City of Powell River council passed a motion that commits to a referendum on a new library before construction begins.
Councillor Debbie Dee, who sits on the Powell River Public Library board, brought forward the resolution at the July 5 council meeting. The library board has proposed construction of a new library, estimated to cost $9.5 million, on the vacant lot located on the corner of Marine Avenue and Abbotsford Street, known as the old arena site.
The motion stated, “Whereas, council has approved Willingdon South as the preferred location for the new library; and whereas, council is confident in and supports the planning process for the new library as developed by the library board of trustees, therefore be it resolved that: council encourages the Powell River community to support the fundraising efforts of the library board for a new library at Willingdon South and council is committed to holding a referendum on the question of building a new library prior to approving its construction.”
Councillor Myrna Leishman alone voted in opposition to the motion. She attempted to amend the motion, adding a phrase at the end that stated, “Council to hold a referendum on the site before October 1, 2012.” Because no one seconded the amendment, it failed to be added to the motion.
Leishman said she thinks council is making a mistake by not having a vote on the site. “We have several thousand people that have signed petitions,” she said. “Whether you agree with that or not, it is their right to voice their opinions, as it is everybody else’s right. For us to totally ignore that participation in our community, I think is wrong.”
The animosity in the community will continue in the foreseeable future, Leishman also said. “I don’t think that’s healthy,” she said.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway said people have been asking for a referendum and this motion commits the city to holding one. “I don’t think it needs to be done any sooner, until we know what the dollar amount is and I’ve said that since the beginning,” she said. “We need to have all the information and we’re not going to have it until after the fundraising campaign has been rolled out.”
Councillor Chris McNaughton said he struggled with the premise of the motion, but voted in favour of it. “If we don’t succeed at this location by referendum, I would be exceptionally disappointed if we didn’t then have an alternative in place so that the community would have a choice between one location and another,” he said.
Councillor Jim Palm said the resolution was a compromise and puts the issue to rest until funding is dealt with. “I’m comfortable with that,” he said. “Let’s deal with the process that we’re in, not cloud it.”
Councillor Russell Brewer agreed with Palm. “I think it’s a great site and I view this resolution as a reasonable compromise,” he said. “It commits to a referendum, which is mostly what I’ve been hearing from those who are quite concerned about that site, but it allows the process to move forward.”
Mayor Dave Formosa said he has a hard time recommending the city hold a referendum on one site. “If for some reason it fails, we’re in a real tough spot,” he said. “We need a library, this community needs a library, we need a decent library, something we can be proud of. I would like to see that there is an alternative, but we’ll leave that for another day.”
When the motion was passed, people in the audience, the majority of whom were new library supporters, applauded.
Cleve Hamilton, one of the organizers of the Save Willingdon Beach campaign, told the Peak the following day he was happy with the motion. “It’s a compromise that we can live with,” he said. “We’ve been asking for a referendum and that’s what we got.”
