City of Powell River councillors passed two recommendations that will pave the way for a referendum question on a new fire hall/emergency services facility, coinciding with the October 15, 2022, municipal election.
At the March 3 city council meeting, protective services portfolio holder, Maggie Hathaway moved the first recommendation, which was that the city hold a borrowing referendum during the October 15 election ballot for an amount of up to $7.5 million for the purpose of building a fire hall/emergency services facility at 7160 Duncan Street.
“I view this as simply planning ahead,” said Hathaway. “Because we have an election coming up, doing the referendum would be the least costly at that time.
“Referendums aren’t binding. It doesn’t mean we have to move ahead with it. We just see if we’ve got the support from the public. I think we’ll just be prepared to move ahead in case we achieve some grant funding. I would encourage you to accept it so we can have a referendum and ascertain where we are at.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott said there are a number of uncertainties in the community, such as the closure of the paper mill, the construction of the wastewater treatment plant that doesn’t have a final financial number, and the effects of COVID-19.
“I don’t think the community has an appetite for this particular referendum at this time,” said Elliott. “I don’t want to have the project fail due to a failed referendum. I think it would be better to move forward with planning, to be shovel ready, and apply for grants. Should we get a grant, we could run a process at that time.”
Councillor George Doubt said there have been a few studies on the fire hall and the citizen committee struck for the purpose of looking at a new facility had provided a report. He said the conclusion of a professional study was that the city needs a new main fire hall.
Doubt said the committee’s recommendation was that the community needs a new fire hall and that it could be built for $7.5 million or less. He said the city likely could not receive grant money from federal or provincial organizations unless there was a plan to go forward with authorization from taxpayers to do so.
“I’m prepared to leave this is in the hands of the voters,” said Doubt. “I’m not going to try to guess what most of the voters would prefer and I’m quite happy to leave it in the hands of the voters to make up their own minds and make their own decisions about whether they would like the city to borrow money and go ahead with the fire hall.”
Councillor CaroleAnn Leishman said she would also like to hear from the public in a referendum.
“I’ve heard from a lot of people that they want to have a say in whether a new fire hall is approved or not,” said Leishman. “I’m definitely in favour of having a borrowing referendum at the next election.”
Mayor Dave Formosa said he was torn with this matter. He said his concern was this was being taken to a referendum at a time when the city has major projects underway, such as the wastewater treatment plant. He said that a replacement for the paper mill is still up in the air.
“I just don’t think this is the time to be asking people to spend money on a fire hall,” said Formosa. “I don’t know why we would plan a referendum if we are not going to do it. As much as I am a big supporter of the fire hall, the timing is wrong.”
Formosa said his biggest fear is the referendum failing, and that it will hurt the city.
Councillor Rob Southcott said he tended to agree with Formosa and Elliott because he believes there is a big apprehension about debt and fiscal insecurity.
“However, I’m thinking if a referendum question was worded correctly, and if the information for the community was provided, people would understand this gives the coming council the freedom to do it,” said Southcott. “The existing firehall is a seismic nightmare and there are millions of dollars’ worth of apparatus that could be sitting under a very sad loss. That hall, we’ve been told, cannot be effectively repaired for seismic security.”
Formosa said the referendum conducted in conjunction with the election is not going to cost the city anything, but he thinks council is taking a risk.
Formosa asked fire chief Terry Peters if he would like to see the referendum happen. In a word, Peters said “yes.”
Leishman said that council could not likely apply for grants or get far in the planning of a facility without the assent of the voters.
“I think we would have to have the referendum prior to doing much legwork in the direction of starting the process,” said Leishman. “To me, I think it’s responsible to do this sooner than later. It still might be five years down the road before shovels go in the ground.”
Formosa said he wouldn’t want to see any money spent on planning before the referendum. Formosa asked for a reminder from staff if council had voted in favour of plans for the facility and what was the budget.
Chief administrative officer Russell Brewer said staff had been directed to move forward with plans and the budget is $180,000.
Formosa said that if he was dealing with the matter through his own business interests, that $180,000 would not leave his bank account.
Hathaway said she did not want to reconsider the plans because they will be needed at some point.
Formosa asked Brewer when the plans were going out to bid. Brewer said staff had not taken action on the direction while awaiting council decisions.
On the motion to hold a borrowing referendum, the motion passed, with Elliott opposed.
Council then considered a recommendation that staff be directed to prepare a draft bylaw for council’s consideration, authorizing the borrowing of up to $7.5 million for building a new fire hall/emergency services facility at 7160 Duncan Street. Council carried the motion unanimously.
