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| Prince Rupert City Council heard some background on two loan requests Monday night, learning more of the process towards funding for the Ridley Island land cell project and the Woodworh Lake Dam project |
Prince Rupert is about to move forward on a pair of significant infrastructure projects and that will mean the need to take out some loans to go along with provincial and internal funding that the City has put together for the work ahead.
Monday night at Prince Rupert City Council the City's Chief Financial Office Corinne Bomben provided the overview of the two Loan requests, destined for the City's work on a new cell for the Ridley Island landfill site, as well as the second phase of the city's Water infrastructure plans that being the building of the Woodworth Dam.
As part of her Monday night review, the CFO provided a detailed explanation for both projects, noting the history behind both the landfill site and the dam project, as well as to review the two options towards consultation with the public that City Council can choose to follow:
The first project to be reviewed was the planned work on the landfill site which will provide for a new cell at the Ridley Island Road site by 2021.
Towards the narrative of the work to be done, Ms. Bomben made note of the history of the current cell, the anticipated life of the new cell potentially as far as fifty years down the road upon completion, as well as the city's wider agenda towards reaching the status of a Zero Waste community.
She observed how this is expected to be the last landfill site development that the city will take on, that as they move towards reaching that Zero Waste status.
That project will require a loan of 10 million dollars form the Municipal Finance Authority, with the CFO noting that solid waste rates and fees are not expected to increase outside of small inflationary increases.
As part of her overview of the loan process, Ms. Bomben observed that the solid waste rates will not be increased towards the project, with the existing charges that are jn place expected to meet the annual debt repayment requirements.
The repayment schedule will mean payments of 590,000 dollars per year over the length of the loan period.
The Woodworth Dam which will be a 23 million dollar project will be funded by way of funding from provincial/federal sources, Prince Rupert Legacy Inc and the need of a 10 million dollar loan.
She provided a short history of the original dam and the current replacement program to date and noted that water rates will not be increased, with Legacy Inc to make use of dividends from Watson Island towards the debt repayment requirements.
Ms. Bomben then provided a tutorial towards the process that would be required should the city council choose the referendum option, with the AAP option one that is somewhat less time consuming and deliver less cost to the city.
She did not offer up any preference, however the themes of her explanation would seem to suggest that the method that the Staff would like to see accepted would be the Alternative Approval process.
Beyond the two Loan requests up for review on Monday, the City's Financial Officer provided a heads up for some upcoming loan requests, making note of the city's plans for replacement of the RCMP detachment in the city which will cost close to 30 million dollars; as well she made note of the work ahead towards a water treatment plant which also would be close to 30 million dollars.
She did not however, outline any kind of a timeline towards progress on those two proposals.
When it came time for quesitons, Councillor Mirau asked for some further explanation on the differences between the AAP process or a full referendum, as well as to seek further guidance as to any flexibility that the city may have to extend the terms for the loans if necessary.
"The AAP is supposed to be six weeks worth of time for voters to come in and sign a petition basically saying that they don't want the city to take out a loan; while a referendum is exactly like an election and takes months "-- City CFO Corrine Bomben
Councillor Niesh observed how residents need to understand how these debts are to be covered by existing costs and how the reality is that these projects need to happen and have been left too long as it is. He also took the opportunity to note how much of the ability towards their approach on the major projects has come through the hard work that the city has taken on at Watson Island.
Councillor Adey noted that there will be a need for more information for the public to ensure they are fully informed on the two projects of note, he inquired as to the anticipated lifespan for the new landfill site and how that would work towards the city's Zero Waste plans.
Ms. Bomben observed how the Director of operations outlined how the new cell would have a thirty five to fifty year lifespan, perhaps more as new measures come into place towards zero waste goals.
The councillor's second question was to ask about electrical power capacity.
Ms. Bomben noted that the design is such that the dam will be able to generate electricity, if the opportunity comes up and should the province ever allow for that option through a permit in the future.
She also noted that the power generating option was included in the design as you cannot add it on at a later time.
The CFO also outlined that they are preparing an information package for both loans, once council has decided which approach they wish to use for consulting the public on the loan requests.
Councillor Cunningham asked towards any momentum for curb-side recycling in the community, with Ms. Bomben observing that it will probably come within the next two years, making note as to how the city has to work with Regional District on logistics and capacity, she did highlight how the new garbage truck will have a recycling capabilities.
The Mayor wrapped up the discussion by noting how the city has approached their decisions on asset management, with projects such as the dam designed for the long term and a potential for revenue generation and how the landfill moves them towards their zero waste and recycling goals.
He commended staff for their attention to those themes as part of the designs for both.
Prior to moving forward on the two Loan authorization request Councillor Mirau inquired about a administrative note on the Dam authorization asking about the date of 2019 towards that initiative.
Ms. Bomben noted that it was an administrative issue, as they had originally planned to take out the loan for the dam last year, but owing to reasons to delay it, they moved it to 2020 but have kept the original bylaw number.
Council then provided first, second and third reading for both of the Loan Authorizations.
The Mayor then noted that the Loan process now moves to the province for review, once that process has returned to the city from the province, Council will move towards further explanation of the details related to both Loan requests and then decide on which measure of consultation they will use for the final approval from the public.
You can review the presentation from the City's Video Archive starting at the 50 minute mark.
The City has also provided for a slide show of Monday's Loan Authorization presentation which you can review here.
As part of their Budget review, the city outlined some notes on the Loan authorization process as part of their information release following Monday's session.
"Finance also presented loan authorization bylaws for lending to be undertaken in 2020 so that the City can initiate borrowing to complete the dam project, and to build a new landfill cell. Both of these projects, too, are anticipated to have no impact to property owners, thanks to new revenues and past financial planning."
More notes on infrastructure issues can be explored here.
For a look at more items of interest from the Monday meeting see our City Council Timeline feature and our archive of notes from the Council session.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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