[0:00] [laughter]

[0:06] When I was talking to Marty last night, I was like, "Okay, there's a couple of

[0:09] them that I didn't recognize." He's like, "That the one in the third with a

[0:12] mustache. The one in the four seat with a mustache. The [laughter]

[0:16] one in the second row with a mustache

[0:25] is >> Yeah.

[0:37] That's pretty nice.

[0:52] So ready

[1:13] like to call our August 20th, 2026 6 chamber council

[1:19] meeting to order.

[1:25] Start with the adoption of the agenda.

[1:34] Any discussion? All in favor?

[1:39] Thank you. Motion to close the meeting to the public.

[1:45] Okay. Move that council move into a closed

[1:48] meeting to discuss matters covered by the community charter under sections

[1:52] 91A. Personal information about an

[1:55] identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a position as an

[1:59] officer employee or agent of the municipality or another position

[2:03] appointed by the municipality. C labor relations or other employee relations.

[2:07] And F the receipt of advice that is subject to solicitor client privilege

[2:12] including communication necessary for that purpose.

[2:18] for Almeida. Any discussion? All in favor? We are adjourned.

[1:30:13] Okay, we're going to reconvene our council meeting. We'll start with the

[1:30:18] territorial acknowledgement that we're holding this in the traditional lands of

[1:30:23] the Colama nation and we'll move to public input period.

[1:30:29] So, subject to the rules of conduct, members of the audience, up to three

[1:30:36] members have an opportunity to provide comment for a maximum of two minutes on

[1:30:42] one of these three items. Legislative matters, committee

[1:30:46] recommendations, or new business. Anybody wish to come forward from the

[1:30:53] audience? Introduce yourself, please.

[1:30:58] Good evening uh mayor and council. Thank you very much. Uh my name is Diane

[1:31:02] Sparks. I will be speaking with regard to the letter from the mayor of Gibson

[1:31:07] to Randine Neil. The mayor of Gibson and Sunshine Coast Ferry Advisory Committee

[1:31:13] recently made an important point in a letter to Rand Neil. Ferry service has

[1:31:19] not kept pace with growth. Power River to Vancouver's route, contractually

[1:31:25] minimal, has changed little since 2003. While the Southern Sunshine Coast

[1:31:31] population has grown approximately 29%, visitor spending has risen from 76 77.6

[1:31:40] million in 2007 to 256 million in 2024. That's about 230%.

[1:31:49] Tourism is vital to our economy, but residents should not be unable to get

[1:31:54] home or reach essential appointments because their only transportation route

[1:31:59] is full. For Pal River, the ferry is our highway. At our town at our town hall

[1:32:06] meeting, residents raised serious concerns about motorcycle access, having

[1:32:11] to purchase reservations to ensure travel for medical appointments,

[1:32:15] the additional cost of reservations, residents commuting to jobs on Vancouver

[1:32:20] Island unable to get home, and local businesses losing customers because of

[1:32:25] ferry standby changes. The province is now preparing for performance term 7

[1:32:32] beginning April 1st, 2028. If ferry service levels are going to be released,

[1:32:37] re reassessed to reflect today's population and demand, then Pal River

[1:32:43] must be part of that con conversation. And the public has spoken more than

[1:32:49] 6,000. We have more than 6,000 people that have signed our petition now

[1:32:53] calling for priority boarding for Pow River residents.

[1:32:57] Population has grown, tourism has grown, demand has grown, ferry policy must

[1:33:05] catch up. Thank you. >> Thank you very much.

[1:33:10] Anybody else from the audience? Do we have anybody online?

[1:33:18] All right.

[1:33:22] We're going to move now to general matters and uh I am pleased that uh

[1:33:27] Mayor Dan Law of the District of Fenino is here this evening. Now, just by way

[1:33:35] of background, uh for the last couple of years,

[1:33:40] uh we here in Pow River at our council have had discussions about housing and

[1:33:47] the lack of it and uh pickle ball and the importance of pickle ball for social

[1:33:54] development and economic development. And

[1:33:59] having attended uh the ICE meetings a number of times,

[1:34:05] I was advised that uh Tofino has done some very interesting initiatives

[1:34:12] to deal with housing and the lack thereof of housing and also have shown

[1:34:22] good decision making in providing uh pickle ball players both those living in

[1:34:28] Tofino and those that care to come to Tofino as tourists and have seen a very

[1:34:36] positive response to what they've done. I'd like to welcome uh Mayor Law and

[1:34:43] look forward to your comments.

[1:34:49] Thank you. Your worship I don't get to call other mayors your

[1:34:54] worship very often, so I thought I'd do it. uh officially as an address. Um

[1:34:59] thanks for inviting me uh mayor and council. It's great to be here and uh

[1:35:02] it's great to meet staff and a couple of the residents of Pow River. Pow River is

[1:35:07] stunningly beautiful. I have to say everybody I'm from Tofino. Most people

[1:35:12] know Tofino. Uh if you don't know Tofino, you head to Uklit and when you

[1:35:18] hit the junction you turn right. So uh but um it's great to be in uh in Palo

[1:35:25] what a stunning place and it's great to be here to share uh the Tofino Housing

[1:35:30] Corporation uh process and Tofino Housing Corporation success. It's been a

[1:35:37] very very good success so far. It is um

[1:35:44] the Defino Housing Corporation I'm gonna get ahead here has had a long run. Uh it

[1:35:52] was first uh envisioned in the early 2000s 2005 it was established

[1:35:58] uh but then over the next seven or so years

[1:36:02] uh just couldn't it couldn't get any forward momentum. Uh council couldn't

[1:36:07] make a decision. There was significant kickback from the uh town at the time.

[1:36:13] Everything from uh you know businesses should build their own uh accommodation

[1:36:19] for employees. Uh people should work hard for their own housing. Uh and just

[1:36:25] a general distaste for for any kind of government

[1:36:30] intervention in housing. And the idea presented consistently was that the

[1:36:35] market would solve the problem. In 2005, the uh

[1:36:43] there was a negative vacancy rate in Tofino. People were living in campers

[1:36:46] and trailers and garages and tents and sleeping bags outside.

[1:36:53] And the median value home price in Tofina was about $375,000.

[1:37:00] 2012 uh it was uh the the housing corporation

[1:37:07] uh was dissolved. 2015 2016

[1:37:13] it was uh readily apparent that the market developers were not solving the

[1:37:21] problem at all. There was an increased vacancy or a negative vacancy rate

[1:37:25] significant number of people living uh on the streets in their vans and

[1:37:30] campers. These are employees, people working at shops. And uh and so the

[1:37:34] council decided that they had to act. And so the Tofino Housing Corporation

[1:37:38] was started up again uh with the intent of building housing

[1:37:43] for anybody who called Tofino home. By this time, the median value house

[1:37:51] price uh was about the same as it is here. was

[1:37:57] about uh $576,000

[1:38:01] uh dollars per median value single detached home. And I believe that Pal

[1:38:05] River right now has uh single detached homes. The median value is about 580.

[1:38:09] And I'll show that later in a slide. Uh but it's an important point that we'll

[1:38:12] come back to talk about.

[1:38:16] And so 2017 started up again. And in the in the last uh nine years,

[1:38:22] uh Tofino has had some great success. what I'm going to share in a sec here.

[1:38:28] But what is it? So the Tofino Housing Corporation is a corporation

[1:38:33] owned 100% [clears throat] by the District of Tofino.

[1:38:38] So uh up here you can see the District of Tofino provides uh free land. That's

[1:38:42] a sticking point for people people dcc waiverss and uh some staff support when

[1:38:47] needed. Uh but the land really is just transferred to a Tofino housing tenino

[1:38:53] corporation. So the Tofino retains 100% of of the land and the Tofino acts as a

[1:39:00] land steward, secures funding, manages the partnerships, navigates all of the

[1:39:06] ins and outs of housing development that uh that district staff just do not want

[1:39:12] to do, nor should they do. Uh they're they're not uh you know, district staff

[1:39:16] are not professional developers. uh but uh the THC hires an executive director

[1:39:21] who is a professional developer and that's their job and then the uh THC has

[1:39:26] partnered in this case with uh in the past uh several projects with Catalyst

[1:39:32] Community Development Society which is also a nonprofit developer and uh build

[1:39:37] market housing or below market housing sorry non-market housing

[1:39:42] and um they generally come in 15 to 28% below what a market developer uh can

[1:39:50] build and uh and the Tofino Housing Corporation and the the district of

[1:39:54] Tofino gets to decide what kind of housing, how it looks, the uh the makeup

[1:40:01] of the rooms and where it goes. The uh the first project that we did

[1:40:09] was uh a town home and here it is right here and it's 14 rental units, one, two,

[1:40:15] and threebedroom units. uh the the land was readily available owned by the

[1:40:20] district uh it was easily developed and uh and 100% funded by by the

[1:40:28] government whether through BC housing CHC

[1:40:32] and uh and our own MRDT [clears throat] which uh is municipal regional district

[1:40:37] tax which I know council is aware of and uh we're able to to use 100% of the tax

[1:40:43] the hotel tax uh that short-term rentals bring

[1:40:47] that all goes to to uh help operate and run both the operational and capital end

[1:40:54] of our Tofino housing corporation. This development here, you know,

[1:40:59] Tofino's 2500 people at this time. Um,

[1:41:08] housing is in such a crisis that

[1:41:14] without action by council, it's conceivable that our hospital wouldn't

[1:41:18] be able to run, our schools wouldn't be able to run, our district itself uh

[1:41:24] wouldn't be able to run without some kind of action because we are so uh so

[1:41:29] low on housing. In fact, uh a young doctor and his family were able to get

[1:41:34] into this particular project uh several years ago. He was able to

[1:41:38] finish his res residency and was able will be able to come back

[1:41:43] to Tofino uh and work as a physician. In fact, uh

[1:41:49] this particular unit allowed uh this doctor and his family, his wife to uh to

[1:41:56] transition into buying a home in Tofino. It might not seem like a big uh deal in

[1:42:00] Powell River where there's, you know, 15,000 people, but in a 2500

[1:42:04] uh population town, uh it is a significant deal.

