Area C Proposed Wharves Service Initiative (AAP)

Community
Area C
Type
Governance
Status
Completed

Results


News Release August 17, 2023

The results of the alternative approval process (AAP) for Bylaw No. 487 which proposes to establish a service for funding the operation and maintenance of wharves infrastructure in Electoral Area C (Discovery Islands-Mainland Inlets) was discussed at yesterday's board meeting.

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) has been provided funding from Transport Canada for wharves upgrades to Owen Bay (on Sonora Island), Surge Narrows (on Read Island) and Port Neville (in Johnstone Strait). Transport Canada divested these three wharves to the SRD in 2014 and provided funding to operate and maintain the wharves for ten years. The deadline to complete necessary wharf upgrades using the Transport Canada funding is fast approaching.

To comply with statutory requirements, the SRD needed to establish a wharves service before spending funds and completing upgrades to fund future operations and maintenance of these assets. For the SRD to continue to operate and maintain the three Transport Canada Wharves, the SRD decided to gauge the level of community support for a wharves service through an Alternate Approval Process (AAP) which was initiated on June 21, 2023.

The AAP elector response period ran for 35 days in total and closed on August 3, 2023. A minimum of 242 elector responses (10 % of Area C's elector population of 2,419) would be required to prevent the adoption of Bylaw No. 487 without first obtaining approval of the electors by voting (referendum). At the conclusion of the AAP response period, 418 elector response forms were received by the corporate officer, of which 385 were confirmed as valid.

The results confirm that the Board cannot proceed with the adoption of Bylaw No. 487 at this time. The annual residential tax rate was estimated to be less than the max of $0.0848 per $1,000 of assessed value. As an example, the average home in Area C is valued at $639,400, with a residential cap of $0.0848 per $1,000, the annual requisition would have been $54.22.

Given the results of the AAP, the Board determined the next steps will be discussed with Electoral Area Directors at its next Electoral Area Services Committee meeting September 13, 2023.

About the Service Initiative

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) has been provided funding from Transport Canada for wharves upgrades to Owen Bay (on Sonora Island), Surge Narrows (on Read Island) and Port Neville (in Johnstone Strait). Transport Canada divested these three wharves to the SRD in 2014 and has provided funding to operate and maintain the wharves for ten years. The deadline to complete necessary wharf upgrades using the Transport Canada funding is approaching.

To comply with municipal governance, the SRD must establish a wharves service before spending funds and completing upgrades. This service will fund future operations and maintenance of these assets.

On January 8th, 2023 the SRD Board of Directors passed a resolution to develop a new service establishing bylaw for the SRD-owned wharves that may be seen more favourably by ratepayers in Electoral Area C.

The SRD currently owns six wharves in Area C. Three of which are the Transport Canada divested wharves and three that are currently operated under the SRD Parks function - Granite Bay, Hoskyn Channel and Evans Bay. In order for the SRD to continue to operate and maintain the three Transport Canada Wharves- Owen Bay, Port Neville and Surge Narrows, the SRD would like to gauge the level of community support for a wharves service through an Alternate Approval Process (AAP).

Notice of Alternative Approval Process Bylaw No. 487

ELECTORAL AREA C WHARVES SERVICE

June 21, 2023 - Public notice is hereby given that the Board of Directors for the Strathcona Regional District may proceed with final passage and adoption of Bylaw No. 487, being Electoral Area C Wharves Service Establishing Bylaw 2023, at its meeting of Wednesday, August 16, 2023 unless at least 10% of the eligible electors within the proposed service area submit elector response forms not later than 4:30 p.m. on August 3, 2023. Bylaw No. 487 would establish a service for funding the operation and maintenance of wharf infrastructure at Owen Bay, Port Neville and Surge Narrows within Electoral Area C (Discovery Islands-Mainland Inlets).

The number of eligible electors within the boundaries of the proposed Electoral Area C wharves service area has been fairly determined to be 2,419 and the number of valid elector response forms required to prevent the adoption of Bylaw No. 487 without first obtaining the assent of the electors by voting is 242.

Elector response forms must be in the form approved by the Regional Board which are available below or in person at the Regional District office during regular office hours. Only persons who qualify as electors within Electoral Area C of the Strathcona Regional District are entitled to sign and submit an elector response form.

FAQs

Headshot of Robyn Mawhinney.

