Environmental assessments
Powell River Council approved two environmental site assessments within the city.
At the March 4 city council meeting, councillors approved an expenditure of $49,350, to be funded in part from the city building and infrastructure reserve for up to $39,000. The site of one environmental site assessment will be at the new fire hall site at 7160 Duncan Street.
The other will be at 6970 Egmont Street, regarding a retaining wall that may be failing, at the southwest corner of the former JP Dallos field. A staff report stated that the property involved may have been negatively impacted by the Squatters Creek landfill, so it was prudent to conduct the study before addressing the issue of the retaining wall.
Bylaw reserve
Council voted to establish a fire hall/emergency services building reserve and a bylaw review reserve.
According to a staff report, the recommendation is to establish a fire hall reserve because the city is working toward a replacement for its current fire hall with a modern emergency services facility. The report states it is important to start contributing to a reserve to help fund construction costs.
There is a recommendation to establish a COVID-19 safe restart grant reserve. The intention of the grant funds allocated from the provincial government is that they will be used within the next two fiscal years. The province provided $2.9 million to the city for COVID-19 safe restart, and the city has allocated $1.3 million, leaving nearly $1.6 million in reserve.
The city is also establishing a reserve for a review and rewrite of the city’s major bylaws, including the zoning bylaw, official community plan, infrastructure design and construction, deferred development cost charges, and other bylaws. According to the staff report, costs associated with some of the larger, more complex bylaws is growing, and since the life of these bylaws lasts several years, it is prudent to contribute annually to the rewriting costs.