[1:42:09] After that, we're able to move on to larger projects to apartment buildings.

[1:42:14] You can see here, this was much more contentious with

[1:42:17] town, I got to say, because that is a first growth forest and and uh it was a

[1:42:22] hard cell for some people. But the housing crisis was so great that people

[1:42:27] in the end were were able to to uh to see this through. And between the two

[1:42:32] projects, these two apartment buildings here and the the previous one, Creek

[1:42:36] Side, it's called, Tofino is now housing approximately uh 9 to 10% of our

[1:42:41] population.

[1:42:45] And you can see that uh affordable housing because these come with BC

[1:42:48] housing, CHC uh they have to be affordable at least a part of them has

[1:42:54] to be affordable and there's usually a percentage. So 30 50/20 is is one you

[1:42:58] often see 30% affordable market 50% rented to income and then 20% are deep

[1:43:04] subsidies. And uh

[1:43:10] you know just with these three projects alone

[1:43:14] uh the district was able to take unused land

[1:43:19] was able to convert it build bring in substantial

[1:43:24] uh funding for both capital and operational

[1:43:29] and uh in the end uh we were able to increase our our

[1:43:34] property assets by well over $12 million. And in fact, these properties

[1:43:40] now pay tax. They pay property tax and they're bringing in over $50,000

[1:43:44] annually. Uh so it is it's just been a tremendous win. And because we have the

[1:43:50] the corporation set up and it's running very smoothly. Uh

[1:43:56] we were able to uh to move swiftly in this particular project here. It wasn't

[1:44:01] called project, I guess. uh it's an acquisition is that we have a a 4unit uh

[1:44:07] senior's housing villa that's been operating for probably 40 40 years or

[1:44:13] more. And uh you know I ran into this fellow actually he's he's sitting there

[1:44:17] at the doorway in that picture uh on the street and he was quite distressed and

[1:44:21] uh it turns out that this uh this villa had been perhaps poorly managed and it

[1:44:27] was on the brink of insolveny uh and would have to be sold. So,

[1:44:33] because I had this housing corporation going, a great relationship with uh the

[1:44:37] executive director, uh I just simply gave him a call and uh he called Dave

[1:44:44] and within a few months, the housing corporation was able to buy this for a

[1:44:49] dollar, uh reortgage it with BC Housing, bring

[1:44:54] all of the the rents into the safer program, reducing rents for the tenants,

[1:44:59] uh fix all the problems, bring it up to snuff, and the district uh now has that

[1:45:05] asset and uh in the next decade or two we'll be able to build more stories of

[1:45:11] senior housing in in Tofino. So it's kind of a spin-off of of housing

[1:45:15] corporation. Um if you have a corporation

[1:45:21] uh it not only allows you to do this without having to get council and staff

[1:45:26] uh too involved. It uh it allows

[1:45:30] a significant amount of leverage for government grants

[1:45:35] and uh and that governments like to work with

[1:45:41] councils who have corporations. Uh they like to

[1:45:45] work because they like to work nimly and fast. You wouldn't believe that. I know

[1:45:49] you're all politicians and everybody [laughter]

[1:45:51] ever work with politicians. You wouldn't believe they like to work fast, but they

[1:45:54] do. uh they want to work with uh with organizations that know how to build and

[1:45:58] have proven that they know how to build. They want to work with uh people and

[1:46:04] organizations that are going to give them a return on

[1:46:08] their investment. And that's what the Tofino Housing Corporation does.

[1:46:14] Right now, we're targeting uh 150 total rental units, 30 price restricted,

[1:46:19] resident restricted units by 2030. We've got two projects on the go. We do not

[1:46:25] have a lot of land, unfortunately, like Pal River. Uh we had to scrimp and and

[1:46:30] scrge and find a few parcels of land and and identified three. Uh one we actually

[1:46:37] bought uh with the growing communities fund to save our infrastructure and uh

[1:46:42] and then we we said now that we bought that to save our infrastructure access,

[1:46:46] why don't we turn it into affordable housing, too? And so we have uh an Apex

[1:46:51] on the go which is uh shovel ready and we've got another 21 unit below market

[1:46:57] housing uh that includes a seaside park permanent uh infrastructure access for

[1:47:04] our water and uh and three-bedroom uh units for for families which we just do

[1:47:10] not have in Tofino and it's uh it's caused a bit of crisis itself.

[1:47:16] And there's future capacity. And one of the things that we've done

[1:47:20] with the Tina Housing Corporation is uh because it's been a success and we know

[1:47:25] that it's taken a long time to get here and so we've made it part of our mission

[1:47:31] and vision and mission with the Tina Housing Corporation to try to share it

[1:47:35] with other communities uh that may be where we were several years ago and

[1:47:40] they're trying to solve problems. And uh the thing about municipal governments is

[1:47:45] everybody's kind of siloed. You know, nobody knows necessarily what everybody

[1:47:48] else is doing. And so I wanted to fix that and and share the success uh with

[1:47:53] other communities so that you don't have to go through all of the ups and downs

[1:47:57] and and uh and questions and uh get right to the point and build some

[1:48:02] housing.

[1:48:06] That's the end of that uh that's the end of that presentation. I do have another

[1:48:09] slide, but I think I'm running over. So, why don't I just uh stop there and uh

[1:48:14] and go for some uh Oh, I should tell you one thing. I forgot actually. Let's go

[1:48:19] back here.

[1:48:23] 2022. Here you go. Remember how I said uh

[1:48:29] 2017 the median value

[1:48:34] of a single detached home was about the same as it is now in Pal River. 2017 is

[1:48:39] not a long time ago. Uh the single detached

[1:48:44] home value in Tofino right now average is about 1.5 million.

[1:48:49] Yeah. If we didn't have this,

[1:48:53] if people hadn't, if council hadn't decided to do this and taken the step to

[1:48:57] do this when they did, Tofina would not be running now like it is. It would not

[1:49:03] be able to function uh the same as it is. Business would be struggling. uh

[1:49:07] there'd be tremendous pressure and so uh thank goodness uh council had the

[1:49:12] foresight and the courage to take this action uh when they did and we get to

[1:49:16] benefit it uh from it today. I'm not suggesting power river prices are going

[1:49:20] to go up to 1.5 happened to us.

[1:49:27] » Open for questions if anybody has. Uh, councelor Isaac,

[1:49:31] » thank you. You need to stop telling people how beautiful we are here because

[1:49:34] we would like to keep things a bit more affordable for local folks. Um, so I I

[1:49:40] always like that saying, you know, the best time to build housing was 20 years

[1:49:42] ago and the second best time is now. you the housing corporation first got set up

[1:49:48] in 2005 and your first uh completed project was 2022 right so it took a

[1:49:55] while and I I think about some of the pressures that we might feel related to

[1:49:59] startup costs like hiring you know you had um a professional developer all the

[1:50:05] pre-development costs that often aren't funded by all these grant streams you

[1:50:08] got 650k in MRTD funding the amount here is in the 100,000 level and so the scale

[1:50:15] of what we have available to us is a little bit different. I'm wondering um

[1:50:21] uh what um if you have advice on like the

[1:50:25] financial feasibility because this is something that this council has over

[1:50:28] many years we've had many meetings and gone to many sessions and are are pretty

[1:50:32] keen on it. Um but sometimes like the math looks really hard but without that

[1:50:36] investment it will just get harder and so any advice given the the difference

[1:50:41] in scale that we're we're dealing with here?

