Aging vehicle maintenance bays will have to stand a little while longer due to errors with the City's AAP which looked to borrow up to $48.5 million to replace them. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

null and void

Nanaimo Council scraps second AAP for Operations Centre, project on hold

Feb 12, 2024 | 4:27 PM

NANAIMO — It’s back to square one for the City and funding of the Nanaimo Operations Centre (NOC).

Councillors voted unanimously in favour on Monday, Feb. 12 to cancel a second alternative approval process (AAP) requesting permission to borrow upwards of $48.5 million for a new public works yard after forms for people to register their objection to the borrowing were not made available in the proper time.

Dale Lindsay, chief administrative officer, told councillors once the error was noticed and verified, very few options remained.

“Specifically it is on the date of the official notice, on [Jan. 17], we made the official notice and it provided on our website, but unfortunately the actual forms were not ready until the next day on the [Jan. 18].”

AAP’s require 10 per cent of eligible electors to register their objection to the City over a roughly 30-day period, otherwise the proposed subject of the AAP proceeds.

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Local government must also meet a set schedule for an AAP to be an eligible method of obtaining voter approval.

Monday’s cancellation marked the the second fatal error in administering an AAP by the City of Nanaimo in recent months.

A first AAP, which ran in the fall, was nullified as a result of an administrative error regarding public notice for the NOC project.

City staff failed to properly follow provincial guidelines when advising the public of the AAP and Council were forced to redo.

Without borrowing, the City must now find an alternative way to fund phase one of the Nanaimo Operations Centre project, which would see construction of new vehicle maintenance bays and other facilities for public works staff.

“We believe as staff that the NOC continues to be a priority for the community, it is a requirement we believe for the continuation of successful operations for our staff and our purposes,” Lindsay added. “It’s not that we’re abandoning the project…we will return to Council with options.”

A large crowd, roughly 75 per cent capacity of Council chambers, attended Monday’s meeting. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The proposed Operations Centre would be a vital piece of infrastructure, replacing an aging and vastly undersized facility on Labieux Rd. which was built in the 1960’s.

City staff have repeatedly said the existing facility was built for a population considerably less than the 100,000+ people currently relying on public works services such as water, sewer, road maintenance, snow removal and garbage collection.

Also in phase one is better management of storm water on Labieux Rd., including replacement of pipes on site which are heavily degraded.

Upgrades to the Nanaimo Fire Rescue training tower and development of a multi-use pathway behind the site and connecting the Parkway with Dorman Rd. round out the project.

Despite hiccups recently, the City has used AAP’s successfully in the past, including significant financial asks.

In 2018, an AAP was used to borrow up to $17 million for construction of the new No. 1 Fire Hall on Fitzwilliam St.

A total of 783 people, or just over one per cent of voters, objected.

More recently in October 2023, a park dedication bylaw was green lit for adjustment via AAP with only 20 objections registered among an elector population of 78,334.

While Monday’s vote to abandon round two of the AAP for the public work’s yard was unanimous in an 8-0 vote, councillor Hilary Eastmure was absent from the meeting.

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