City of Powell River elected officials are prepared to use their approval authority for the Westview terminal upgrades to put pressure on BC Ferries.
At the January 17 committee-of-the-whole meeting, Dave Douglas, director of financial services, brought forward a request from BC Ferries for council to approve improvements to the terminal. The company leases the terminal area from the city, which has to approve any improvements in the leased area. The company wants to start the terminal upgrade project in June this year, starting with new pilings and constructing a new base for vehicles, said Douglas.
The company has already started consultations with community representatives about the terminal upgrade, which includes the closure of both the Westview and Little River terminals, slated for January to March 2014. However, the project will begin in June, with no disruption to ferry traffic.
Councillor Chris McNaughton reported on a telephone conversation in December with Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries president and CEO, and community representatives about a number of subjects, including vessel replacement, home porting and a second berth.
McNaughton said that BC Ferries has done all of the engineering for the terminal upgrade before it consulted with the community. “They didn’t come for community consultation first and ask what the community would like to see,” he said. “From that initial consultation, the response was, what about the second berth, what about home porting, what about going a different direction and keeping this as a second berth and possibly improving the breakwater in the north harbour, which would greatly benefit the community?”
Community representatives wanted to have input earlier, McNaughton said. “It seems like the train has left the station. Now we’re just moving this thing forward,” he said. “We are continuing to have discussions and hopefully those discussions have positive results, but it looks like at this stage all the plans and engineering are moving forward.”
Mac Fraser, chief administrative officer, said delaying the approval of improvements could possibly delay the project. “Do you want to advance the big discussion and set this improvement aside or is it you’ve got their attention with this improvement and you want to have that bigger discussion and possibly set aside their schedule?” he said. “This is the moment that you can say, as the lease holder, you have hesitation because of these outstanding issues or you choose to give permission, knowing that further detail will have to go through a regulatory approval, but if it meets your criteria for regulation, it must be approved.”
Councillor Jim Palm suggested council shouldn’t endorse the request. “We come up with a long-term solution to address our needs in this community and send a strong message, instead of giving them carte blanche to put in their trestle,” he said.
Councillor Myrna Leishman agreed. “We need to stay on top of it and get their attention,” she said. “Maybe this is the way to do it.”
McNaughton also agreed. “This is the leverage point,” he said.
In the end, councillors decided to defer the issue until the next committee-of-the-whole meeting on February 7 and arrange another phone call with BC Ferries in the meantime.