[1:50:44] » Yeah, I mean that's good. That's a really good point. Uh the startup costs,

[1:50:47] what does it cost to run it? It needs money to run. Uh you know, we we're

[1:50:51] getting $650,000 from OAP, which is online accommodation platform, MRDT,

[1:50:56] every year. That's not what it was uh back then. I think when we started out,

[1:51:00] it was in the maybe the hundreds. and it dropped down uh during COVID uh to to

[1:51:05] significantly lower about if I'm just off the top of my head it was maybe

[1:51:09] like80,000 there uh until it got uh reconciled at

[1:51:14] the end of the year but the um the actual operational cost to run it just

[1:51:21] for administration uh is not that great. I mean, we have

[1:51:25] one part-time employee, and that's uh you know, that's under $50,000 a year,

[1:51:32] and we we have a contract with City Spaces, uh Ian Scott, who was our

[1:51:38] originally ED exceptional person. And so, we bring him on for contracts, and

[1:51:42] he'll take on a project like, um, oh, sorry, this is the next uh gosh, that's

[1:51:48] the next one. Like this one. So he he did that one and rolled the rolled that

[1:51:53] project cost into into the total performer and a lot of that was actually

[1:52:00] covered by funding from the from the government anyway. So there's

[1:52:05] significant home funding and there's significant uh startup funding

[1:52:11] for councils and and communities that mean business, right? And so, you know,

[1:52:17] I looked at Pal River and I actually have another I did another slide, but

[1:52:20] I'm probably going to go over, so I'll probably skip it. But, uh, you know, Pal

[1:52:23] River doesn't have the same MRDT. It's not an RMI community. I'm not sure what

[1:52:28] you get for for, uh, MRDT, but

[1:52:35] Tofino is a tourism community. That's how we make a lot of our money. Uh,

[1:52:41] Powell River has a community forest, I believe, and it's a a society that makes

[1:52:45] a significant amount of money, usually in the millions, I think. And so, if you

[1:52:49] were to compare, you could say, well, Powell River has its own nonpropy tax

[1:52:55] uh, revenue that can go to whatever council decides and the community

[1:53:00] decides they want it to. And so if you have funds and if housing is a priority

[1:53:06] and you think it's a you know it's a crisis for for you for whatever reason

[1:53:10] then you do have funds and it's uh once you get rolling uh you know staff aren't

[1:53:15] involved except on the board council you know the Tofino Housing Corporation

[1:53:21] comes to council and and asks for say a zoning change or a wave of 50% DCC's or

[1:53:27] something like that. Uh, and so that's really how council council and staff

[1:53:31] work it. Uh, the corporation just just takes care of itself. So that's uh

[1:53:36] that's what I'd say about that.

[1:53:44] » I'm actually I'm curious chair if there is consent to just take a peek at some

[1:53:47] of this the subsequent slides. I know we are over time but um curious if council

[1:53:52] would be willing to do that. >> Senses. Yes.

[1:53:57] giving me more time. Okay. >> Came so far.

[1:54:02] » Well, nobody's throwing at me anything at me from the the stand. So So I did

[1:54:06] actually look at I I did read your reports and I had a look at Campbell or

[1:54:09] or Powell River and I know there are some significant differences and I

[1:54:12] thought that council probably would say, "Well, we're not the same. We're very

[1:54:16] different." And uh so I put together this case. It's not a report from staff.

[1:54:20] So you know, take it for what it is. It's a visiting mayor with uh you know

[1:54:25] who's been to Pal River a couple times and knows how to look on the internet.

[1:54:29] Uh so it's still you know protecting economy viability unlocking housing

[1:54:33] supply and leveraging municipal equity. That's what you're doing. That's what we

[1:54:36] did. Uh Pal River is very different than Tofino. You have excellent healthcare.

[1:54:41] You've got recre recreation infrastructure. We do not we uh we don't

[1:54:47] have a pool. We don't have an indoor uh recreation center at all. We don't even

[1:54:52] own a public ball field. You've got excellent resources for your

[1:54:59] kids and teens. Uh

[1:55:03] tier one civic infrastructure. You've got great education, early childhood,

[1:55:07] public independent schools, postsecary and trades engines. You're fantastic.

[1:55:11] So, uh I shouldn't say that. I heard that you don't want people to come here.

[1:55:16] » [laughter] >> You want people to move here

[1:55:19] » only up until 14,999 people live.

[1:55:23] » That's right. That's right. You have to pay extra RCMP. I got it. Uh well, you

[1:55:26] know what? You We're talking about housing. So, I did a little housing

[1:55:29] breakdown. Here's your median value. Single detached home. 580,000. Seems

[1:55:34] like a lot. Uh unless you're from Tofino, then I think, oh my gosh, I'd

[1:55:38] buy two if I had the money. Uh and then the tax, you know, tax always comes back

[1:55:43] comes up. It's almost uh it's almost election time. Everybody likes to talk

[1:55:48] about taxes. And so, not only are houses uh you know, they're actually higher,

[1:55:52] the price to income ratio is higher than uh the global uh suggested limit for

[1:55:57] affordability. So, they're not affordable, but your taxes actually are

[1:56:01] really quite affordable. Uh and you can see here uh I've got some numbers up

[1:56:05] there uh for regional passroughs. municipal tax share is about $264 a

[1:56:11] month, which is less

[1:56:14] than a cell phone, home speed, highspeed home internet, and

[1:56:19] streaming subscriptions. And across Canada, it's actually very low.

[1:56:26] And I actually upped these a little bit. So, uh, I thought this would be

[1:56:30] interesting stuff. I'd like to see this, too. But, uh, if you actually I actually

[1:56:34] was a little conservative. the actual uh monthly

[1:56:38] cost of property tax on a median value home is lower than this uh if you take

[1:56:42] into consideration the uh over 65 homeowner grant.

[1:56:49] So what does it do? It means you got a great town, you got some housing. Do you

[1:56:53] have any problems that you need to solve with the housing corporation? Yeah, you

[1:56:58] sure do. I think uh you got some problems. It is still unaffordable. It

[1:57:02] appears that uh three-bedroom family rental stock is virtually non-existent.

[1:57:08] Now, you guys know more than I do. Uh and uh it also appears that uh it's

[1:57:14] impacting perhaps essential services like hospitals and people coming into to

[1:57:19] Powell River who you need to run Powell River and deliver all of those health

[1:57:23] care, education, recreation services. And so you do have a deficit and the

[1:57:28] reality is that uh the market uh isn't delivering and

[1:57:34] probably won't. That's what Tofino happened at Tofino. We thought it would

[1:57:37] and it just didn't because the market wants to build one-bedroom studio

[1:57:41] suites. They want to get the numbers and they want to maximize their ROI.

[1:57:47] Plus, you got a demographics queue. You got a lot of people here. Tofino has a

[1:57:51] huge number. We have double the average of young people than BC. Double. Uh we

[1:57:59] don't have families and teens and their parents because they have nowhere to

[1:58:03] live and we don't have a lot of those services that they want. Uh Bow River

[1:58:07] has a very large demographic of seniors and it appears uh who are in older

[1:58:14] multi-level single detach homes but it doesn't appear they have much where to

[1:58:19] go and so they're stuck. This is my hunch from from doing a quick do is uh

[1:58:25] so you really need uh someplace for seniors to go so that they can stay in

[1:58:30] Pal River uh so that this can be a you know birth to end of life town where

[1:58:36] they can invest their whole lives and uh and you also need somewhere for

[1:58:42] essential service workers to come with their families. Maybe they're in

[1:58:45] transition like uh the doctor that came to Tofino and is now established and

[1:58:50] owns his own home and stays. If we didn't have that uh if we didn't have

[1:58:53] that condo townhouse or town home actually uh he wouldn't have been able

[1:58:57] to do that. We'd be out a doctor and out of family and his uh his wife is

[1:59:03] actually running the uh uh school programs.

[1:59:07] And so you do have a big problem and the market isn't going to fix it. So you

[1:59:10] have uh you have a good a you know you've got uh good opportunity for a

[1:59:15] housing corporation. You got lots of land and you have funding. You have

[1:59:19] nonpropy tax revenue uh that you can put towards this. So you can see a little

[1:59:24] family and workforce squeeze. Um

[1:59:31] read through that. So really in Pal River,

[1:59:36] Deina Housing Pow River Housing Corporation if that's something you're

[1:59:39] interested would unlock a missing middle uh if council and the and the

[1:59:43] corporation the community wanted to. It could be uh like it is in Tofino an

[1:59:48] essential asset.

[1:59:54] It is arms length. nonprofit and uh and if it was ever to dissolve,

[2:00:00] if a Tofino Housing Corporation was ever to dissolve, all of that land goes back

[2:00:04] uh to the district of Tofino. So, uh that's all I have to say. Thanks for the

[2:00:09] extra time. I will put one more plug in for pickle ball for the mayor. Uh Tofino

[2:00:16] was redoing its uh its uh tennis courts and we got basically uh bombarded by the

[2:00:24] pickle ball crew. and uh who wanted pickle ball. And so we

[2:00:29] uh we said fine, we'll look into it. Uh and we ended up uh putting in a

[2:00:36] significant number of pickle ball courts uh part of our renovation of our

[2:00:42] downtown. And it was the best thing that I have ever seen. [laughter]

[2:00:47] Just saying. Is hundreds and hundreds of people use pickle ball every day. every

[2:00:51] from little kids all the way up to people uh in their 80s, maybe even

[2:00:55] older. And uh wow, was it cheap and successful. So, there's another success

[2:01:01] story to shove on top of the Tofino Housing Corporation. That's a little

[2:01:04] plug for the male mayor's pickle bill. Uh anyway, there you go. That's it.

[2:01:09] That's it for me. So, uh thanks for letting me run over time and I can stay

[2:01:13] for a couple questions if you'd like. >> Great. Council me.

[2:01:20] [clears throat] I think councelor Isacson already uh handled a couple of

[2:01:23] the questions I had top of mind. So appreciate you coming. Um I'm guessing

[2:01:26] the pickleball courts are outdoor courts that you have and are they shared

[2:01:30] pickleball/tennis courts? Are they independent altogether?

