SAANICHNEWS COMMUNITY
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A Day in the Life Saanich
Sharp shooter
Saanich News photographers capture images from every nook and cranny of the community. Inside
Reynolds secondary grad going to UVic Vikes as the provincial junior golf champion. Page A17
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
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Taxpayers face huge sewer bill Regional sewage treatment a go after feds commit funding Daniel Palmer News staff
Greater Victoria homeowners can brace for extra property taxes of $200 to $500 each year, now that the federal and provincial governments have committed their share of the $783-million sewage treatment project. Residents in the seven invested municipalities of Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, Langford, View Royal and Colwood will have to absorb tax hikes until the project is completed in 2018, said Denise Blackwell, chair of the Capital Regional District’s liquid waste management committee. “Lots of people know that this is something that’s been a long time coming and is probably overdue,” she said. “We still have some people who think dilution is the solution, but we’ve been ordered by the provincial government to do it.” The CRD needs to contribute $281 million – about one-third of the total cost – to the wastewater treatment program, which includes a treatment plant at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt, upgrades to the sewer system and a biosolids energy centre. “Fundamentally, it’s time for us to treat our sewage,” said Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin. “We just cannot continue to dump our sewage into the ocean.” PLEASE SEE: Shovels in the ground, Page A6
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
From left, Christine Sweline, Danika Sweline and Bonnie Campbell take their dogs Maggie and Duncan out for a walk in Cuthbert Holmes Park in Saanich. The municipality is mulling making the popular park on-leash only for dogs.
A dogged fight for freedom Saanich eyes leashing dogs in an effort to repair municipal park Kyle Slavin News staff
Saanich boasts itself as a dogfriendly community with more than 150 parks where man’s fourlegged friends can run off leash. But talk about turning much of one park into an on leashonly has some dog owners up in arms. “Dog walkers see themselves
as the primary users of the park,” wrote Linda Shaw in a letter to the News, regarding plans for Cuthbert Holmes Park. “Many have been walking their pets in the park for years and are frustrated at the possibility of being penalized despite years of good park citizenry.” Saanich has been undertaking a lengthy management process for Cuthbert Holmes, a natural park, to look at how to maintain a healthy balance of nature and recreation. As part of the process, there are plans to shut down “unauthorized trails” through the park to help the ecosystem flourish, said parks manager Rae Roer.
“We might systematically close off some of the unauthorized trails, combine that with restoration efforts, and then asking people to stay out of those areas,” Roer said. “We’re proposing voluntary compliance that would include leashing your dog. And that would reduce conflict with wildlife, conflict with people, and conflict with dog owners, and it would preserve the natural side of the park.” He added that no decisions have been finalized. In response to the suggestion that Saanich might make the park on-leash, or only allow off leash in specific areas of the park
near the Trans-Canada Highway, Shaw launched an online petition called “Keep Cuthbert Holmes dog friendly.” It currently has 226 signatures from equally incensed dog owners. Shaw argues that leashing dogs would drive away local residents who use the park every day, and attract more transient people, who camp, damage the ecosystem and consume drugs. “Dogs aren’t trashing (the park), it’s the people camping and leaving needles,” said Shaw, who has walked her dog at Cuthbert Holmes for 11 years. PLEASE SEE: On-leash, Page A7
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