Ferries at UBCM
Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chair Garry Nohr is gearing up for a meeting with fellow RD chairs from around the B.C. coast and the transportation minister on BC Ferries issues. It’s going to be one of several side discussions at next week’s Union of BC Municipalities meeting.
Nohr told the Sept. 15 meeting of the infrastructure services committee that the chairs are finally seeing some movement from BC Ferries.
“Gradually they’re listening because a lot of the things [that BC Ferries cut] are now being put back in place,” he said. “In our case it’s a Sunday [sailing], Central Coast is [also getting sailings back] as they realize they made a major error by removing that one run, and they’re also finding out that there’s a lot of problems with what they did by not replacing the [Queen of] Burnaby up in Powell River immediately.”
Nohr made the comments in response to a July 26 letter from the ferry advisory committee criticizing his suggestion that BC Ferries should be thanked for its decision to subsidize travel for youth sports teams and other youth groups by tacking a surcharge onto other fares.
In the end the letter of thanks was not sent, because BC Ferries still hasn’t clarified what it’s doing with the difference between what the surcharge is bringing in and the subsidy costs.
But, Nohr said he still thinks it’s important to acknowledge when the ferry company responds to concerns. “I still think that sooner or later we’ve got to go to BC Ferries and compliment them for any changes they do make if we’re going to keep asking them to make changes.”
Green Waste Budget
The SCRD is going to dip into its tipping fee revenue to cover a possible shortfall in the budget for processing green waste.
A Sept. 15 report from Robyn Cooper, manager of solid waste services, says an increase in the tonnage of green waste coming in means the department is now projecting a cost overrun of about $39,000 (the 2016 budget for green waste collection and processing is $272,000).
Cooper told the infrastructure services committee that it’s not easy to say for sure why more green waste has been coming in this year, but anecdotally most communities notice an increase when the economy – especially building and renovation – picks up.
Cooper also said the tipping fee fund is running a surplus right now that will be enough to cover the $39,000 if necessary.
Hot Tub
The SCRD’s corporate and administrative services committee was expected to vote Sept. 22 to issue a new request for bids on the long-awaited replacement of the hot tub at the Gibsons and District Aquatic Centre.
Earlier estimates of more than $400,000 were rejected as being too expensive, especially without the OK to use money bequeathed to the Town of Gibsons by the late Muriel Haynes for a future expansion of the pool.
A report prepared for the Sept. 22 meeting says after reviewing the proposals with the architect, the replacement could be managed with a budget of $290,000 if the SCRD goes with a six-seat instead of a nine-seat tub.
There were also potential savings found revising the project budget for concrete, floor finishes, earthworks and the removal of the accessible lift.
If the committee approves the new numbers, it will go to the SCRD board for final approval in October.
– Sean Eckford, Staff Writer
