A $2.5-million upgrade to Trail Avenue, between Teredo Street and Anchor Road, was among a handful of projects endorsed for early budget approval by Sechelt councillors Jan. 17.
The finance, culture and economic development committee also recommended giving the go-ahead to sewer and storm drain work along Trail to the tune of $275,000 and approving a $52,000 budget for community investment program grants.
District staff said while the number of applications to the program was consistent with previous years, the amounts being requested were down significantly from last year.
Given that, Coun. Doug Wright said he favoured holding the budget at last year’s number, “because we know it’s going to be a tough financial year.”
Mayor Bruce Milne called the community investment program one of the district’s strongest, but agreed there was no need to increase the budget if this year’s applications could be covered at the $52,000 level.
The other spending recommended for early approval included work on the Nestman Beach Access ($10,000) and the purchase of wildlife resistant garbage cans by the parks department ($15,000).
Director of financial services, Doug Stewart, brought a total of seven projects forward ahead of the regular budget discussions, but one did not get the committee’s endorsement.
The committee rejected the $174,000 Trail Bay Waterfront Community Park capital project.
Several councillors argued the planning was far enough along to justify approving the project.
“I think we need to have the public’s input first,” said Coun. Alice Lutes, who added that she’s been hearing a lot of concern about cutting off vehicle access to the lane that runs along the beach.
Coun. Mike Shanks said there are also some gaps in the planning around how to cope with sea-level rise, and pointed to severe damage caused by storms in recent years.
“As much as we’d all like to see this built in the summer, there are really good reasons, even in an election year, to stick to process and make sure we know what we’re talking about and make sure we’re approving things that are in-hand,” said Milne.
After a motion from Coun. Darnelda Seigers, a line-item for public consultation and design work will be added to the list of projects to be considered when the main budget comes forward.
The committee also heard chief librarian Margaret HodginsA case for increasing funding to the Sechelt Public Library, which is in the final year of a five-year funding agreement with Sechelt, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), and shíshálh Nation.
“The increase [in the agreement] of $1.53 per capita for 2018 is not sufficient to meeting the library’s current operating needs,” Hodgins told the committee, noting that Sechelt’s per-capita funding lags behind the Gibsons and District Public Library and the average for similar-sized libraries in B.C.
She said the gap is about $262,000 in total, and the library board is hoping Sechelt will cover $150,000 of that with the rest coming from the SCRD areas that contribute (Pender Harbour, Halfmoon Bay, and Roberts Creek) and the shíshálh Nation. Hodgins was due to make a presentation to the SCRD board Jan. 23 as part of its round one budget deliberations.
The committee didn’t make any recommendations on library funding, but Milne did say he was “looking forward to the day on the Sunshine Coast when, from Egmont through to Langdale and Port Mellon, there’s a very similar contribution to the library needs across the region.”
Sechelt’s draft budget anticipates an overall property tax increase of 7.7 per cent, but the impact on a typical homeowner is expected to work out to about 4.7 per cent, including sewer and solid waste fees.
