Upgrading an aging and vastly undersized public works facility will again go before voters via an AAP process, with the City asking to borrow upwards of $48.5 million. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

expensive project

Second AAP opens for Nanaimo public works replacement project

Jan 18, 2024 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — A second bid by the City to get electoral approval for a new public works yard is underway.

Following a City of Nanaimo procedural error during the initial Alternative Approval Process (AAP) last fall, residents opposed to borrowing up to $48.5 million for phase one of the substantial Nanaimo Operations Centre (NOC) project have until Feb. 20 to make their feelings known.

AAP forms can be picked up at City Hall and filled out by eligible voters with the process running until Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m.

A threshold of ten per cent (7,889) of registered voters opposed to borrowing for the first phase of the Nanaimo Operations Centre is required in order for the City to find an alternative funding source for the project.

Long-term borrowing to spread the cost of the project over many years is the City’s preferred option to avoid considerable tax increases and other financial pressures.

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“The City has a fair amount of borrowing room available to fund projects such as this,” the City’s finance director Laura Mercer said during a media tour at the City’s public works yard on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Many public works staff work out of portables or other facilities which are well past their best-before dates. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

An initial phase of the NOC project features replacing the aging fleet maintenance garage with an expanded facility to include a service shop.

Subsequent phases will see different areas of the facility upgraded to meet modern needs, with the total project cost slated to run up to $160 million.

The City’s general manager of engineering and public works Bill Sims said the public works yard built in the 1960’s is well beyond its useful life.

“The current public works facility, the operations centre that our park operations and our public works operations work from are outdated, too small and not able to meet the needs of providing that resilient level of service to the community.”

Stating the project is a no-frills initiative aimed at serving the City for decades to come, Sims said he understands the sticker shock the public has with the entire facility replacement cost.

“We wondered the same thing, it’s quite honestly an expensive project, all projects are expensive,” he said.

Joe Figel represents the group Nanaimo City Council Accountability Hub, which he said started in direct response to the prior AAP.

Saying he’s not against the project itself, Figel said he is strongly against the AAP mechanism as opposed to a referendum.

“You have to go through the process of filling out a form, dropping it off at City Hall in order for it to be a ‘no vote’, that is an undemocratic way of doing it and it’s procedurally unfair.”

Sandy Bartlett implored Council to hold a referendum, or at least issue more public engagement to ensure residents were aware of the process. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Many of those who have expressed opposition to either the project itself or the AAP, stated they were not made aware of this initiative by the City until it was essentially too late.

However, several media releases from the City, local news coverage and advertisements have presented information regarding the proposed upgrades since at least the spring of 2023.

The project itself has been on the City’s radar since the early 2000s.

During a lengthy Council meeting in early December, shortly after it was discovered the first AAP was invalid, local lawyer Sandy Bartlett spoke on behalf of concerned residents.

“If you don’t subscribe to the newspaper that it’s advertised in, or read the website of the City of Nanaimo, you simply don’t know about it,” Bartlett told councillors. “If you’re trying to reach all the people in Nanaimo, you need to do something different than the last time you ran this AAP process.”

AAPs are a tool regularly used by local governments to finance projects and achieve other tasks as needed.

It’s also a considerably cheaper option for local governments than holding a referendum.

In 2018, the City of Nanaimo used an AAP to borrow up to $17 million for the now-open Fire Station #1 on Fitzwilliam St.

One per cent of electors registered an objection then.

Most other AAPs, dating back to 2008 and for items related to park dedications and lease agreements, comfortably passed with less than a handful of people against each time.

The only AAP to fail in the last 15 years in Nanaimo was a July-August 2008 bid to expand the municipal boundary to include Cable Bay inside City limits.

Roughly 13.6 per cent of eligible electors sent in the necessary paperwork and the process was stopped.

The most recent referendum in the Harbour City was regarding the construction of an Events Centre, which included borrowing upwards of $80 million.

Around 80 per cent of voters rejected the idea.

Just under four per cent of voters registered their objections during the first AAP last fall.

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