Lease rates
City of Powell River Council gave first three readings to a bylaw to set lease rates for land and improvements owned by the city.
At the November 5 council meeting, councillor George Doubt, chair of the finance committee, said this makes the city’s lease rate bylaws updated according to the market. He said there had been assessments of the city’s properties to ensure the city is getting appropriate money for the value of the property when it’s leased out.
Mayor Dave Formosa said the city now has a good handle on its real estate and on the leases. For many years, city leases were always done off the corner of the desk of the chief financial officer, and now, the city has a director who dedicates a lot of his time to administration of these files, said Formosa.
Council carried the three readings unanimously.
Development costs
The city adopted its bylaw to impose development cost charges for the capital cost of providing, altering or expanding infrastructure and parkland improvements.
Councillor Jim Palm said this was an upgrade to the city’s existing development cost charges. In order to get this passed, the city had to submit its changes to the bylaw to the inspector of municipalities.
“We got a letter back from him on October 13 saying they had endorsed the bylaw approved under the provisions of section 560 of the Local Government Act,” said Palm. “Council may adopt the bylaw and it is before us tonight.”
Council unanimously approved the bylaw, which will set development cost charges of $9,500 for a single family residence, $6,801 for a townhouse or duplex, $5,144 for an apartment, condo or trailer and a variety of fees per square foot for commercial, institutional and industrial construction.
