The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) will gather public input on the future of Gambier Island’s New Brighton dock this fall, but that doesn’t mean the local government is ready to take on the facility that’s turned into something of a hot potato.
The century-ish-old dock, divested from the federal government in 2013 and sold to Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation)’s Nch’ḵay’ Development Corporation, is the passenger ferry access for the island and the main transportation hub for the 150 year-round residents of Gambier’s southwest peninsula, and many more seasonal residents.
The 110-metre drive-on pier structure with three attached floats isn’t technically tenured, is roughly estimated to require more than $100,000 in annual operation costs and has an estimated $4.5 million replacement cost. (The neighbouring unmaintained barge ramp is a separate asset that has no formal owner, which poses liability and public access risks.)
Nch’ḵay’ wishes to sell the dock given the financial responsibilities and risks but wants to ensure it remains publicly accessible, and has said it would be willing to sell the dock to the SCRD.
The SCRD says that the province should take on the dock, as it’s a critical piece of public transportation infrastructure. Still, given the importance of the dock to the island community and the ambiguity surrounding the structure, last year, the board approved $25,000 for a feasibility study for the future of the dock.
SCRD directors received the feasibility study’s interim report at the July 17 committee of the whole.
Options for the dock’s future Pacific Coastal Consulting brought forward include folding New Brighton into the SCRD's current complement of docks; the SCRD not taking on any responsibility and continuing to advocate for the province to take the dock on; or facilitating a third party taking on the asset (community association, non-profit, BC Ferries). While BC Ferries has not expressed interest in buying the dock, it has indicated it’s willing to explore a fee-for-use arrangement, said the report.
Should the SCRD take on the dock, it could involve expanding the SCRD’s Ports Service or creating or expanding a service area of the west side of Gambier, and would also incur administrative costs.
User fees, fee-for-service and other models are also tentatively explored in the study, with high-level estimated annual costs ranging from $11.51 per $100,000 of assessed residential value (if folded into Ports Service, which includes residents of West Howe Sound, Roberts Creek, Elphinstone and Halfmoon Bay) to $154.62 per $100,000 of assessed residential value (for a West Gambier Island Local Service Area), in the event the SCRD took on the dock.
It’s been nearly five years since the Gambier Island Community Association asked the SCRD to help determine the future of the dock, since word came out that the Nch’ḵay’ was looking to sell the facility, but if residents were expecting timely resolution through the study, directors tempered expectations at last month’s meeting.
“For me, the value of this [feasibility study] for the communities is to get all the same information on the same page, so everybody knows what they're talking about,” said West Howe Sound (Area F) director Kate-Louise Stamford. “It also really clarified that this really should be a provincial transportation priority.”
But, she intimated the dock is in a state of limbo –– especially in the case of repairs –– in anticipation of the feasibility study’s findings. “I'm not sure at the end, the feasibility study will actually give them the answers they're wanting,” she said.
Elphinstone director Donna McMahon said she was concerned about public expectations as the study moves to community consultation. “The community is going to expect that we're going to take on the dock, and I'm pretty sure we're not prepared to do that at this time,” said McMahon. She also pointed to how taking on the dock would require a review of their ports service, given that the dock is a year-round ferry terminal, unlike their other docks.
The budget for public engagement is limited, but will include the residents in the vicinity of New Brighton and residents of the areas part of the SCRD’s ports service (West Howe Sound, Elphinstone, Roberts Creek and Halfmoon Bay).
What role residents want the SCRD to take in relation to the dock and barge ramp, acceptable taxation and service level are to feature in the questions posed to residents.
Staff will then come back to the board with a “what we heard” report and the final version of the feasibility study.
