The City of Nanaimo is taking a small step forward in their proposed public works facility upgrades, using reserve money for detailed costing and designs. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

spend money to save money

City commits $1.8M to refine pricing of ‘generational’ public works upgrade project

Feb 25, 2025 | 12:10 PM

NANAIMO — The City is looking to spend now, in a bid to reduce some sticker shock and provide price certainty on public works upgrades.

Councillors approved, via a 6-3 vote on Monday, Feb. 24, the spending of $1.8 million from reserves to proceed with detailed design and costing work for overhaul of the City’s public works facility on Labieux Rd., currently projected to cost upwards of $90 million.

Bill Sims, City general manager of engineering and public works, told councillors the money would enable staff to move on from current project estimates, which include a 25 per cent contingency, into more refined dollar amounts.

“Currently, we’re at a concept level design. We have a rough idea of what things will look like, and with this current level of concept this high contingency is appropriate. We’d like to buy some certainty [by] continuing forward with the detailed design, but in the current rhetoric globally around tariffs, etc. What’s certain anymore? But at least, at least this is a step in doing that.”

Proposed upgrades to the Labieux Rd. facility have changed over the last two years, slimmed down from an original project which would have cost north of $160 million including contingencies. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Sims added the detailed design and costing work is something which would need to happen anyway, for the project to proceed.

At its current iteration, the project would include new vehicle maintenance bays and administrative offices for City staff.

He said the $1.8 million price tag shouldn’t be seen as an extra expense, but rather an investment into the total project cost, which would provide a “greater level of confidence in the costs.”

“Staff are still of the opinion that long term borrowing is entirely appropriate for this generational project, just like the South End Community Centre, the waterfront walkway would be a generational project. The funding for that project is spread across a generation, the more people move here, the more people are paying for it, they’re greater the cost is spread across that.”

After three failed attempts to obtain elector approval between late 2023 and throughout much of 2024, the City pressed pause on the project in December in a bid to figure out next steps.

Among recommendations presented by Sims Monday night were holding a referendum on the $90 million borrowing ask, or funding the upgrades directly through property taxation and reserve funding at the expense of other projects.

Neither garnered much support from the Council table.

Cramped vehicle bays and insufficient space for maintenance are a major reason behind the proposed updates. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Councillors were somewhat split on the issue, with coun. Tyler Brown saying it was too early to do detailed design work without a guarantee the project would proceed in the short term.

“I still struggle with some of the scoping. It doesn’t make sense, and I went back and reviewed everything. Unfortunately, that information doesn’t lead me to the same conclusions that this advances [through elector approval]…and ultimately you’re spending likely on plans that are going to need to be redone.”

Coun. Hilary Eastmure echoed comments from other councillors on potentially adjusting the project to include secondary uses, with some community support for housing instead of public works on the Labieux Rd. site.

She said projects of this size and cost can’t be one dimensional.

“[This situation] is actually an opportunity to rethink what our priorities are…and really think if there’s a way that we can do this in a really new and creative way. Yes, that property could be good for housing, and I think if we’re building pieces of public infrastructure, they need to be multi use now.”

In addition to the City’s public works yard, BC Housing, Nanaimo Fire Rescue and other agencies have operations on the Labieux Rd. property in question.

Eastmure, Brown and coun. Ben Geselbrecht voted against the recommended motion to spend the $1.8 million.

Approximately $1.3 million will come from the General Asset Management Reserve Fund, while the remainder will be pulled from the Sewer and Water Operating Reserve funds.

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