Hearts and minds

Here's the Feb. 25 editorial:

Judging by the turnout at a recent sewage treatment plant meeting, residents of Mississippi Mills are not happy.
More than 100 people gathered at Almonte’s Old Town Hall to get the latest news about the proposed plant.
The new plant will replace the lagoon system the town presently relies on and is projected to be running by 2012.
At a cost of $27 million, the municipality will need to find more than $5.1 million to fund its portion of the project.
While no one likes increased fees or higher taxes, it’s clear the town has not been able to win the hearts and minds of residents on this issue.
With infrastructure funding being offered now – thanks in no small part to the state of the economy – politicians are worried if they don’t act, they’ll have to fund a much higher portion later.
“If we turn this money back, we’ll never get it again,” Mayor Al Lunney warned the crowd. “We’ve got the money. We’re ahead of the curve.”
And there’s the question of growth. For the municipality to accommodate new growth there has to be treatment capacity there, the crowd was told.
Both are good arguments.
But we’re worried on a couple of fronts.
We hoped the town would be able to convince residents to get on board a decision of this magnitude; a decision that will hit the pocket books of many.
If it really is the right time and right move, why aren’t the hearts and minds being won?
We are also worried the plant proposal could become a wedge issue in the fall election. Will voters cast their ballots based on where candidates stand on the plant? While accountability is a corner stone of our electoral process, we have some concern the election could become a quasi-referendum after the fact.
Hopefully the many other issues of the day will not be lost in the shadow of the treatment plant debate.
Our hope is the town will be able to either convince residents this is the right thing, or reevaluate its plans altogether.

Have your say. Write a letter to the editor via e-mail at roger.leblanc@metroland.com or via post at the address below.