The Chair of the Capital Regional District has changed her mind about supporting a more than $42-thousand European tour of Integrated Resource Management sites in October.
Last week's vote to send 2 staffers and 3 Committee Chairs to investigate waste management sites in Germany, Belgium, Spain and France passed narrowly, 6-5 at the Committee of the Whole. But it still needs to be approved by the CRD Board and environment committee.
But CRD Chair and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins says she is no longer in favour and will present an alternate plan:
"What we need to do is bring all of the information that we've got already, and our consultant has more information that she can bring to the table - and she's done some tours. And we need to see what it is that we require to make decisions around moving forward on the procurement. And I think what happened last week is there was a concern that we wouldn't move forward with IRM. "
IRM, or Integrated Resource Management, involves facilities that handle several kinds of waste, most specifically garbage, organics and treated sewage -- which is what will be happening at Hartland landfill.
Some directors said it would be better to have people on the ground to make the best decision on how to proceed here. Others said it would be more inclusive and cost effective to view the facilities over Skype. Estimated cost of the European trip is $85-hundred a person. A North American tour was also considered.