This conceptual drawing presented to councillors in their agenda package shows what the completed new fire hall could look like. Council has backed away from a referendum.
There will be a referendum relating to the building of a new fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos after all.
After more than 1,000 local citizens signed a petition voicing their concerns over the cost of a proposed new fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos, Town of Osoyoos council voted Monday to allow registered voters to make a final decision on fire hall financing as part of the November 15 municipal election.
This past spring, members of council announced they would not be holding a referendum relating to a bylaw that would allow the town to borrow $5.962 million to finance the building of a new fire hall.
Instead, they announced they would be adopting the Alternate Approval Process (AAP), which detailed that 10 per cent of the current population (listed at 4,750) would have to sign a petition or council would have the authority to proceed with its proposed borrowing bylaw.
Refusing to proceed with a referendum on such a big-ticket item as a multimillion dollar new fire hall upset many local residents as did the proposed price tag of more than $8 million when you factor in the cost to purchase land for the new fire hall on 74th Avenue off of Hwy. 97.
Led by local residents Ray Vandenberg and his life partner Jean Clarke and “council watchdog” Sy Murseli, more than 1,000 local residents signed the petition, which was turned into town hall staff late Friday afternoon.
Vandenberg has announced he will be running to oppose Mayor Stu Wells in the upcoming election, while Clarke and Murseli have filed papers to run for a seat on town council.
Janette Van Vianen, the town’s director of corporate services and chief electoral officer, told council Monday that more than 1,000 signatures were properly signed on the petition, with another couple of dozen signatures spoiled.
If the AAP petition received more than 474 votes, council was left with three options, said Van Vianen.
The Local Government Act states that when an AAP process fails, voting for a bylaw, normally referred to as a referendum, must take place no more than 80 days after the deadline for receiving elector responses under the Community Charter, said Van Vianen.
Voting day for the referendum must be set for a Saturday and, in this case, the bylaw must happen no later than December 20, she said.
Since there is an upcoming general election in November, staff have reviewed the timelines for advertising requirements and other issues and decided holding a referendum on the fire hall as part of the municipal election can be accomplished without any significant problems, said Van Vianen.
If council is in agreement to go to assent voting for the bylaw on November 15, they had to set the question for resolution at Monday’s regular meeting of council, she said.
The proposed question that local voters will be deciding on November 15 reads, “Are you in favour of the Town of Osoyoos adopting Osoyoos Fire Hall Construction Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 1306, 2014 that will allow for the Town of Osoyoos to borrow a sum not exceeding $5,962,657 over a 30 year period in order to finance the construction of a fire hall at 74th Avenue?”
By considering this option, council should also consider there would be very little additional costs, with the exception of between $2,000 and $2,500 for advertising, if the referendum is held as part of the municipal election on November 15, she said.
Council had an option to set a referendum date no later than December 20, though this option is not recommended as this date is close to Christmas, which is not an ideal time for voting so close to the general election date, she said.
It would also cost approximately $15,000 to hold the referendum vote on another date, she said.
The final option was for council to let the bylaw fail and make changes to the project significant enough that the Inspector of Municipalities would approve it as a “new project” and it’s unknown what would be significant enough for the inspector to approve a new bylaw, but likely would have to show a significant reduction in the borrowing amount, she said.
“The legislation is clear that if a bylaw fails at assent voting (referendum), a bylaw for the same purpose cannot be submitted for elector assent for at least six months from the last submission,” she said. “However, the legislation is unclear as to whether there is a waiting period if it fails at AAP or if council could proceed immediately to a new bylaw.”
Any major project change and new bylaw would not likely be available for council consideration until the new year and any referendum would not likely happen until next spring or later, said Van Vianen.
Coun. Michael Ryan said the only option that makes sense is to hold a referendum as part of the November 15 election.
“I think it makes eminently good sense to proceed as quickly as possible,” he said.
Mayor Stu Wells said even though many local citizens questioned the AAP process, he believes it worked and they have spoken loud and clear that they would like a referendum to be held on the fire hall borrowing bylaw issue.
“A large number of people didn’t like the process … and a lot of them wanted to go to a ballot” and will now get that opportunity.
Vandenberg, who attended all of Monday’s meeting with Clarke, said he has “no doubt” local residents will vote against the fire hall borrowing bylaw on November 15.
“We only had 1,400 people vote in the last (municipal) election, but we had more than 1,000 people sign the petition,” said Vandenberg following Monday’s council meeting.
Residents who signed that petition are going to make sure they vote against the proposed bylaw on November 15 because many are upset the AAP was used instead of a referendum and don’t believe Osoyoos needs an extravagant new fire hall, said Vandenberg.
“We do need a new fire hall … we don’t need a Taj Mahal fire hall,” he said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
