Councillors in Gibsons are fine-tuning their 2017 budget, and are leaning toward taking on debt for improvements on Gibsons Way.
The engineering department proposed several projects that could be done in tandem with the work tied to the recently announced grants from the federal-provincial Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. The Town is getting nearly $1.3 million from the fund, mainly for improvements to the water system.
Because that work also involves tearing up and repaving roads, director of engineering Dave Newman told council it offered the opportunity to do other improvements like sidewalks, streetlights and bike lanes.
Mayor Wayne Rowe said he’d rather see one project done well instead of spreading the improvements among the streets getting watermain work, and councillors focused on Gibsons Way as the area likely to give the most bang for the buck.
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote noted that in its current condition Gibsons Way isn’t very accommodating for pedestrians or cyclists. “As a central thoroughfare, it’s pretty difficult [to use] for someone who’s not in a car right now.”
The Gibsons Way improvements would include catch basins, bike lanes, sidewalks, and multi-use paths along the stretch from Seaview to North Road.
The Town will need to borrow almost $1.5 million for the work, and council will have to give pre-budget approval for the road work to give staff enough lead time for the alternative approval process to get voter support for the borrowing.
Coun. Charlene SanJenko supported the focus on Gibsons Way, but said the Town will have to make sure it communicates clearly with residents about what’s going on and why, which linked to another point of debate at the budget meeting – whether the Town should hire a part-time communications staffer, at an estimated cost of about $30,000 a year.
Coun. Stafford Lumley said hiring a consultant from time to time might be the better approach, but SanJenko argued that wouldn’t be as effective.
“What we’ve heard from every leader of every department is that they needed help with communications. What I saw last year was many of those leaders close to burnout,” SanJenko said, adding that good strategic communication needs someone on the inside. “Unless you have someone embedded in your team to carry that out and get to know the leaders, [it doesn’t work].”
For now, the communications position remains part of the draft budget.
Councillors also gave their OK to setting aside $5,000 to help with the cost of a special Canada 150 event planned for Sea Cavalcade – four Caravan Stage Society Tall Ship performances in Gibsons Harbour. The total cost would be around $17,500, and it’s hoped grants and donations will cover the bulk of it.
The draft budget council has been working from is based on a 1.5 per cent overall tax increase. Rowe wrapped up the April 11 meeting by asking the finance department to come back with a spending plan based on a three per cent increase. Councillors will also have to make a decision about the business tax ratio, the multiplier used to determine how much of the total tax will be carried by residential properties and how much by commercial. Gibsons has made lowering that multiplier a priority in recent years, but with residential assessments up significantly, director of finance Ian Poole told councillors a modest increase could be in order to balance the tax burden.
