City of Powell River council will be voting on adding two bus shelters for its transit routes.
At the May 27 finance committee meeting, manager of transportation Cam Reed provided a presentation, outlining a proposal to consider approving construction of the two shelters through the BC Transit shelter program.
Reed said approval was being sought from council to spend up to $12,000 from the COVID-19 safe restart reserve to allow construction of the two transit shelters. He said the locations for the shelters were at Nootka Street at Westview School and the other location was at Barnet Street by FreshCo.
“Back in February, the city was invited by BC Transit to apply for shelter funding through the BC Transit shelter program,” said Reed. “That program covers nearly 80 per cent of the total shelter cost, so we proposed four locations.”
The other two were on Manson Avenue by Cassiar Street and one at Chilco Avenue in Wildwood.
“Back in April, BC Transit approved funding for two locations,” said Reed. “We feel the shelters are consistent with the city’s 2020 to 2022 strategic plan in that they would enhance public transportation and transit within the region. They will provide shelter from the elements for the riders in inclement weather and shade in the summer months. It will make it so we can grow the system.”
Reed said recommendations for shelters were largely based on city transit staff input in terms of what will best serve the system.
Design for the shelters is through BC Transit, said Reed. They are pre-engineered and have proven to be vandal-resistant, so these have been a lot better than the previous style of shelters, he added.
Reed said the COVID-19 safe restart reserve makes sense as a funding source because transit has been hit so hard province-wide by the pandemic.
“Anything that can be done in terms of rider amenities should really help to grow the system again,” said Reed.
Talks continue with ratepayers
He added that there have been ongoing talks with city ratepayers associations, which are keen on trying to assist with building shelters throughout the community, because they are trying to help with accessibility and see the shelters as a way to do it.
“They are interested in funding the city’s 20 per cent for this project and I believe in addition, they would like to purchase more shelters from BC Transit,” said Reed. “At the time our report was submitted, this was less of a certainty. We are aware that some funding has been provided to the ratepayers for shelters, but still, having the COVID-19 restart money in place, even if we didn’t fund all of it, we would need to spend money on the pads.”
Councillor Cindy Elliott wondered if there could be a sheltered area for wheelchairs because it doesn’t appear that they do.
Reed said it’s a possibility and added there are some areas that take benches out to give more space for wheelchairs, depending on need.
Councillor Jim Palm said it was unfortunate that the city didn’t get funding for all four shelters because they are a giant step forward. He said he is all for using COVID-19 reserve funds for the two, and hopefully, there will be an opportunity to apply for more.
Doubt enquires about required funds
Finance committee chair councillor George Doubt said he would have liked to have seen all four of the proposed transit shelters built. He said Reed’s recommendation is for $12,000 from the COVID-19 fund, but last week, council approved a grant that Powell River Community Forest wants to make of $36,000 to the ratepayers associations to pay for bus shelters with matching funds from BC Transit. He added that he wanted to hear the explanation of why COVID-19 funds were required when the community forest is granting the funds to the ratepayers. He said $36,000 would be enough to cover six bus shelters.
“Why do we need the COVID-19 funds when we’ve already approved community forest grants of about three times as much to do the same thing?” asked Doubt.
Reed said when the application was made to BC Transit, the grant to the ratepayers was not a done deal. He said if the ratepayers were able to come to the table later and offer funds, that would be great.
Chief administrative officer Russell Brewer said with the community forest funding, it’s an opportunity to help encourage BC Transit to maybe come forward and fund more than just the two shelters.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway said it’s her understanding that the ratepayers have come to an understanding with BC Transit to put more funding in so it’s a good way of getting more funds from BC Transit.
The matter will be going to the June 3 council meeting for approval.
