EDITORIAL

The Stittsville News – September 30, 2003

Failure to communicate effectively with residents

The public open house at South Carleton High School in Richmond last week was totally inadequate, not as a forum of information but as a forum where concerns of the community could be heard and addressed.

There most certainly needs to be an airing of this whole issue as it relates to Richmond and the sewer pipeline from Munster. It is unfortunate that the city did not take the opportunity last week, or is not taking the opportunity in the future, to provide residents of Richmond with all the information about the project as it relates to Richmond.

Many Richmond residents have questions about the pipeline: what are the inherent dangers from it for the aquifer and shallow wells; why the pipeline must go through Richmond rather than connect with the sewer system elsewhere; what assurances are there that Richmond residents and their water supply will not be adversely impacted by the pipeline; what is the guarantee that this extra sewage load will not impact future growth in the village of Richmond; and, perhaps most importantly, why were Richmond residents not provided with the same wide public involvement and participation in the process that led to the selection of a pipeline running through Richmond.

What seems to be the chief irritant for many Richmond residents is the perceived fact that they have not been heard in this whole issue, that their concerns have not been considered and that their views have been ignored by city officials.

There is no doubt that something has to be done and done quickly for the Munster wastewater situation. Imagine, this problem started back in 1995 and there is still time to go before the solution is in place. It has been a problem that has gone on for far too long already, and it cannot be delayed any longer.

But on the other side of the coin, surely the residents of Richmond who have concerns regarding this pipeline and its potential danger to drinking water and thus human health in Richmond deserve a forum in which they can hear all the facts about the project and, more importantly, can get all of their questions and concerns answered.

At the end of the day, they may not like what they hear. But surely a basic principal of effective, democratic municipal government is that the people should have an opportunity to be heard. Richmond residents feel that this has not been the case in this situation.

The failure of the city to communicate effectively with Richmond residents in this situation means that the sewer pipeline is going to become a major issue in the upcoming municipal election campaign. But surely a proper forum to discuss and resolve this situation would have been for the city and its officials to establish an open communication process with the residents and work things out.

Instead, it is going to become a municipal election hot potato and certainly is a glaring example of how a municipal government has failed to be successful in communicating with residents