Now that a request for expressions of interest to dissemble and remove the old barge terminal facility near the south harbour has closed, hopes are the space can be cleared for other uses.
Mayor Dave Formosa said the facility will be offered for sale to the highest bidder. He added that during the expressions of interest process, the city heard from eight or nine potential bidders.
The city had been looking at one proposal in particular as a good potential solution to the removing the building. Myrtle Point Golf Club had expressed interest in the structure and city staff had conversation with club representatives about the building.
“They were quite interested in the building to relocate it,” Formosa said. “Being civic minded, we were waiting to deal with them. Hopefully they could take it away and then repurpose the building for the good of the community. Subsequently, they have decided they don’t want the building.”
Formosa said there will now be a request for proposals (RFP) going out, asking prospective bidders what they would pay for the building, or whatever other proposals they might have for its removal.
“People will give it their best shot and we’ll see what happens,” Formosa said.
The plan calls for the space where the old barge terminal facility sits, once cleared, to have park designation.
When the site was in use commercially, the city had it appropriately designated it as a barge terminal. It had a “fairly hefty” lease attached to it by the province, which is the landowner at that location.
“Now that the barge terminal has left, we applied to downgrade that and the government bit,” Formosa said. “We now pay a lesser fee. I believe we have applied again to move it into park status and then we’ll pay much less. The thinking then would be that the area down there coincides with the seawalk on both ends.”
If the city was to attain park status from the province to keep lease payments minimal, people could go down to the former barge terminal site and enjoy it as a hub to the seawalk, according to the mayor.
Formosa said because of the leased property’s dimensions, when the building setbacks from the ocean area are applied, it leaves a “really small footprint” where any commercial activity could occur. He said because of the property’s proximity to the harbour, the city might look at providing space for Powell River Yacht Club or Cooper Boating.
“They’d like to move their sailing fleet to that end and they might want to have their office down there, which would be minimal impact.”
Formosa said if it ever came to the point where more substantial activity was proposed, the city could look at the scenario at that time and approach the provincial government to commercialize it again. The tenant would pay for the increased lease charges on the property from changing its designation from park to some other use.
Given that the city’s director of planning has said there is not a lot of room for commercial activity because of water setbacks, Formosa said something small such as the yacht charter office might make sense and council would look at it.
The direction that has been advised by city staff, however, is to set it up as park initially.
In terms of future usability of the site, Formosa said to the best of the city’s knowledge, the facility has just been used for storage. There has been no manufacturing going on at the site that could have caused extensive pollution.
Because the property is paved, any oil leaks would have been absorbed into the pavement, but the city is not aware of any issues. The land is leased from the Crown, if there is an issue, it’s the province’s to deal with, Formosa said. “We don’t own it.”
The location, once cleared, would be a suitable site for public gathering.
“It would be a great place for a farmer’s market,” Formosa said. “It could be a little midway. There are a lot of things that could happen down there.”
