‘In for a penny, in for a pound’- council votes to pay for rest of Ajax study

“In for a penny, in for a pound,” was the way Mayor Peter Milobar put it today (Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016) as Kamloops City councillors voted unanimously to take $200,000 from the general reserve fund to finish an independent study of the Ajax mine application.

Some councillors were more enthusiastic than others, but in view of KGHM’s refusal to write a cheque, they agreed it was the best move.

“I’m not surprised KGHM said no,” said Milobar, adding, “We’re in for a penny, in for a pound now as far as I’m concerned…. I say we’re far enough into this that we need to see it through to its end. We should be prepared to fund it.”

He pointed out that if KGHM had rejected paying the first $300,00 for the study, council was prepared at the time to hire SLR Consulting anyway “so we would have been on the hook for the whole shot.”

Coun. Dieter Dudy also said he wasn’t surprised by KGHM’s refusal to pay another $200,000, and wondered if “it’s time to cut our losses.”

Coun. Pat Walllace, who made the motion to draw the money from the general reserve fund, said, “We do have to move on.”

In May, the B.C. Environmental Assessment office approved a request from KGHM to put the review timeline on hold, but KGHM is expected to ask within a few weeks that it resume.

City public works director Jen Fretz said the 180-day timeframe was frozen at day 107. That leaves 73 days more but it doesn’t mean the City has 73 days to submit its comments to the BCEAO. She said the agency needs time to create reports for cabinet ministers, so the City will have more like a couple of weeks once the process is thawed.

“I would rather just vote against this whole project, but that’s not happening,” said Coun. Denis Walsh, who “reluctantly” supported Wallace’s motion.

Coun. Donovan Cavers was equally unhappy. “It’s very sad that KGHM won’t contribute to the ongoing work but it needs to happen.”

He had earlier tweeted that the community impact assessment was the ”cost of doing business” for KGHM and wrote, “Shame on KGHM.”

Coun. Marg Spina said she was “thankful taxpayers didn’t have to pay the $300,000 (originally the expected cost for the independent study, which KGHM paid for) and “I think it’s well worth it to get answers to the questions that people are wondering about.”

After the application review stage, the project will be referred to government for a decision within 45 days. At that point it could be approved, or not approved, which would either kill the project or result in further assessment.