As promised after their December open house, BC Hydro has come back to the community of Edgewood with the revision to the breakwater issue that has been dragging on for more than 40 years but never seems to get resolved to the satisfaction of the locals.
Attendance numbers were low, as the invitation stated 6:00- 8:00 p.m. with several people showing up thinking that the meeting started at 7:00 p.m., yet due to low attendance things were winding down as they arrived.
Local resident Jim Forbes thinks that might have been intentional, “It was a farce. People didn’t realize that the meeting started so early, so a bunch showed up later and I think that’s how BC Hydro wanted it. Dealing with this issue becomes a full time job, and people get tired of it. It’s an endless circle in the land of stupid.”
BC Hydro had a different opinion of the same event. After the last several months, they took the feedback received from the community, and BC Hydro has provided a new plan for the Edgewood boat ramp southern floating log breakwater and for it to be relocated north of the peninsula.
BC Hydro’s Mary Anne Coules, Stakeholder Engagement Advisor, Community Relations said, “The majority of attendees expressed their support for this option with the understanding that BC Hydro would modify the design to ensure the anchoring system did not extrude as far off the reservoir floor.”
“It was like they came with one agenda, they preyed on anybody who said they could tolerate the new concept and now that’s how it’s going to be,” Forbes lamented, “As soon as you get somewhere with Hydro, they change the people on you. They wear us down.”
According to Coules, attendees would like this work to be completed as soon as possible but based on a letter later sent to residents in the affected area, water levels will not permit construction this year with the limited equipment that is currently available. The letter includes a drawing and explanation, "The shore portion of the breakwater will be attached to steel piles similar to those used for the floating walkway. It will run parallel to the boat ramp. The breakwater sections in the bay will be attached to chains and anchored by piles driven into the reservoir floor.”
Residents can also contact Mary Anne Coules at 250-365-4565 or maryanne.coules@bchydro.com with their concerns.