Staff Report: View Royal Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 839
A report proposing a new loan authorization bylaw for the Public Safety Building with a potentially reduced borrowing amount and the appointment of election officers.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT
TO: Council DATE: August 23, 2012 FROM: S. Jones, Director of Corporate Administration MEETING DATE: September 4, 2012
VIEW ROYAL PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING LOAN AUTHORIZATION BYLAW NO. 839, 2012
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the portion of the motion C-104-12 dealing with assent of electors in autumn 2012 for Bylaw No. 826, 2012 from the July 17, 2012 Council meeting be rescinded;
AND THAT Council seek approval of the electors with regard to View Royal Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 839, 2012 in the autumn of 2012 by means of assent of electors in accordance with section 85 of the Community Charter.
AND THAT pursuant to Section 41(1) of the Local Government Act, that Kenneth Lyle Schaalje be appointed Chief Election Officer for conducting the 2012 Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw Elector Assent process;
AND FURTHER THAT Marion Bernice Villines and Elena Bertina Bolster be appointed Deputy Chief Election Officers for the 2012 Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw Elector Assent process.
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE’S COMMENTS:
I concur with the recommendation.
PURPOSE OF REPORT:
To present a new loan authorization bylaw; appoint Chief and Deputy Election Officers; and describe a course of action with respect to the current and future Public Safety Building sites.
TIME CRITICAL:
The 2012 Strategic Plan includes proceeding with the replacement of the Town’s public safety building as a critical initiative in large part due to its deteriorated conditions vis a vis safety, health and seismic considerations.
A further consideration is the legislative requirement (s. 162 (2) (b) Local Government Act) to proceed within 80 days of the deadline for receipt of elector responses that occurred on July 11, 2012.
BACKGROUND:
At the July 17, 2012 Council Meeting, the following motion was passed:
“THAT Council receive the document titled “Determination and Certification by Corporate Officer of Results Regarding the Alternative Approval Process for View Royal Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 826, 2012”;
AND THAT Council seek approval of the electors with regard to View Royal Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 826, 2012 in autumn 2012 by means of assent of electors in accordance with section 85 of the Community Charter.”
DISCUSSION:
Upon review of the July 17th motion listed above, staff wish to propose for Council’s consideration an alternative course of action as described in the following discussion points.
New Loan Authorization Bylaw
Given the public input provided throughout the Alternative Approval Process and the desire expressed by Council to reduce the maximum borrowing amount provided in the Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 826, 2012 ($7,990,000), attached please find a new bylaw (“Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 839, 2012”) with the amount listed for borrowing left open for Council’s discussion at the September 4, 2012 Council meeting.
It is anticipated that through discussion at the September 4, 2012 meeting that Bylaw No. 839, 2012 can be drafted to represent a lower maximum borrowing amount than Bylaw No. 826, reflecting opportunities to acquire funding through alternative means. If a number can been established, Bylaw No. 839 can be presented at the September 18, 2012 Council meeting for consideration of first, second and third readings. This new bylaw would be the basis of the assent of elector’s process to be held this autumn.
Elector Assent Question
The assent of elector’s process is run under “Other Voting” in the Local Government Act. The process provides a question for electors to vote on. It is best if the question is clear, concise and able to be answered in a “Yes” or “No” manner. The question to be voted on by the electors for the proposed Bylaw No. 839 is as follows:
“Are you in favour of View Royal Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 839, 2012 which, if adopted, would authorize the Town of View Royal to borrow up to $____ million to construct a new public safety building?”
Tentative Dates for Advance Voting and Voting for the Elector Assent Process
Under the legislation, the setting of the general voting day under other voting is left to the Chief Election Officer and is dependent on the timing of a response from the Provincial Inspector of Municipalities to Bylaw No. 839. It is anticipated that there may be a couple of tentative dates available for general voting day – Saturday, November 3, 2012 or Saturday, November 17, 2012.
Should general voting day be November 3, 2012, advance voting days would tentatively be set for Wednesday, October 24, 2012 and Wednesday, October 31, 2012. Alternatively, should the general voting day be November 17, 2012, advance voting days would tentatively be set for Wednesday, November 7, 2012 and Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
Appointment of Chief and Deputy Election Officers
Regardless of whether Council is to proceed with the direction provided at the July 17 Council meeting or wishes to pursue an assent process with a different bylaw, section 41(1) of the Local Government Act requires the local government to appoint a chief election officer and a deputy chief election officer.
Staff propose that the assent of elector’s process be administered by the same officers that undertook the 2011 Local Government Election. This recommendation is based on the positive feedback from the public with the team appointed for that election. Accordingly, the Chief Election Officer is proposed to be Ken Schaalje and the Deputy Election Officers are proposed to be Marion Villines and Elena Bolster.
Rezoning for Existing Fire Hall Site
Associated with opportunities to reduce the maximum required borrowing amount, the Development Services Department will provide bylaw amendments as required to the September 11, 2012 Committee of the Whole meeting for the existing fire hall site.
OPTIONS:
- Council could choose to do nothing and simply not proceed with the project at this time.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the portion of the motion C-104-12 dealing with assent of electors in autumn 2012 for Bylaw No. 826, 2012 from the July 17, 2012 Council meeting be rescinded;
AND THAT Council seek approval of the electors with regard to View Royal Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 839, 2012 in the autumn of 2012 by means of assent of electors in accordance with section 85 of the Community Charter.
AND THAT pursuant to Section 41(1) of the Local Government Act, that Kenneth Lyle Schaalje be appointed Chief Election Officer for conducting the 2012 Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw Elector Assent process;
AND FURTHER THAT Marion Bernice Villines and Elena Bertina Bolster be appointed Deputy Chief Election Officers for the 2012 Public Safety Building Loan Authorization Bylaw Elector Assent process.
SUBMITTED BY: S. Jones, Director of Corporate Administration
REVIEWED BY: K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer
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