Robyn Mawhinney, Electoral Area C Director - Discovery Islands & Mainland Inlets RMawhinney@srd.ca
Why is the Wharves Service being revisited?
“Area C is more than Quadra: it encompasses many islands. As the SRD revisits this Wharves Initiative, my hope is increased communication can answer concerns and create a Service which ratepayers across Quadra and the Outer Discovery Islands will be satisfied with. The Outer Discovery Islands residents I've spoken with are keen for this initiative to pass. Remote-living residents of Area C manage many challenges, I hope a lack of a wharf isn't one of them. Apropos for our island life, let's remember that a rising tide lifts all boats.”

1- What is an Alternative Approval Process?

An Alternative Approval Process (AAP) is used to gauge the degree of acceptance by ratepayers of a particular service initiative. Generally speaking, the Regional Board will advertise its intent to proceed with the Service. The public then provides submissions indicating if they are in favour or not of the service. If at least 10% of ratepayers object to the creation of the Service, the Service must be approved through a referendum voting process before it can be initiated.

2- Why is the SRD choosing an Alternative Approval Process?

  • The Regional District is required by the Local Government Act to obtain the approval of the electors using an Alternative Approval Process or referendum vote.
  • The cost of an AAP is significantly less than seeking approval via voting at a referendum and is often preferred for that reason. If the AAP process isn’t successful (10% of residents are not in favour of the service), the Regional Board then determines whether the proposal should be taken to a vote of the electors.
  • The AAP is somewhat quicker, and time is a factor in this case for making a decision.
  • An AAP is truly an opinion poll in that the Board may either proceed to adoption if there is little opposition, or proceed with assent voting if ratepayer support is questionable.

3- How did the SRD incorporate feedback received at the Public Meetings in February 2023?

Area C residents were invited to an informative meeting with SRD’s Chief Administrative Officer Dave Leitch, SRD Engineering staff and Electoral Area C Director Robyn Mawhinney.  The meetings took place on February 14th on Quadra Island and Surge Narrows.  It was to inform residents about the potential establishment of the Area C Wharves Service and provided an opportunity to ask questions that residents had in advance of the Wharves Service Bylaw coming before the Board.

Residents of Area C shared that they would like the three wharves managed by SRD’s Parks to remain in the Parks Service function. Based on the feedback received, the SRD will leave them there and plan only to include Surge Narrows, Owen Bay and Port Neville in the proposed wharves service.  The SRD also heard from residents that Port Neville doesn’t provide the same essential community support as Owen Bay and Surge Narrows. Conversations with Transports Canada have been finalized and it has been confirmed that Transport Canada will not take back any divested wharves. Port Neville will be included in the proposed Wharves service if the Alternative Approval Process (AAP) is successful but that will not eliminate the possibility of removing it from the Service in the future.

4- Why is the SRD doing a second AAP when the first one was not successful?

A review of the AAP results and comments suggest that misinformation and a lack of understanding of the AAP process may have skewed the results of the initial AAP.  In February 2023, staff and the Area Director held two public open houses to receive community feedback and provide more information about the AAP process, the proposed Service, and the planned upgrades.

The wharves were not forced on the Regional District by Transport Canada. Accepting the wharves was an intentional and lengthy process, supported by the Electoral Area C Director and SRD Board in 2013 /2014. As per the agreements with Transport Canada, the Regional District must establish a wharves service before completing the upgrades.  The wharves are essential infrastructure for many community members of Area C and provide access to the remote marine amenities in the area for many others.

The alternative to an AAP is a referendum vote. The anticipated cost of a referendum is $20,000 – $25,000. This cost would be paid by Area C Ratepayers through the Electoral Area C budget. The decision to conduct a second AAP process was based on the supportive feedback received, Board support and intent to save the Area C Ratepayers the cost of the referendum.  Comments and questions were also received about how many wharves could be built under the new Bylaw, why it is not proposed as a Regional Service and the requisition rates. Information about those topics is included below.

5- How is the Transport Canada funding related to establishing this Service?

When the Regional District accepted ownership of these wharves, it was on the condition that Transport Canada would provide funding to cover the maintenance, operations, and necessary upgrading until 2024. However, the Regional District must bear the costs of ongoing operations and maintenance in the future.

If the Regional District cannot commit to covering the wharves’ ongoing operational and maintenance costs, the wharves will not be upgraded and there will be no way to fund future operations. The Transport Canada wharves funding can only be used for maintenance, operations, and improvements to “bring the Ports up to a minimum safety Standard or rendering the Ports in compliance with regulatory or insurance requirements.”  Transport Canada funding expires in November of 2024 and Transport Canada makes no undertaking that it will continue to operate the wharves if they are not maintained by the SRD.

