Responding to a letter to the editor that Delterra Engineering’s Trevor Shephard wrote to the Arrow Lakes News, Nakusp CAO Linda Tynan agreed that Shephard did good things for the Village, but said there were differences of opinion as far as other issues went.
Although Shephard believed it would have cost less to have him complete the Nakusp water treatment project, Tynan disagreed.
“Like all contracts we enter into there are complexities and management and council determined it was in the best interest of the village to terminate him,” said Tynan, who added that it was his perspective that costs would have been lower if the Village had retained Delterra Engineering, and it differed from the Village’s.
When asked about changes in staff and additional projects which led to delays in projects that Delterra Engineering was responsible, Tynan said they were separate issues from the reasons for the termination of the company.
“I think they’re independent issues,” said the CAO, who acknowledged that staff turn over and increased environmental reporting requirements did contribute to delays in Village projects.
“But that wasn’t the final reason for terminating his contract,” she asserted, stating there were larger picture issues. “The Village took all of that into account and understands that, but over and above that we had other issues.” Tynan declined to comment on details surrounding the issues.
“There are always ups and downs,” she said, noting that “it’s never a comfortable situation” when contractors are terminated.
“The fact is, Trevor did really good things,” the CAO stated, “but he got paid for them too, and that’s why he doesn’t get a lot of extra credit.” Tynan pointed out that like any contractor, Delterra Engineering was paid for his work.