Nanaimo citizens won't be asked in a referendum – at least not now – if they want public works yard upgrades to proceed.
At a meeting Monday, Dec. 2, city council discussed next steps after this fall's alternative-approval process failed. The city revealed last week that more than 10 per cent of the electorate voted against $90 million in long-term borrowing for the works yard project on Labieux Road. The city counted 8,655 valid elector response forms registering opposition, exceeding the 7,974 forms needed to block the borrowing bylaw.
"Obviously disappointing…" said Mayor Leonard Krog at this week's meeting. "It's a necessity, this project, and it's in the public interest to have it proceed."
Coun. Paul Manly agreed, saying it's "unfortunate" that the AAP didn't pass. He said in an emergency such as an earthquake, the City of Nanaimo would be part of emergency response efforts alongside police, fire and ambulance, and won't be able to help people as quickly if it's digging out from under crumbled buildings.
"It's great that you have an opportunity here [in B.C.] to have a democratic voice and the people have spoken about this, but this is a necessary project and this public works yard is well overdue for being rebuilt," he said.
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of staff's recommendation to abandon the borrowing bylaw and direct staff to report on options for alternative ways to complete the public works yard upgrades. The other option would have been to proceed with a referendum; however, staff did not recommend that due to timing. The local government act mandates a referendum on a Saturday no more than 80 days after the close of an alternative approval process, and since the AAP ended Oct. 31, the latest possible referendum date would be Jan. 18.
"Unfortunately, most of the elector response forms weren't submitted until the last day, which resulted in a significant amount of the 80-day window spent on the certification process," noted a staff report.
The report added that it wasn't practical to prepare and conduct a referendum by Jan. 18, mentioning challenges such as staff capacity during the budgeting process and holiday season, as well as identifying voting locations on short notice.
The city would have an option to hold a referendum six months from now if it chooses to do so.
Coun. Ian Thorpe indicated that if staff hadn't recommended against a referendum, he would have supported one, saying that public works yard upgrades are an "absolute necessity" and need to move ahead.
"We've heard from the percentage of people that didn't like the process, which I understand, but I would like to hear from what I am convinced would be a majority of people who are in favour of the project," he said.
Coun. Sheryl Armstrong said the planned public works buildings wouldn't have been a "Taj Mahal" and would have been reasonably priced considering inflation. She asked staff what it might look like to raise taxes in the short term to pay for the project.
"Having several years of a five-per cent tax increase for one item, that's quite a burden to the taxpayers," said Laura Mercer, general manager of corporate services.