[2:01:33] » We kept one one tennis court. Uh, our CEO loves tennis and there's a lot of

[2:01:38] people who play tennis. So, we kept one and then we put uh we converted the

[2:01:42] other tennis court and we expanded uh the footprint a little bit just so we

[2:01:46] could fit in the pickle ball pickle ball courts that uh that the community wanted

[2:01:50] and it was it was the right it was the right thing and it is outside. We're

[2:01:54] going to light them. Uclullet uh I think I think in our our success

[2:02:00] with pickle balls kind of spilled over and Uclue wants to build pickle ball

[2:02:04] court. So, they have a two-stage process where they're going to build the courts

[2:02:07] and as the second stage, they've got a uh a cover that goes over it. So, it's

[2:02:12] not as expensive as a full indoor pickle ball uh court would be for a little tiny

[2:02:17] town like you cool it, 1900 people, but they've got enough funding and uh

[2:02:21] they've found a way to do it so that it'll be in in it'll be all year round

[2:02:26] indoor, but uh but very inexpensive. So, we'll see how that goes.

[2:02:32] Questions? sounds.

[2:02:37] » Thank you. Your worship [laughter]

[2:02:40] go [clears throat]

[2:02:43] too many people that way who's standing at that podium. Um I'm just wondering if

[2:02:47] you're um I really appreciate you coming. We have been talking about

[2:02:52] things like this for a long long time. in previous terms. We've looked at uh

[2:02:57] the Whistller's um initiative as well that goes back as far as yours pretty

[2:03:03] much maybe even farther. Uh they're faced with similar challenges. Um it

[2:03:08] certainly is interesting because housing is huge and definitely seniors. You're

[2:03:13] targeting seniors. This this is a significant question here. I'm just

[2:03:17] wondering if um haven't had a chance to look over uh the what's available on the

[2:03:23] website for Trino Housing Incorporation, but I'm wondering if your uh slides

[2:03:26] might be available to us and I had another question which just slipped my

[2:03:32] mind. Um yeah, basically just looking for more

[2:03:36] information. Absolutely. we I can share these slides with you and uh the Tofino

[2:03:41] Housing Corporation website has lots of information and I was going to also make

[2:03:45] a plug the uh September 20th in Parksville which is not too far away

[2:03:51] uh is there's a uh a housing convention and uh the chair of the

[2:03:58] Tofino Housing Corporation uh fellow counselor uh invited invited you all to

[2:04:04] come. So uh he said get them to come and they can talk one-on-one. And I was also

[2:04:08] going to say you know because the Tino Housing Corporation has done a lot of

[2:04:11] work uh you know with the terms of reference

[2:04:16] um you know understanding policy uh and we have the connections you know

[2:04:24] if you know if staff was interested we could we could uh you know introduce you

[2:04:28] to to Ian Scott at city spaces and uh to have a conversation. And so just so that

[2:04:34] you understand, you know, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. It's already been

[2:04:39] invented. You just have to tweak it for Powell River if if that's what council

[2:04:43] wants to do. >> Great.

[2:04:47] Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Uh and I'm sure that uh we'll get back

[2:04:52] to you for further clarification. So thank you your worship.

[2:04:56] » Thank you your worship. [laughter]

[2:05:07] So we'll now move to the consent agenda. >> Yes, council Isac.

[2:05:13] » I'll move adoption of the August 20th, 2026 content uh consent agenda.

[2:05:18] » I councelor Selkott. Any further discussion? All in favor? Passed

[2:05:25] unanimously.

[2:05:28] We'll now move to legislative matters 11.1 the seawalk restoration project

[2:05:36] manager.

[2:05:48] » Good evening and council. I as you mentioned I'm here tonight to

[2:05:54] present on the seawalk restoration project. I know that this is a priority

[2:06:00] project for the community and council and something that we're very excited

[2:06:03] about uh over in the engineering department and the city as a whole. Um

[2:06:08] as I mentioned in my report, uh the purpose of this report today and

[2:06:12] presentation is to present the results of the invitation to tender. I request

[2:06:16] council approval to award the construction contract to the successful

[2:06:19] proponent. uh present the Powell River Community Forest letter confirming its

[2:06:24] support of the phase 2 funding as described in this report uh and request

[2:06:29] council authorization to submit an application to the built community

[2:06:32] strong fund uh local impact stream in British Columbia for grant funding to

[2:06:37] support construction of the Seawwalk restoration project.

[2:06:41] Um it's the recommendation uh that council uh receive the results of tender

[2:06:47] uh award the contract uh as recommended to Hazlewood Construction uh in the

[2:06:52] amount of $819,513.36

[2:06:56] plus GST. uh that council received the Power River Community Forest letter

[2:07:01] confirming its financial contribution towards the Seawwalk project uh in the

[2:07:05] amount of $550,000 for the phase 2 component uh for a total amount of $1.53

[2:07:12] million. Uh and finally that council authorized staff to submit an

[2:07:16] application to the Build Community Strong Fund Local Impact Stream British

[2:07:20] Columbia uh for funding and support of this project. Um, and I do have a lot of

[2:07:25] information to throw at you guys today. So, I'm just going to run through my

[2:07:28] report uh and include a few key items here. Um, so as everyone I believe at

[2:07:34] this table is aware and for those online,

[2:07:38] this project is uh conceived due to a storm surge uh in 2022 coinciding with a

[2:07:45] king tide which created some uh pretty major weather events that caused some

[2:07:49] significant damage uh and erosion to the trail. Uh it's primarily around the

[2:07:55] middle uh what I understand is known as a more or less historic phase one of the

[2:07:59] seawwalk uh that was done by the city in the early 2000s. Uh unfortunately the

[2:08:03] material that was installed there is not necessarily the ideal material for that

[2:08:09] application. Uh and it's also believed that it was more or less end dumped and

[2:08:13] not necessarily keyed in correctly. Uh which is the reason that that section

[2:08:17] has sustained major damage where the north and south sections have not. um

[2:08:22] they've all been through all the same storms over the 20 or so years of their

[2:08:25] existence and you'll notice that those north and south sections are holding up

[2:08:29] very well while the middle section has you know all but crumbled. Um and so the

[2:08:34] intention for this project is to take a look at those areas roughly centered

[2:08:39] around the west viewpoint uh as well as resurface uh the entire uh roughly 1.4

[2:08:46] 24 km length of that trail for you know better accessibility for all residents

[2:08:51] of power river. Um [clears throat] the project started with uh some

[2:08:56] environmental and archaeological reviews of the proposed pair repair work. Uh

[2:09:00] this was completed back in 2023. Unfortunately there was some staff

[2:09:05] turnover uh around that time that put the project on hold for uh a little

[2:09:09] while. Uh when I arrived in 2025 it was picked back up. Uh at that point uh we

[2:09:18] put the project out to tender for a design and engineering consultant to

[2:09:22] support the design of the project uh engineering and contract administration

[2:09:26] all the way through to completion. uh

[2:09:30] uh in working with that contractor uh it was determined quite quickly that

[2:09:36] some of the uh I'll call them wish list items that were on the potential scope

[2:09:41] at the start of this project were quickly removed and the scope was

[2:09:46] consolidated down to what it is now. Uh and that's based on cost estimates

[2:09:51] environmental archaeological requirements uh that were built into the

[2:09:55] project or determined along the way. Um, [clears throat]

[2:10:00] as part of this, uh, city staff getting a better idea of what

[2:10:05] the actual cost of this project was, we decided that we would split it into two

[2:10:09] phases. Uh, these have been labeled as the critical and optional zone in our

[2:10:13] drawing package. Uh, but ultimately should be considered as phase one and

[2:10:17] phase two of this project. As I previously explained, it's all centered

[2:10:20] in that historic phase one section that has the end dump material that is just

[2:10:24] not holding up as well as it needs to. Um [snorts]

[2:10:27] and the large reason that uh that was chosen is again just due to the uh

[2:10:32] conversations we were having with our design engineer and the cost estimates

[2:10:35] that we were receiving. It was believed at the time that

[2:10:39] tackling the entire seawalk even the two zones that we were hoping for were going

[2:10:43] to be cost prohibitive based on the funding that we had available.

