Debate about the future of Springbank Dam ended before it got started Tuesday.
Council was set to discuss whether the city should do a joint master plan environmental assessment (EA) for the Springbank Dam and Back To The River or split the two projects up into two separate EA's. But a request for legal advice on the matter quickly saw talks deferred to a later council meeting.
Councillor Stephen Turner made the motion to seek further legal advice. It was unanimously passed by council, 15-0.
"That component is for advice in camera," says Turner. "With respect to how to proceed with the One River EA, what components that we need to consider at the appropriate times."
Turner says his position on the dam is very clear and he feels council is putting the cart before the horse with respect to the EA.
"When we do an EA it's typically in response to a policy direction of council. We decide we are going to do something and we do the EA to tell us how to do that. Rather than what is being proposed which kind of reverses that. It says lets do an EA and then lets do a policy decision. My feeling is we are out of order," says Turner.
There is no clear timeline for when council will receive answers to the outstanding legal questions. The dam debate can't return to council until that time.
"This is a complex question and a complex answer. It's really incumbent on us to make sure that we get it right," says Turner. "I understand the public’s frustration with it, because they want a decision quickly. In reality, this could be weeks, months, or years."
The Springbank Dam has been inoperable since 2006 when work on a multi-million dollar upgrade began. During testing of the upgrade in 2008, the dam malfunctioned. The malfunction prompted the city to launch a $5-million lawsuit against the contractors in April 2009. The lawsuit was settled in the fall of 2015 with the city receiving $3.775-million.
Debate on whether to repair or decommission the dam has divided the city into two camps, those who want it fixed for recreational use and those who say the Thames River is healthier with it out of commission.
More than 100 Londoners attended a public meeting at city hall on the dam's future two weeks ago.