City services gone to pot
By Kyra Hoggan
If you think Castlegar city council has gone down the drain, you may be right – there’s a lot of toilet talk happening at City Hall.
For once, however, politics aren’t the inspiration for the bathroom humour. Actual toilets are instead. This, after Monday night’s regular council meeting saw a report recommending the extension of the city’s toilet exchange program, in which residents are offered a rebate for replacing conventional, ineffecient toilets, with approved low-flow models. (The process includes an expectation that residents provide before-and-after photos with themselves and both toilets, and city staff request that locals, “Keep it clean, folks,” referring, one can only assume, to the photographs rather than the toilets themselves – although it’s probably a good rule of thumb in either case.) Councillor and chair of the Transportation and Civic Works Committee Kevin Chernoff was flushed with success when reporting to his colleagues that the program last year, “saved 1.2 million litres of potable water that would have otherwise gone down the drain.” The program – the brainchild of councillor Russ Hearne – benefits the city, not just in terms of environmental stewardship, but in real dollar terms as well. In his enthusiasm for the idea, unfortunately, Hearne offered a potty-mouth quote inappropriate to publication in this media. “The city was denied funding on grants in the past because of our high water-useage rates,” said Chernoff. “This is an important step in achieving both funding and sustainability.” The recommended extension will be debated at the committee level before being brought back to council, likely at its next regular meeting, as a motion to approve or …well, flush. For more information, contact City Hall at 250-365-7227.
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