[2:10:51] Uh the initial archaeological review that was completed in 2023 assumed that

[2:10:56] all of the restoration work was going to happen from the top of the pathway and

[2:10:59] no machines would be uh required to enter the intertital zone. Uh as we got

[2:11:04] deeper into the required restoration work, we realized that that was not

[2:11:07] going to be feasible and therefore some additional archaeological reviews were

[2:11:10] required uh just to ensure that we weren't encroaching on any features

[2:11:13] within uh the foreshore. uh that was attempted on December 5th of

[2:11:20] last year, but unfortunately the tide levels did not drop low enough to expose

[2:11:25] all of the features in that intertidal zone and therefore the archaeologist was

[2:11:30] forced to delay until the spring uh when those tides reached more optimal level

[2:11:35] and she was actually able to survey uh the entire foreshore. So there was

[2:11:39] unfortunately significant delays uh created by that but uh there it was

[2:11:44] unfortunately a we were fighting against the tides which is a losing battle. Um

[2:11:51] [clears throat] after receiving our uh archaeological assessment on April 20th

[2:11:57] uh we received a report about a month later that identified several features

[2:12:01] uh that our current design had conflicted with. Um so at that point uh

[2:12:06] we went back to the design table with our engineer uh put our heads together

[2:12:10] and came up with some options to avoid those conflicts. Uh we were able to

[2:12:15] avoid all but one. Uh and through consultation with Tommination and the

[2:12:19] archaeologist it was determined that complete avoidance of that feature was

[2:12:24] the desired path forward. And so we revised our design to accommodate that

[2:12:28] feature and went to tender as as quickly as we were able. [snorts] Um part

[2:12:35] [clears throat] of the requirements for the archaeological process is uh she

[2:12:40] performed some updated site mapping that more specifically uh located the

[2:12:45] archaeological features down the beach. Previously the entire beach uh up into

[2:12:50] even up the hill uh towards the highway there was designated as an

[2:12:54] archaeological significant zone uh which is not necessarily reflective of what is

[2:12:59] actually in that area. Uh so the work that the archaeologist was doing was to

[2:13:03] revise that mapping uh bring it down to its true location which actually did

[2:13:07] remove a good portion of that seawalk from the uh what's just known as more or

[2:13:12] less the red zone uh which allowed us to do the work that we were planning on

[2:13:17] doing uh without without going through the site alteration permit process which

[2:13:21] is upwards of a year uh processing time with the BC archaeology branch. [snorts]

[2:13:27] uh that site mapping uh was sent into the BC archaeology branch shortly after

[2:13:31] the report was created. Um there's unfortunately no committed turnaround

[2:13:36] time on that response and uh given the permitting times that the archaeology

[2:13:40] branch is typically maintaining, it's not a quick review. It's not a quick

[2:13:43] turnaround. Uh but we did have some confidence that we would get a response

[2:13:47] uh before this fall at this time. We are still waiting for that response and so

[2:13:51] our project start date is still a precaution to be transparent. Um but the

[2:13:58] city has done absolutely everything we can to be ready to start uh when we get

[2:14:02] that green light to go.

[2:14:08] Uh so as I mentioned uh tender results uh the city issued a tender uh in July

[2:14:15] which closed uh early August. We did receive four compliant bids from some

[2:14:19] reputable contractors. Uh we were actually quite pleased to see that uh

[2:14:23] some of the uh sub well most of the submissions we received actually were

[2:14:27] quite a bit lower than the cost estimate that our engineer had put together. Uh

[2:14:31] which is um a first for me which was very exciting to see. Um the low

[2:14:37] submission was from Hazlewood Construction at a value of $819,513.36.

[2:14:45] Um and after evaluating Hazelwood uh based on their submission uh and also

[2:14:54] helps that our design engineer had some experience working with them in other

[2:14:57] projects and was aware of you know the the type of company that they are and

[2:15:01] therefore uh it is city staff's recommendation that this contract be

[2:15:05] awarded uh to Hazlewood.

[2:15:09] Uh regarding the Power River Community Forest funding, uh as noted at the

[2:15:14] start, uh Power River Community Forest has provided a letter uh confirming

[2:15:17] their financial support for the Seawwalk. Um and this is at a total

[2:15:21] value of 1.53 million. And I would just like to clarify that uh this number was

[2:15:26] originally conceived uh based upon the original cost estimates that we had

[2:15:30] received from our design engineer and also in anticipation that this work

[2:15:34] would be phased over a number of years. Uh so that secondary the phase two value

[2:15:40] did have uh some cost isolations uh added to it for uh the duration

[2:15:46] essentially that was expected before we began with that work. Um as well as to

[2:15:50] account for remaining archaeological monitoring, environmental monitoring uh

[2:15:54] you know construction administration support

[2:15:57] nation culture and heritage technicians as required through construction uh to

[2:16:01] take us to uh the end of the project. Um

[2:16:09] uh any unused funds from this project will remain in the reserve and be

[2:16:14] available for other opportunities as recommended by community forest and

[2:16:17] approved by council. Um, and as I'll get into in my next uh paragraph here, uh,

[2:16:23] if the city is successful in the grant application that we are interested in

[2:16:27] submitting, I some additional funds will be able to remain in that reserve uh,

[2:16:32] and not be not be used on this project and available for future opportunities.

[2:16:39] Uh so the build community strong fund uh has been identified as a significant

[2:16:45] funding opportunity for the Seawwalk restoration project. Uh if approved,

[2:16:49] this grant could potentially cover up to 50% of our remaining costs. Uh that does

[2:16:54] include construction uh contract administration, environmental

[2:16:59] archaeological support. Um so we do have a good opportunity to recoup uh some of

[2:17:03] the dollars that we invest in the Seawwalk. I I've confirmed that

[2:17:07] construction costs can be retroactively claimed. So, um you know, depending on

[2:17:12] when our when our start date actually is and when that grant award is announced,

[2:17:17] um is not exactly relevant to us, you know, being awarded that funding at the

[2:17:21] end of the day, which is a a great thing for this project.

[2:17:28] Um, one thing that I would like to note which I think just potentially has not

[2:17:33] been uh discussed in past grant opportunities is the opportunity cost

[2:17:37] that's associated with this type of uh with this type of opportunity. And of

[2:17:42] course, while this does require some staff time and investment in creating

[2:17:46] all the information, um, submitting, uh, monitoring, maintaining, reporting the

[2:17:50] grant, I believe that the significant funding that is available is well worth

[2:17:55] the staff efforts. Um and of course the time that's required could potentially

[2:18:01] have impacts to you know other projects but we have reviewed uh and confirm that

[2:18:06] we don't believe that there's going to be any you know major shifts or changes

[2:18:09] or any major critical path items that are affected with this grant submission.

[2:18:25] Um, as I had noted, the Seawalk restoration project is included within

[2:18:28] the city's approved capital budget. Uh, the project funding currently is uh

[2:18:33] entire power entirely Powell River Community Forest backed. Uh, but the

[2:18:38] hope is that we will also secure some of our some of this build community strong

[2:18:43] uh funding to offset some of the Pow River Community Forest costs.

[2:18:55] um based on the results of the tender and

[2:18:59] the other estimated remaining costs. Um of course you'll see that there's a bit

[2:19:04] of a discrepancy between our estimated uh construction cost and our total

[2:19:08] available budget. It is city staff's recommendation that that total budget be

[2:19:13] left available for this project. Uh the reason for that is that at the start of

[2:19:18] this project, due to the uh anticipated costs of the work, we did trim a few

[2:19:24] scope items out that would be desirable to include back in if we do have the

[2:19:28] funding to do it. Uh for example, there's a few areas outside of the

[2:19:32] critical and optional zones where a few stones have come loose from uh you know

[2:19:37] tidal activity, uh winter storms, that sort of thing. And it would be uh

[2:19:42] beneficial to uh the community and this project if we were able to include some

[2:19:47] of those additional items that we had cut originally uh from scope. We are

[2:19:51] seeing that it's quite stringent the planning permitting uh environmental

[2:19:56] archaeological assessment process to get into the intertitle zone and so we do

[2:20:00] believe it's most advantageous to fit as much as we can uh in this current

[2:20:04] project. Um, we are going to look at some improvements and enhancements that

[2:20:09] we can potentially make to the current design with our design engineer. Uh, but

[2:20:12] I I don't want to commit today to what those might look like at the end of the

[2:20:15] day.

[2:20:19] Um, [clears throat] uh, construction of the Seawwalk

[2:20:23] restoration project is going to be delivered primarily through external

[2:20:26] contractors and consultants. Uh following completion, the restored

[2:20:30] shoreline and seawalk infrastructure will continue to be maintained through

[2:20:34] existing city operations. Uh the improvements are expected to reduce wave

[2:20:38] action hopefully uh reducing frequency of over topping or losing any gravel on

[2:20:43] that trail which will hopefully in uh at the same time reduce the amount of

[2:20:47] maintenance uh that is required down there.

[2:20:51] Um [clears throat] uh during construction, temporary pathway closures

[2:20:55] and traffic management measures are going to be required. And uh we will

[2:20:59] work with uh uh excuse me, [clears throat] work with

[2:21:04] the contractor to minimize disruption to residents, businesses, and visitors

[2:21:08] through the appropriate communication, construction, staging, and signage.

[2:21:17] And just the last item that I'll note is just that this project aligns with uh

[2:21:21] council's strategic priority for healthy community uh providing facilities and

[2:21:25] staff for recreation and culture activities that define our community and

[2:21:28] make it where people want to live. Um while working with nonprofit partners

[2:21:32] through grants and partnerships to achieve social goals.

[2:21:36] » There any questions? >> Thank you very much.

[2:21:39] » Councelor Isacson. >> Thank you mayor. Um, one question

[2:21:43] through the mayor to staff. Um, the build community strong fund is the

[2:21:47] source that you that have been identified as prime for this. I'm

[2:21:51] wondering, uh, and this may be a question for the CEO or other staff. Um,

[2:21:55] were there other projects that were considered for the build community

[2:21:58] strong fund that were deci that were put aside and this one was decided that it

[2:22:03] was most suitable and and what was behind that decision? uh prime reason

[2:22:08] for selecting this project was the shovel ready requirement that's

[2:22:12] associated with that grant fund. Uh we did look at a couple other projects as

[2:22:16] well. Um some of the other projects actually already did have some grant

[2:22:20] funding approved for them and so it was determined that the seawwalk made made

[2:22:24] the most sense for this particular project and this particular value.

[2:22:30] » Councelor Palm. >> Thank you worship. Uh first of all I

[2:22:34] just want to say uh great job on a very comprehensive uh report. It has all the

[2:22:40] uh details fully involved and uh gives us a good look at where we're at.

