By Lyonel Doherty

A former bylaw enforcement officer for the Town of Oliver is calling on the municipality to disclose a financial assessment of Centennial RV Park based on a year-round operation.

Donald Lowndes says the Town never provided this information to the public during the rezoning of the property to make way for a luxury hotel on the site.

“They never talked to the beneficiaries, the taxpayers. They never produced a financial assessment of the possibility of updating the park (to a 12-month operation) and relocating the hotel,” Lowndes said.

He believes council has a fiduciary obligation to disclose this information to the public, and to manage assets for the best interests of taxpayers.

Lowndes questions the long-term benefits of an 80-room hotel compared to a year-round municipal RV park. During a public hearing on the hotel rezoning, RV owners said they spend a significant amount of money in Oliver while staying in Centennial Park.

Julie Kehler, a former town councillor from Canmore, was in Oliver recently on vacation. She said council made a big mistake rezoning that property to accommodate a hotel, calling the decision an atrocity.

“It’s a cardinal sin for municipalities to give away green space. We don’t even give up green space for affordable, subsidized housing,” she said.

However, many people at the public hearing spoke in favour of the decision, saying Oliver needs a hotel. Most of the people who opposed the rezoning agreed, but said their only concern was the location.

Lowndes firmly believes that operating the RV park year-round would provide more financial benefits to the town over the long term.

Chief Administrative Officer Cathy Cowan acknowledged that Centennial RV Park users patronize local businesses, but she pointed out all of the benefits and expenses that the hotel developer will be responsible for.

She said development cost charges will amount to approximately $231,251 for the sleeping units. Cowan also pointed out that commercial space is calculated at a rate of $29.77 per square metre, and industrial charges apply to laundry facilities at a rate of $17.60 per square metre). This will be put into reserves for future development of Town infrastructure. In addition, the developer will be paying approximately $228,000 for frontage improvements (to the middle of the road on Station Street).

The two-acre property in question will cost Mundi Hotel Enterprises $572,000, but the hotelier will receive $330,000 in tax exemptions over 10 years. But according to the Town, what the developer has to pay in other taxes will save local ratepayers about $845,000.

Cowan said the Town has received $20,000 a year leasing the property to the contractor that operates the RV park. This year the Town will receive $21,000 for eight months of operation. If the park operated year-round, the Town would likely receive an additional $10,000, Cowan estimated.

As far as the land sale goes, Cowan said all of the conditions have been met, and the Town expects the sale to close on October 10. “We’re waiting for the possession date. It’s basically a done deal,” she stated.

If the hotelier backs out of the deal, he will lose his 15 per cent deposit, Cowan pointed out. She noted the company has already applied for the development permit, which Cowan expects will be brought to council on September 11.

While the public has no say at the development permit stage, the developer has to adhere to Official Community Plan guidelines, Cowan pointed out. She indicated that she spoke to the developer regarding the concerns some people raised about the modular, box-like look of the hotel. “They’re open to different things with regard to the look of it.”

At the development permit stage, council can ask for changes that address the aesthetics of the building, Cowan noted. Lowndes said he doesn’t expect to see his request for disclosure fulfilled anytime soon, if ever.

“I’m just trying to let them know there are some issues in the way they are doing things.”