Albert Sweetnam, head of the stalled Seaterra sewage-treatment program, is at the top of the Capital Regional District’s salary list for 2014.
Sweetnam, hired on a five-year contract in 2013, was paid $297,466 in salary and expenses last year — more than even CRD chief administrative officer Bob Lapham, whose salary and expenses totalled $238,036, according to the CRD’s latest statement of financial information.
Last year, when the CRD was moving ahead with its $788-million sewage-treatment program with plans to build a treatment plant at McLoughlin Point, Sweetnam was managing a staff of 20-plus consulting engineers.
But no more.
McLoughlin went down the toilet when Esquimalt refused to rezone the site for the treatment plant. While CRD directors rush to develop a Plan B, Seaterra, which was required by the province as a condition of its $248-million funding commitment, has been put on pause.
Seaterra’s job is to oversee construction of the project and runs autonomously within the CRD.
Sweetnam’s contract calls for an annual $270,000 salary. He is still drawing that salary, but is managing a pared-down Seaterra with the equivalent of four full-time workers.
That number could fall further with completion next month of preparatory projects such as the Craigflower pump station, said Seaterra Commission chairwoman Brenda Eaton.
Eaton said Sweetnam is available to assist in providing background and technical information, and remains available to manage the construction of whatever the CRD decides to build.
“It is pretty modest staffing, but we remain poised to be able to build whatever sewage-treatment system the CRD ultimately decides upon,” Eaton said in an email.
Local officials say that because the Seaterra Commission was mandated by the province, Seaterra — along with Sweetnam’s salary — is something they have to live with for now.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of money. It’s a lot of money for nothing happening right now, but all I can say is: ‘It is what it is.’ It’s unfortunate, but it’s a little bit out of our hands for now,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, who chairs the CRD core-area liquid-waste management committee.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins agreed.
“The board made that decision a few years ago [to hire Sweetnam] and he has a contract,” Desjardins said.
The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce is concerned about continued high costs associated with Seaterra even though it has been ramped down, said CEO Bruce Carter. “We have been concerned about the ongoing costs of the stalled sewage-treatment project and this is certainly an example of one of those challenges,” Carter said, adding that Sweetnam “is a highly qualified individual.”
“But the project still exists and hasn’t been cancelled yet. So I don’t know if you want to get rid of Albert,” Carter said.
In all, according to the statement of financial information, 214 CRD employees made more than $75,000 last year for a total of $21.3 million in salary and expenses. Of those, 81 made more than $100,000. The CRD has about 1,100 employees, of which 650 are permanent. The balance are casual and part-time. Total salary and expenses for all employees was $42.5 million.
Metchosin Mayor John Ranns, who has long been critical of spending at the CRD, said there’s an increasing gap between the top earners and the rank-and-file and it’s time for an independent review of the entire organization.
“When you reach something of that size [of payroll], you need to do something like that periodically to see if you’re doing things the right way and if efficiencies can be found,” Ranns said.