[2:22:47] um start of this term, my phone was ringing,

[2:22:52] if not monthly, bimonthly, as to where are the repairs on the seawalk from our

[2:22:58] citizens and uh just had to keep referring to

[2:23:02] staff and say, "Hey, we've we've got some turnover issues that we're dealing

[2:23:05] with and things aren't moving too quickly." And then uh we heard the ark

[2:23:10] branch was involved which further complicated the issue issue of m uh

[2:23:16] restoration. But you know I can't jump up and down

[2:23:20] today because the money's there from thank goodness from our community forest

[2:23:24] as always. Uh uh what they do for this community is outstanding and if it

[2:23:30] wasn't for them uh we would be in deep dudu financially.

[2:23:35] But the bottom line is we can't jump it up up and down today because we're still

[2:23:39] waiting for an answer as to when we can start the project. Is there a time limit

[2:23:46] on the tender that uh has been accepted? >> [clears throat]

[2:23:50] » uh based upon the uncertainty with uh the timing of the response from the BC

[2:23:56] archaeology branch, we actually did put a total completion requirement of May

[2:24:01] 31st of the following uh this following year of 2027. Uh so we have that

[2:24:06] contractor until then essentially. >> I understand in your report uh the

[2:24:11] archeological branch work uh there is being expedited.

[2:24:16] » That is correct. >> Very good. Thank you very much for your

[2:24:20] report, Council Silka. >> Thank you, Bishop. Um, thank you very

[2:24:25] much for reporting to this about this. Um, as councelor Palm says, huge

[2:24:30] interest in our community and we've heard over and over actually recently

[2:24:35] not so many questions, but people are patient and they still want it. Um

[2:24:41] so I as I remember from the report there is no conflict between receiving that

[2:24:46] report to so the go for the project and the uh build a community strong grant.

[2:24:51] My real question is can you explain briefly the difference between uh the

[2:24:57] phase one and phase two? Is it rip wrap on the surface or end dumping? I don't

[2:25:01] know what that or end dump. Not sure what that term means. I more or less

[2:25:08] picture a large dump truck that is simply just dumping the rocks out the

[2:25:12] end of the truck to put it very simply. Uh it's not being keyed in properly like

[2:25:16] a puzzle like you'll see in that north and south section more or less a pile

[2:25:21] that has been pushed up against the revetment

[2:25:23] » and that will be on the surface of the like the instead of rip wrap basically

[2:25:28] » it still will be rip wrap it'll be it will look the intention is for it to

[2:25:31] look quite similar to what we have on the north and south sections. we

[2:25:34] actually are going going to go with uh a bit more of a shallow slope so it will

[2:25:38] stick out you know a bit further which will help to slow down that wave action

[2:25:42] and protect that part of the pathway better. Uh but the intention is to end

[2:25:47] up with something that looks similar to what we have in those north and south

[2:25:50] sections. >> Thank you.

[2:25:53] » Okay. Uh would anybody care to put forward motions? Uh yes, Council Isaac.

[2:25:59] » Uh thank you. I move that council receive the results of invitation to

[2:26:03] tender uh 1220-20-0704

[2:26:07] for the Seawwalk restoration project that council award contract number

[2:26:11] 2320-20-2375 for the Seawwalk restoration project to

[2:26:15] Hazelwood Construction in the amount of 819,513.36

[2:26:20] excluding GSD. The council received the Pel River Community Forest letter

[2:26:24] confirming its financial contribution toward the Seawwalk restoration project

[2:26:27] in the amount of 550,000 for phase 2 and a total project of amount of 1,530,000

[2:26:34] and that council authorized staff to submit an application to the build

[2:26:37] community strong fund BCSF local impact stream in British Columbia with a U not

[2:26:43] an O uh for funding in support of the Seawalk restoration project. Thank you.

[2:26:48] » Thank you Omita. Any further questions? Call the motion. All in favor?

[2:26:56] That's unanimously. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mayor Council.

[2:27:00] » Thank you, John.

[2:27:04] » Next item is 11.2. But just before we get there, I know that our CEO has had a

[2:27:10] challenging day. [laughter] Um, would you like to excuse yourself at this

[2:27:15] point?

[2:27:18] » Well, uh, thank you for the offer. I'm okay, though. Thanks.

[2:27:23] » Is Willington Beach campsite bylaw update director of parks?

[2:27:30] » Thank you, mayor, for the opportunity to present this report to you and council.

[2:27:34] This report outlines proposed changes to the bylaw that regulates and fixes rates

[2:27:39] for the Willington Beach campsite. It follows direction from council in

[2:27:44] February of 2025 to increase revenues from recreation fees by 10%. Note that

[2:27:51] part of this direction has already been accomplished through the adoption of

[2:27:55] bylaw 27742025 which fixes rates for the recreation

[2:27:59] complex. For context, staff would like to remind

[2:28:04] Mayor and council that the Willington Beach campsite is a unique operation

[2:28:08] being the only yearround municipally campground of its size and nature in

[2:28:13] British Columbia. Generates significant revenue for the

[2:28:17] city of Pal River with an average revenue of $440,000 per year for the

[2:28:22] last three calendar years. Approximately 85% of this revenue is generated from

[2:28:28] visitors outside of our regional area. The proposed new rates will increase on

[2:28:33] average by 10% during our 2027 peak operating season with modest increases

[2:28:39] of about 2.2% per year for the two years following.

[2:28:44] In the development of the new proposed rates, staff took the opportunity to

[2:28:48] rightsize pricing inconsistencies, ensuring a logical and methodolog

[2:28:54] methodical approach to assigning specific values to amenities such as

[2:29:01] electrical hookups, water hookups, sewer hookups, and ocean views.

[2:29:07] Senior rates are proposed to remain at a 10% discount.

[2:29:12] Offseason extended stay rates are proposed to remain at a 20% discount.

[2:29:19] Overall staff anticipate demand for the campsite to remain constant and that a

[2:29:24] 10% increase in revenues be recognized for the 2627 camping season.

[2:29:30] Staff are recommending that bylaw 2823 2026 be given first, second, and third

[2:29:35] reading. Happy to answer any questions.

[2:29:41] » Thank you, Bishop. Just one question. Um,

[2:29:45] it's been my understanding for a long time that CPI is not a good indicator of

[2:29:51] actual inflation of costs. Uh, you know, we know what it's indexed

[2:29:57] to. Um, but it so the question is, is it is it reasonable or is it wise? Like

[2:30:03] obviously you've made this suggestion because you believe it is. So I'm I'm

[2:30:08] wondering why we index 2 CPI because it's a cost related um um factor here

[2:30:16] increasing our revenues from the uh campsite designed to track costs and not

[2:30:22] and not uh the inflation of um revenues basically for everybody. So is that a

[2:30:29] clear did I express myself clearly? I always wonder

[2:30:34] » through the mayor uh we didn't analyze that too deeply. We're our typical

[2:30:39] standard practice is to increase roughly by by that factor. Uh however in this

[2:30:44] case um this is a this is a bit more of a revenue driver than it is an expense.

[2:30:50] Uh that said, we will take that into

[2:30:54] consideration when we're looking at other fees and other increases and

[2:30:57] perhaps be a bit more prudent in what we are raising what we are comparing our

[2:31:01] raises to. >> Thank you. I appreciate that.

[2:31:04] » Okay, councelor out.

[2:31:09] I want to thank you for the report and as my recollection when we were talking

[2:31:13] about the budget and how much we're going to have to ask the taxpayers to

[2:31:17] pay, we were looking for additional sources of revenue that we could

[2:31:21] reasonably get without costing people in Fall River more money. And uh made sense

[2:31:26] to me to vote to increase the revenue from the the park basically to uh help

[2:31:34] us to avoid tax increases. Pretty good idea, I think. And uh I appreciate the

[2:31:39] report and I hope it works.

[2:31:46] » Chair, just a quick um historical perspective here. Uh wasn't too long ago

[2:31:53] when we were told by staff that were producing a couple hundred,000 in uh

[2:31:57] revenue, which was profit on an annual basis. I see your figure is 440.

[2:32:04] I know the operational cost uh trying to get somebody to run the campsite has

[2:32:09] also increased. Um in terms of revenue generation out of that 440, what are we

[2:32:14] looking at on an annual basis? >> I don't have those numbers specifically

[2:32:19] in front of me, but I can easily get them for you.

[2:32:22] » Thank you. >> Okay, we have a motion. If there's no

[2:32:26] further discussion, I will call a motion. All in favor?

[2:32:33] I don't think it's been moved yet. >> We move the motion.

[2:32:39] » Move the motion. Um, >> move the motion

[2:32:41] » that the city of Pal River bylaw 2823- or comma 2026 be given first, second,

[2:32:48] and third reading. >> Seconded by

[2:32:52] Omea. [clears throat]

[2:32:54] All in favor? Passes unanimously. Thank you very much.

[2:33:00] We'll now move to 11.3 sanitary sewer system user rate amendment bylaw.