6- Why is this happening now?

The deadline for the use of capital funding provided by Transport Canada will occur in November 2024. The Regional District must determine whether ratepayer support exists for the Service as soon as possible to ensure we have enough time to complete the upgrades with the Transport Canada Funding.

7- What wharves will be included in this Service?

Following the feedback SRD received at the public meetings in February, three Transport Canada wharves at Surge Narrows, Owen Bay, and Port Neville are included.  The three wharves currently operated under the Parks function – Evans Bay, Granite Bay and Hoskyn Landing, will remain in the Parks function.

8- What are the timelines to upgrade the wharves with Transport Canada funding?

The SRD has completed the detailed designs for Surge Narrows, Port Neville and Owen Bay. All three wharves require new piles, and pile driving must be done during specific times of the year due to environmental regulations.  Transport Canada funding expires on November 14th, 2024, which limits the pile driving to two construction windows – Fall 2023 and Summer 2024. Should the AAP be successful, and the wharves service is established, a construction contract could be awarded Fall 2023. Project upgrades to all three wharves will need to be completed by October 2024.

9- How much will this Service cost?

The annual requisition residential rate will likely be set at less than the max of $0.0848 per $1,000 of assessed value, the maximum residential requisition rate is not intended to be the initial annual requisition. As an example, the average home in Area C is valued at $639,400, with a residential cap of $0.0848 per $1,000, the annual requisition would be $54.22.  A breakdown of the proposed maximum requisition rates for each property type and the anticipated annual cost to operate and maintain the three wharves can be found in SRD’s Feasibility Study.

Following third reading by the Regional Board of Directors on March 15th, the Inspector of Municipalities approved the maximum amount that may be requisitioned annually for the service to be the greater of $137,187 or the equivalent of $0.0935 per $1,000 of net taxable assessments within the service area.

The maximum requisition rate in the bylaw reflects the highest rate that could be collected to run the Wharves Service and not necessarily the rate that will be set. The proposed budget assumes that the full cost of minor and major repairs to the wharves in the future will come from taxation. However, other funding opportunities, including grants and ‘Gas Tax’ funding, are available. The annual tax requisition could be reduced if additional funding sources can be leveraged. The wharves budget includes a contingency amount to build reserves that may be needed in the future.

The Bylaw proposes a rate of $0.0935 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is the average of varying rates for each property type. Property types such as Utilities, Forest Lands and Light Industry have a higher rate than residential properties.

10- Will this Bylaw allow the SRD to build unlimited wharves?

No, it will not. Bylaw No. 487 is specific to the existing wharves at Owen Bay, Surge Narrows, and Port Neville.  The maximum annual requisition for the wharves service contained in the service bylaw is only sufficient to operate and maintain those existing wharf facilities.

11- Why aren’t the Wharves being funded as a regional service?

Generally speaking, services offered by the Regional District must be supported by the area that would benefit from the Service. The wharves in question are all located within Electoral Area C. To offer operations and maintenance to wharves as a regional service, it would first be necessary to inventory all the public wharves located throughout the Region, evaluate the cost of operating those facilities, and then seek ratepayer approval across the entire Region.

That means all the non-federal, provincial or privately owned wharves throughout the Region could become part of the Service. The quantity and condition of all the eligible wharves in the Region are not known; this approach would pose a significant risk of resulting in even higher tax requisitions for the average resident. There is not enough time to undertake such an evaluation before the Transport Canada funding expires.

12- How does this plan benefit the community?

Providing a reliable funding stream is essential for maintaining these facilities over the long term.  While it is recognized that not all residents are likely to use the wharves, these facilities are part of the marine infrastructure and heritage of Electoral Area C and contribute to the quality of life for all residents in the same manner as schools, roads, and other general assets of the community.

13- Why was there additional consultation for the Owen Bay Wharf in 2022?

Owen Bay’s float is the smallest of the three Transport Canada wharves and is well beyond its capacity, which presents a safety concern. A modest expansion of the float was proposed in 2018.

The SRD heard that the community did not support the original concept design from 2018 for several reasons. In the summer of 2022, engagement with Owen Bay residents was done to inform an updated design that increased the moorage capacity and considered the local topographic conditions and adjacent uses. 

Resources

Contact

  • For questions about the service - please contact the SRD Engineering Department at engineering@srd.ca | 250-830-6719
  • For questions about the AAP process - please contact Tom Yates - SRD Corporate Services Senior Manager at 250-830-6704 | tyates@srd.ca