[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