[2:33:06] » Thank you, mayor and council. The purpose of this report is to propose

[2:33:10] amending the sanitary sewer system user rates bylaw to establish rates for the

[2:33:15] common nation's connection to the city's sanitary sewer system. This is a great

[2:33:19] news story for the city. It shows regional cooperation that achieves

[2:33:23] economies of scale and spreads the cost across a larger user base. It was

[2:33:27] important to both parties while generating the rates that the rates be

[2:33:31] equitable for all users and this made it a real pleasure to work with the

[2:33:34] combination. Uh the rates are outlined in the report

[2:33:38] and they include all the major rates that current city payers uh pay. Um and

[2:33:46] this is included of debt for the construction wastewater treatment plant.

[2:33:50] Um I'm happy to take any questions at this time.

[2:33:54] » Questions?

[2:33:59] Council Dou. >> Oh, do do these rates take into account

[2:34:05] uh the future maintenance of the facility, the the wastewater treatment

[2:34:10] plant and the and the piping that's in the ground. So, we've got we're going to

[2:34:15] have some revenue to maintain all of this as we go along

[2:34:18] » through the mayor. That is correct. They are included in those rates. So these

[2:34:22] rates are inclusive of everything that city user rates uh user users would pay

[2:34:27] and so that includes maintenance uh that includes the debt for the construction

[2:34:31] it uh eventually once we start putting money towards a future wastewater

[2:34:35] treatment plant it'll be inclusive of that as well.

[2:34:41] Yes, >> to the chair, uh your worship, um just

[2:34:44] one pertinent point in your your report, uh for the public, um even though these

[2:34:50] rates are not above what our citizens are paying, uh it needs to be uh pointed

[2:34:56] out that because of the Colaman buyin um on the original grant funding we

[2:35:02] received from federal and provincial sources for the rebuild of our sewer

[2:35:06] plant, Wahan was a main player in our application.

[2:35:12] should be pointed out. Thank you very much.

[2:35:18] » Yeah, thank you worship. Um, one of the really salient points in this

[2:35:23] report, which if you read it carefully comes through clearly, very clearly, uh,

[2:35:28] is that the frontage fees that the city pays are bulked into the, um, one fee

[2:35:36] that that LMAN will pay per each um, residential unit or whoever it is that's

[2:35:42] that's u built for the uh, service out there. uh when you just look at the two

[2:35:49] different charts that are presented here, they're really big different

[2:35:52] numbers and I I wonder if you just might want to go over that a little bit

[2:35:56] specifically for the purpose of understanding in the uh in the community

[2:36:01] because those numbers really are different and that's I would anticipate

[2:36:05] that should bring up some questions.

[2:36:20] through the mayor. Are you referring to the sanitary uh system user rates the

[2:36:25] schedule A that has the in effect?

[2:36:30] basically just the um it's stated in the report that the

[2:36:36] combined frontage taxes along with the user rates so the all three different um

[2:36:42] um rates that the city residents are paying um are all bulked into one. I

[2:36:47] just thought that would be worth highlighting because of the differences

[2:36:52] in the numbers. It's um you know I expect questions to be asked and if

[2:36:58] those questions are answered before they're even asked then that makes it

[2:37:02] real simple >> for sure in my experience

[2:37:04] » through the mayor I can definitely add some highlights to that. So yes so a

[2:37:08] typical user in the city of Powell River essentially pays three fees. There's the

[2:37:12] the user fee and then there's the two frontage fees. And so the the the fee

[2:37:17] that we incorporated for the combination is those three combined. Um and that was

[2:37:22] to make sure that there's equity across all parties and to make sure that uh all

[2:37:26] parties are contributing to the wastewater treatment plant equally.

[2:37:30] Thank you very much. Somebody care to put forward a motion.

[2:37:35] Councel South move that the sanitary sewer system user rates bylaw 2733 2023

[2:37:43] amendment bylaw 2824 2026 be given first second and third readings

[2:37:49] by councelor all in favor

[2:37:53] passed unanimously you'll

[2:37:57] now move to new business uh 14.1 C3 meeting request regarding water

[2:38:04] sustainability plan for the POW and Lois Watersheds

[2:38:15] to speak to this item.

[2:38:21] » Uh thank you your worship. I can advise that this letter was passed forward uh

[2:38:26] through the Cath Regional District and just added to the agenda for council

[2:38:30] input in regards to whether or not they were interested in participating. I

[2:38:35] would note that the actual motion as noted in the letter goes all the way

[2:38:40] back to May and we're basically in August now. So, it for whatever reason

[2:38:46] has taken a while to get to council, but um we're just looking for some direction

[2:38:51] from council in terms of uh if they would like to participate. Uh noting

[2:38:55] that the chances of anything taking place before the end of this term are

[2:38:59] probably pretty slim. Thanks.

[2:39:06] » A question. This is under new business. I I understand it's just here for

[2:39:11] information.

[2:39:17] uh through the uh through the chair, through the mayor. Um there is a request

[2:39:21] in the letter and so the request is being brought forward for council

[2:39:25] consideration.

[2:39:31] » Isacson, >> I I was just going to unless there's

[2:39:36] happy to pause for questions. I was going to propose a motion.

[2:39:42] » Great. Um I move that council direct staff to respond positively to the

[2:39:49] request to um participate in a C3 meeting to explore a water

[2:39:54] sustainability plan for Powell and Lewis wersheds.

[2:39:58] » By councelor Omita. Any further discussion?

[2:40:03] Please cut. >> I have no objection to the uh motion.

[2:40:06] Um, and there's no time frame here. So, I'm confident that uh this could be

[2:40:13] added to [gasps] a future C3 meeting as when as and when one occurs.

[2:40:23] » Uh, all in favor your worship just clarifying question please.

[2:40:26] » Yes. In in the um memo to council here that is before us, there is a

[2:40:34] mention of a nation uh with a different name than Kahaman. Are we referring to

[2:40:38] Clam Nation or is it another entity? >> Shashelle Nation. That's Sea Shel.

[2:40:45] » Oh, interesting. Why does Sea Shel Nation factor into our

[2:40:51] water resources? Is it the geolog the geographic

[2:40:58] map that shows that there is some overlap within areas?

[2:41:03] » Oh, >> Shel Nation goes all the way up to

[2:41:06] include part of Lois and um Palm Bay, Palm Beach area and stuff.

[2:41:12] Yeah,

[2:41:16] could speak [clears throat] to the motion. Um I think my my reason for this

[2:41:20] is this is um largely a this is a regional district um initiative and so

[2:41:26] this is getting their staff to organize it and it's us to respond positively and

[2:41:32] so it'd be great for the future council to be able to attend a meeting um uh a

[2:41:37] C3 meeting and have uh something tangible on the uh agenda to explore and

[2:41:43] it would um it would set up the next council for um for a specific topic to

[2:41:50] act in the spirit of CAFED working together. Thank you.

[2:41:56] » See no other comments, questions. I'm going to call

[2:42:00] the motion. All in favor? Opposed? Passed unanimously.

[2:42:07] Okay, we'll now move to 14.2, two, which is the letter from the mayor of Gibson's

[2:42:12] regarding updating route three horseshoe beta Langdale service levels for

[2:42:18] performance term 7. There's uh

[2:42:24] staff wish to comment on the letter uh through your worship. I would just

[2:42:29] note that it was councelor Palm who requested this letter to come forward.

[2:42:33] So I'm thinking that he probably has some comments to speak to it. staff um

[2:42:37] do not have any comments on the letter. >> Pom, would you like to comment?

[2:42:41] » You worship. Uh yes, I did ask uh when I saw this letter uh of our CEO

[2:42:48] to add this to tonight's agenda for discussion. I think it is an excellent

[2:42:52] letter that has been crafted uh by the uh the mayor of uh Gibson's

[2:43:00] uh pointing out the growth of our population that was previously pointed

[2:43:05] out by our speaker earlier this evening. um this uh staffing and whatnot and how

[2:43:14] many fairs are running on that Langdale run is up for debate and a new uh term

[2:43:20] of reference will be coming a ironically on April 1st 2028 and that is quite

[2:43:29] ironic um knowing the state of uh the uh

[2:43:37] queen of Siri or otherwise has referred to in the press as the queen of sorry.

[2:43:42] We are in need of another ferry on that route and the bottleneck that exists

[2:43:47] needs to be overcome for not only the lower Sunshine Coast but how river

[2:43:53] itself and recently mayor we have had two meetings in our community at the rec

[2:44:00] complex dealing with ferry traffic to Vancouver Island and there because of

[2:44:05] the increase on reservation from 35% to 85%

[2:44:10] that has uh a ripple effect on a lot of the

[2:44:16] passengers on that ferry, whether they have a motorcycle, whether they have a

[2:44:20] medical uh condition that they have to get to, um or they just want to visit

[2:44:26] family out of uh town at a reasonable price because now people are paying much

[2:44:32] more to reserve a spot on the ferry in order to travel.

[2:44:37] Now, I've dealt with fairy issues since the day I came on with this council, and

[2:44:43] the only way we got some serious traction on the issues of our fairies

[2:44:50] was through either our advisory committee with face-to-face meeting with

[2:44:56] uh BC Ferry personnel directly in town or

[2:45:01] at UBCM, we were able to have a meeting with the Minister of Transportation.

