Sechelt’s new management team will be complete with the arrival of director of planning Andre Isakov at the end of this month and the team’s most pressing order of business will be to help set up a new development cost charge (DCC) bylaw for the district.
Sechelt council has said that the new management team is key to helping the district achieve “significant fiscal realignment” in the face of two reports (the McElhaney report and the Urban Systems report) that show many millions will likely be needed for road and sewer works in upcoming years.
A new DCC bylaw is expected to bring in millions to Sechelt’s coffers, as the fees could be doubled or even tripled over what they are now, according to Mayor Bruce Milne.
Sechelt CAO Tim Palmer said that while the district’s financial situation is challenging, “there’s not a disaster out there.”
“What we really need to be doing is looking at how we move ahead and reviewing our processes to make sure they’re good and there’s good information,” Palmer said, noting he’s pleased to have new director of financial services Douglas Stewart on board to help.
“He’s taking charge in that area, reviewing what we’re doing in all aspects of the financial services and that’s kind of his number one task.”
Palmer also said Stewart is “taking charge” of the DCC review, with the help of new director of engineering and operations Nikii Hoglund.
“With the DCCs, there’s two components. There’s the financial side but then there’s the information so that we can make those decisions,” Palmer said.
“So that will be coming to council in the coming months with anticipation of a new DCC bylaw and that will help enable, as we move to the future, that we’ve got adequate resources for expansion of a number of infrastructure items including roads, sewer, parks and drainage issues.”
Staff is already working on the DCC front and expects to have something before council in early June.
The district then plans to hold two public opportunities for consultation in June and July.
First reading of the new DCC bylaw is tentatively set for July, second and third readings in August and adoption in September.
