Editor's Note: Date, time and location for library open house is provided at the bottom of this article.
When apples and apples are compared, it should be easy to choose between the two. However, City of Powell River council has discovered having two apples to compare with the preliminary design plans for the new Powell River Public Library may not be an easy task at all.
A special meeting of council was held Tuesday, May 20. The meeting was convened partly to establish an open house on the library issue. The recommendation passed unanimously: “That staff be directed to convene a public meeting in early June to garner public support for a new library location at either Willingdon South or the upper level of the recreation complex and that the Miller Hull conceptual design reports regarding the two options form the basis of the information to be presented.”
Twelve members of the public attended the meeting. Councillors Russell Brewer and Myrna Leishman were away with leave.
Both Miller Hull Partnership, LLP quotes with the designs have come in at roughly $8 million. In creating the Powell River Recreation Complex report, the consultants alluded to structural or seismic upgrades that could increase the safety of the building. They stated the upgrades are a recommendation, but voluntary rather than a building code requirement. The recreation complex would be grandfathered, explained Mayor Dave Formosa.
City clerk Marie Claxton said that at the open house the designs for both library locations would be available for comparison, and that there would be a separate station where information about seismic upgrades to the complex would be detailed.
A question was asked by the public about why council is pursuing siting the library at Willingdon South.
“Why is it that council uses the library board’s consultant’s report to go ahead with the new library but uses the same report that tells them the majority of people don’t want it at Willingdon?” asked resident Elaine Teichgraber. “It appears that council is cherry-picking the parts that they like and ignoring the parts they don’t like.”
Councillor Jim Palm responded. “We said we would keep that site on the table, we said we would do a study at the complex, we are doing exactly what we have put into process which is bringing all the information forward to a public meeting so that the public can…give us their full opinion on those two sites.”
Resident Dino Ciarniello asked about the referendum question, whether people would be given a choice first whether they want a library or not, and then if they do, to specify a site location.
“We are going to go to this public meeting where we have two different plans and we have costs attached to them,” explained Councillor Maggie Hathaway. “From that facilitated meeting we will get a clear idea of where people want the library to be, based on architectural plans and dollars. From that my understanding was we would go to referendum with ‘do you want a library at...’ and here’s the dollars. If you don’t want a library then you say no. We will be asking it all in one question.”
Two public requests will be taken into account: one that there be an open mic at the open house, and the other that both quotes include the FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment). This information was missing from the latest data provided to council about the Willingdon South site.
Resident Paul McMahon drew attention to a third estimate that had been submitted to council. It provided a quote of around 50 per cent of the quote from Miller Hull. “Some people may want a non-showcase design,” said McMahon. “The [chief administrative officer]’s letter suggested putting all three on the table.”
This was decided against as the report was “inferior” to the Miller Hull report. “We got a one-page estimate on what they thought it would cost to build a library there,” explained Councillor Debbie Dee. “It is not fair to include the Unitech report. There is no evidence-based information there for us to take into account.”
The open house will be facilitated and a report will be provided to council following the meeting. With this information, council will determine a question to put to referendum, the wording for which must be formulated by July, and then “at the end of the day people will have to make the decision,” said Formosa.
The open house will take place from 6 to 9 pm on Monday, June 9, at Dwight Hall.
