EFFORTS FOR MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

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There was an exchange of possible Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Village of Anmore and AGE between December 11 - December 21, 2018. All offered versions of the MOU are available via links below. No agreeable terms could be reached as the Village held fast on several conditions that AGE could not agree to. A signed MOU is not a legal requirement for the Village to proceed with GVSDD membership but cost apportionment and public consultation are required. The disputed conditions are as follows: 

• AGE stop engagement and or actions to progress alternative solutions (eg. boundary adjustment to become part of Port Moody)
• Any communications with all other parties must first be approved by the Village of Anmore
• Any and all costs for current and future costs for GVSDD membership will be the sole responsibility of AGE strata (with limited definition of the process, timelines, or estimated costs)
• Connection will only be provided to the existing homes (this prevents the strata from using the septic field as a land asset to fund the connection)
• The service area not be defined to AGE lands (meaning other areas could be provided services at AGE’s expense)

AGE was offered one meeting with the Village to discuss the connection that occurred on February 12, 2019. AGE requested the Mayor and Council members attendance but this was declined. Following the meeting AGE received three emails from the Village regarding our questions for cost clarification (all emails available below). The financial information provided to date is fragmented and incomplete. 

The Village has maintained the position that AGE must pay for any and all initial costs of the connection and membership (without clarification and definition of these requirements or costs) and that AGE must pay any and all GVSDD membership fees (for the entire population of Anmore) in perpetuity. Based on the amount spent to date ($400,000) and the information the Village has provided,   construction, studies, and fees for the initial connection could be upwards of $1,000,0000 for AGE; this does not include the additional annual fees of an estimated $76,411 (starting in 2019) raising to $162,000 (by 2022) that the Village says AGE must pay in perpetuity.

AGE is willing to pay for construction costs of the connection and services we receive but we cannot commit to untold financial risk, or to having us, a group of 51 homes, pay the annual fees for more than 750 existing Anmore homes. There is simply no way individual families can decide to vote for or against a MOU without understanding of whether or not they can meet the financial and legal expectations of an MOU.

Options for Connection:

There has always been two options for the connection:

1. Boundary Adjustment: A boundary adjustment could be made so that AGE becomes part of Port Moody, at which point connection can be made. As Port Moody is already a member of GVSDD this option would not require the Village to become a member of GVSDD and the Village could avoid the Ministerial Order against the Village that requires them to provide a Liquid Waste Management Plan for all of Anmore. There is a standing offer from Port Moody in support of the boundary change. This can proceed if the Village agrees to the boundary change.  
2. The Village becomes a full member of GVSDD: The Village goes through the process to gain full GVSDD membership, at which point connection can be made. The Village is looking to do this by creating a Local Service Area to charge any and all costs for the membership and sewer charges. The Village has defined the service area as the AGE homes, and Middle school, but explicitly excluded the AGE septic fields. The Village has also made moving forward in this process conditional on AGE signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is a contractual agreement that would outline the strata’s legal and financial obligations (update on MOU above).

There is recent documentation of Village staff indicating to the Province and GVSDD that the Municipality itself will be paying its membership fees, and AGE will be responsible for the construction costs (see highlighting in linked attachments below). If the intention is for the membership fees to be the responsibility of everyone in the municipality, as the Village has told the province and GVSDD, then public consultation with all of Anmore and support from Anmore residents is required. If the intention is to bill any and all costs to AGE, as the Village has stated in the MOU discussions, then concise cost apportionment and consultation and support from Anmore residents in AGE is required.

Our biggest concerns are that if a transparent, fair and equitable process is not followed or the path taken turns out to be financially unattainable or not supported by the community – we could be left no closer to a connection than we were two years ago.