stand by the previous council’s decision," said Zeidler, after reading the report Tuesday. "I would like to see the decision reversed… I may not win but I’m going to be, from this point forward, very upfront about it.

"This report is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me."

The Dayton & Knight report, dated November 2004 and addressed to municipal lawyer Donald Lidstone, delivers in no uncertain terms, a scathing commentary on an earlier Partnerships BC report promoting a P3 for the multi-million dollar upgrades to Whistler’s sewage treatment plant.

Councillors were unaware of the strong contents of the report until this week.

Both reports were to have informed a blue ribbon panel of experts who were then to make recommendations to council.

Partnerships BC is the provincial government body that is mandated to investigate and, where appropriate, promote P3s in the province.

The Dayton and Knight report says this about Partnerships BC’s report on Whistler’s sewage plant: "The PBC (Partnerships BC) exercise in support of DBO (design, build and operate by a private partner) lacks credibility, because it rests on unrealistic and erroneous assumptions.

"Support for a DBO can be made only for political or self-serving reasons. Its selection over the current traditional approach lacks or excludes common sense, ethics, imagination, history and reason."

Dayton & Knight have been Whistler’s wastewater engineering consultant for more than 20 years, doing all the work through the last three major upgrades at the plant.

On one hand the company stood to lose work if council chose a P3 model. On the other hand, they were trusted consultants to the municipality.

Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden, who read the Dayton & Knight report Tuesday, called the contents "unbelievable".

With the critique in hand she was surprised the blue ribbon panel made the recommendations they did for Whistler to pursue the P3 option.

"I am appalled at that (blue ribbon panel) report," she said. "It amazes me that the report would still be written in the manner it was in light of Dayton & Knight’s very pointed criticisms of Partnerships BC’s business case."

She doubted the previous council could have read the Dayton & Knight report and then voted to move ahead with the P3.

"I don’t know that the previous council had seen it," she said. "I can’t believe that they would have."

The previous council received the Dayton and Knight report in an in camera meeting, along with a presentation from engineer Harlan Kelly, on Jan. 10, 2005. Council gave all opinions due consideration during their in camera debate. Days later the municipality issued a press release saying it had decided to pursue the P3 option.

This decision was passed on to the new council in November and they have been charged with continuing the process.

The current council never received a copy of the Dayton & Knight report. It was never part of any background material they were given in order to make an informed decision about the $35 million upgrades to the plant.

To be fair, said Wilhelm-Morden, council never asked for a copy of the report and council was not debating the merits or pitfalls of the P3.

Wilhelm-Morden and Zeidler have been opposed to the P3 since the debate resurfaced at the council table.

For Councillor Bob Lorriman, who also read the Dayton & Knight report for the first time this week, it’s not a "red flag."

"This isn’t a big smoking gun that showed up," he said. "It hasn’t influenced me.

"For Dayton & Knight to respond like that to Partnerships BC, I think is expected."

He explained that each was offering their side of a very contentious debate.

There were references to the Dayton & Knight report, and the fact that it did not share the same opinion as the Partnerships BC report, in council’s background material, but Mayor Ken Melamed acknowledged those references don’t carry the same weight as actually reading the contents of the report itself.

Melamed said this week he believes this council, like the previous council, should have been privy to the contents of Dayton & Knight report before this week and he apologized for the oversight.

"All I can suggest is it was missed," he said.

When asked if he believes the report was intentionally left out of council’s background material because of its scathing commentary on the Partnerships BC report supporting the P3, the mayor denied what he called "conspiracy theories."

"I can honestly say that I don’t believe that was going on in any way," he said.

The confidential report was made public this week. More than one year ago a private citizen requested the document through the Freedom of Information Act. It is now available on www.whistlerwatch.org

The report comes as the municipality works on the Alternative Approval Process. This AAP is required because the municipality is proposing to enter into a P3 contract, which contains capital liabilities longer than five years.

If 10 per cent of Whistler voters, pegged at 892 people, sign a form and submit it before the deadline, it could kill the P3 project or force a referendum.

In light of Dayton & Knight’s strong criticisms, said Wilhelm-Morden, she is convinced the blue ribbon panel report is "fundamentally flawed."

"So I’m more convinced than ever that the community has to inform themselves and get involved with this AAP," she said.