Town of Gibsons staff are working to correct an error made in the water readings of an undisclosed business to the tune of $80,000.
“The consumption readings that we’ve been reading on this particular building have been 10 times higher than they should have been,” director of finance Ian Poole said at the July 7 council meeting. “That goes back to the time when this building was constructed – 10 or 11 years ago.”
Staff determined that this is a unique situation after looking into other properties that could have been affected by the error.
“The bottom line is it’s a mistake made by the Town and the property owner should not suffer the consequences of that, as hard as it is to swallow,” Mayor Wayne Rowe said.
In order to correct the mistake, the Town will have to revise their refund policy, since the incident falls outside a two-year time limit.
“We would need to have an amendment passed by council because we need to essentially provide a little more flexibility within the current wording of the refund section,” Poole said. “That would allow us – on very limited circumstances – to process a refund for periods longer than the two years that it’s currently structured for.”
The motion to amend the refund policy was put forward to the next council meeting on July 21.
George info centre
A temporary use permit application to allow for a George Hotel and Residences information centre at 397 Gower Point Rd. was received by council on July 7.
The temporary use permit for this site was originally requested at around this time last year, but council deferred the application to a later meeting when more information was available.
“Since then the application has proceeded,” director of planning André Boel said. “Council has received reports on the economic benefit in September last year, on aquifer protection earlier this year, and also on proposed zoning bylaw and the OCP amendment.”
The temporary use permit would allow the information centre to operate for a three-year term with the possibility of turning it into a permanent sales office.
There is also a request to have a free-standing sign at the location, which is approximately two metres high and a little over two sq. metres in area. The size of the sign conforms with the Town’s commercial signage restrictions. This would also have a term of three years.
“In July 2014, I supported the recommendation that we defer consideration of that application. I did so because I felt it was premature at that time,” Rowe said. “Since then, with the reports we have now received, and with the first reading that has been given, I think it’s appropriate for the temporary use permit to go forward.”
Council is required to notify the neighbours before it can consider the request. The application will come back to council on July 21.