[2:45:06] under the Liberal government at the time. And we did manage to get new

[2:45:10] fairies. We did manage to get free passage for youth traveling on sports

[2:45:17] teams out of town through uh the school district taking that on out of their

[2:45:23] school district office um and

[2:45:27] kept rates reasonable. Now, what is going on in the ferry situation these

[2:45:33] days with the budgeting population and more and more visitors all the time

[2:45:37] needs to be addressed and I think it should be upon council. I wish we had

[2:45:45] started up another ferry advisory internally when ours went down and they

[2:45:50] they refused to come to town any further. Um, Gibson's made a proactive

[2:45:57] uh stance and established their own. Good for them. We do not have that here,

[2:46:02] but we should establish something in the next term to serve this community

[2:46:07] better. we should advocate at UBCM and uh a letter from us at this point in

[2:46:14] time, your worship backing up Gibson's letter from the mayor and pointing out

[2:46:20] the need for better service on the Langdale run and also follow that up

[2:46:25] with an explanation of uh that the citizens are not happy with the 85%

[2:46:30] reservation and the ripple effect that has had on so many. Um, so I'm asking if

[2:46:36] council will consider having the mayor write a letter backing up um, the

[2:46:42] Gibson's letter to not only Randy Neil, but also the Minister of Transportation,

[2:46:49] the Honorable Mike Fworth.

[2:46:56] » Is that a motion? >> But yeah, I'm going to through our CEO.

[2:47:03] Is it appropriate before we finish discussion to have a motion come forward

[2:47:10] or did that wait until our discussion is finished? And if councelor

[2:47:15] » I I think either way would work. If someone wants to bring a motion forward

[2:47:19] and then speak to it, it's one thing or if council wants to to respond to uh

[2:47:24] councelor Palm's um um statements.

[2:47:29] Um, but it's it's really up to the the body to determine where to go with this.

[2:47:34] » Okay. So, Doubt

[2:47:39] going to ask councelor Doubt to continue and then we'll go back to Palm if you

[2:47:44] wish to put forth. >> I'm going to go with what I think the

[2:47:48] appropriate thing is that a city council is to have a motion to debate before we

[2:47:53] debate it. And I'd like to move that the mayor council requests that the mayor

[2:48:00] write a letter to minister Randine Neil and the minister of transportation.

[2:48:09] going to speak slowly requesting their support in advocating for a formal repos

[2:48:15] reassessment of the contractual service for route three horseshoe bay langale

[2:48:22] and the route from Earl's Cove to Sultry Bay as well as the route from Pow River

[2:48:30] to Komox as part of the province's preparation

[2:48:35] for performance turn seven. If there's a secondary, I'll talk to that a little

[2:48:40] bit. >> Seconded.

[2:48:42] » And uh I I like the letter. It points out the dissatisfaction that everybody

[2:48:47] has uh with ferry service. Obviously, Gibson's in a is in a little different

[2:48:54] situation. They have their own fair local ferry advisory committee set up.

[2:49:00] We don't have one here. have slightly different interest and and other

[2:49:05] interests than Gibson's has because we've got actually three routes that we

[2:49:10] depend on for any kind of transportation and any kind of highway to anywhere

[2:49:15] except our own city in Gary and I think we should deal with that.

[2:49:21] you know, we're talking about the the reservation system and, you know, I

[2:49:26] personally I don't I don't see a a benefit in adjusting the reservation

[2:49:31] system. I think it's more of an added problem than it is a solution and I

[2:49:36] don't think it's helped anybody and it's just confused things. But I would like

[2:49:40] the mayor to write a letter to those ministers, point out that we're unhappy

[2:49:44] with the situation and asks that all three of the roots uh that we're looking

[2:49:49] at and depend on here be be uh considered in the performance term seven

[2:49:56] evaluation that they say they're doing. >> Great. Any further discussion on the

[2:50:02] motion? Councelor Palm. Yes, I I second councelor Doubt's motion and um we'll

[2:50:09] just add that the bottom line on the Gibson's letter as an ask of

[2:50:15] face-to-face communication with members of the BC Ferry staff in their uh

[2:50:22] jurisdiction, not on a screen like as what has recently transpired here where

[2:50:30] that ask was made and there was no follow through um that's a shame. Uh

[2:50:37] they need to come and face the music. Thank you, your worship. It's

[2:50:41] » through our CEO. You had a >> uh Thank you, your worship. I just

[2:50:44] wanted to clarify that we had got the motion correct. Um councelor Doubt,

[2:50:48] could you please just confirm if we're missing anything on that?

[2:50:57] Yeah, I just I'd like to add the root numbers in, but I don't have uh the

[2:51:01] three root numbers all memorized. I'm sure we could find them online. I

[2:51:06] bet counselor's got it right in front of them. [laughter]

[2:51:13] » 17 is to Comox and Route 7 is Salt Tree Bay, I believe.

[2:51:21] » Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. I I I seem to remember

[2:51:23] additional words at the end of councelor Doubt's motion. It's um in the leadup to

[2:51:27] performance term 7. I think you had referenced that

[2:51:31] » uh beginning April 1, 2028. >> Yeah.

[2:51:33] » Yeah.

[2:51:37] » Okay. >> Um so if I could speak to the motion, I

[2:51:40] I um as we all have heard many uh frustrations with the changes to the

[2:51:45] ferry service, the reservation system, the prices um and so many of those

[2:51:50] concerns are very valid. it's impacting people's ability to uh travel freely

[2:51:53] around the province. I did want to add to the conversation though because I've

[2:51:57] actually heard a lot of appreciation from young families for the new system

[2:52:01] because many of the routes are much cheaper uh and they're able to plan

[2:52:06] their summer holidays, their their precious summer holidays with their

[2:52:09] children to go away to visit family. And so the booking um on non high demand

[2:52:14] routes are actually substantially cheaper when you're traveling with

[2:52:17] children. And um and so It's more there's more to it than that.

[2:52:22] There are many uh frustrations that are very valid, but that's not the whole

[2:52:25] story. Uh I've heard from many young parents how it's it's been lovely for

[2:52:30] their summer planning [clears throat] and uh and their wallets. Thank you.

[2:52:34] » Great. Council Aita. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um I'm totally in

[2:52:38] favor with this letter and um Oh, there's a small typo on horseshoe. There

[2:52:42] we go. Um, and I agree conversations need to be have had to improve our

[2:52:48] system, whether it's for the quantity of boats or the size of the boats or the

[2:52:53] frequency of the routes and stuff. Um, last year at UBCM, um, the CEO and a few

[2:52:59] other executives from BC Fairies was there in person. I was actually quite

[2:53:03] surprised how few um, counselors were actually at that session. Uh but that

[2:53:08] gave me a chance to to ask some questions and one of those questions

[2:53:12] seemed to have led to a change. I don't know if I was fully responsible for it

[2:53:15] or not, but um I'll take some credit. Um but to comment on um some of what

[2:53:20] council Isacson said, being a family of four little ones, um I can understand

[2:53:26] some of the frustrations that the community has had with uh reservations

[2:53:30] for those that uh don't have a credit card or easy access to a computer. um it

[2:53:36] can be a little bit more challenging. Um but for those that have been planning

[2:53:41] trips, I I can show physical evidence just from this past couple weeks. Um the

[2:53:47] the difference it can make with uh with reservation. In fact, just um as we were

[2:53:52] having this conversation looking at a ferry reservation for September, uh a

[2:53:57] round trip for one person if reserved is $80. Uh that's for a round trip. Um, and

[2:54:04] I paid $75 for one way um, in June. So, I also believe I I could be wrong on

[2:54:10] this. I I went back and read the the memo that BC Fairies brought in May when

[2:54:16] they brought the new system in. I have a feeling I'm I'm not 100% certain uh cuz

[2:54:22] I'll be honest, BC Fairies is not great at communication. So, we definitely need

[2:54:25] a face toface meeting. Uh but I believe um that from that uh press release in

[2:54:31] May, this current system actually might just be a temporary um uh thing for the

[2:54:38] summer. I think it was only supposed to go to mid-occtober. Um and so um from my

[2:54:43] understanding they were evaluating how they can relieve pressure on the middle

[2:54:48] routes of the day by offering advantages to uh travel on the um on the morning

[2:54:54] and evening fairies. And uh when I last came across uh last week, um I had a

[2:55:00] chance to speak to one of the staff members at the booth um who um um

[2:55:08] agreed to my stance there that uh the the afternoon sailings due to some of

[2:55:13] the prepaides and the and the saver fairs was definitely uh a lot less

[2:55:17] congestion at the ferry terminal. Um and I think that's what BC Fairies was

[2:55:22] doing. Is there many places to improve for certain? Um and as as councilors and

[2:55:27] the future council, uh that's what we need to advocate for. Um but I I think

[2:55:32] BC Fairies was attempting to try some different things to reduce congestion.

[2:55:36] Uh obviously room for growth. Um but I I can comment it definitely wasn't a cash

[2:55:42] grab. So I'll be in favor of this though.

[2:55:44] » Okay, we have a motion. Going to call it. All in favor?

[2:55:49] Motion passes unanimously. We'll now move to public clarification.

[2:55:55] and subject to rules of conduct. Members of the public may ask questions to

[2:56:01] clarify items discussed during the meeting for a maximum of two minutes.

[2:56:09] Does anybody wish to come forward?

[2:56:19] Mr. Galinski, do you have a question?

[2:56:26] you very much. Do we have anybody online?

[2:56:30] No. Well, then I'm I'm going to move adjournment of the meeting. Thank you

[2:56:35] very much for coming

Regular Council Meeting - 20 Aug 2026

Transcript