Clearwater, BC and Wells Gray Park, British ColumbiaClearwater & District Chamber of Commerce
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The Clearwater and District Chamber of Commerce is neutral on the decision to incorporate or not. We provide this website as a service for the benefit of our members and the community of Clearwater. Clearwater Incorporation CommitteeMinutes of Meeting #1 - December 13, 2005In Attendance: Bert Walker, Carol Robertson, Charlene Holtby, Christy Dobi, Kelly Graffunder, Linda Selbee, Max Tanner, Pauline Gregory, Ralph Sunderman, Ron Van der Zwan 1.
Introductions 2. Review of Agenda reviewed 3.
Additions to
Agenda 4.
Process
Schedule
5.
Discussion
Notes 6.
Relationship to
Barriere Incorporation Study Committee
7.
Discussion of
particular areas/issues 8. Selection of Committee Positions - Max Tanner
nominated, accepted and elected as chair of committee 9.
Subcommittee
for Terms of Reference (TOR) 10.
Next Meeting
1) What would be used for a building? Cost? Study suggests using same building. (pg 29) - wheelchair access issue? 2) What would happen with staff in CID? Would they go over as staff to municipal office? If not, what would be involved in the way of severance packages? 3) Are there items conducted by TNRD that would then have to be picked up by municipality ie parks, others? Wish to retain sportsplex, pest control, 9-1-1 service 4) What about the assets/equipment owned by CID ie backhoe, trucks, etc? Would these items be transferred over to the municipality? 5) Need list and anticipated amounts of NEW COSTS - pave & maintain roads maintenance estimated @ $2025 /lane km for 93.2 lane km pg 34. Rehabilitation assessment of roads cost estimate on pg 34,35, App D - snow removal costs what is cost/km? - need to purchase snow plows, gravel trucks or contract out work with the associated costs - is there a requirement to have sidewalks when have municipality along with maintenance costs that would accompany them? - Are standards required of municipality same/higher than those of improvement district? ie Water & sewer system costs; dykes, street lites,etc. Incorporation, by itself, will not require expansion, upgrading, or improvement of local services, except that there will be a commitment to bring the condition of the existing road network closer to a municipal standard pg 21 - What are liability costs associated with playgrounds, ballparks, etc 6) Sources/amounts of funding available if become incorporated? - access to 1 % utility fee - grants in lieu of taxes - small community protection grant - $140,000 pg - 21,27 - provincial transition grant one time grant - provincial planning grant - prov. Restructure assistance grant( $200/capita paid in installments over a 3 yr period pg 21 ) - return on gas tax source John Smith - tourism promotion - - flooding prevention - See table 5.1 for amounts Questions re: Study: 1) Boundaries of study area Why leave out Miller & Candle Ck subdivisions, and Blackpool indicated they wished to remain independent pg 2 & 3? 2) What is environmental quality issue at Dutch lake pg 5? 3) Why would TNRD tax implications remain the same if drop certain functions? ie regional parks. What does TNRD wish to drop pg 7? The new municipal tax levy would include provisions for services assumed from the Regional District. In thes cases, there would be a corresponding decrease in the TNRD tax rate pg 22. 4) Tables 6.1 & 6.2 do not appear to give same message re: taxes payable? 5) Study indicated less satisfaction with the soft services such as planning and economic development ( pg 18 ). These are responsibilities of TNRD pg 7. What has been done to rectify this? 6) Assumption on page 20 re: water may be incorrect with surface water issue. May require major expenditure for water. 7) Assumption pg 21 the budget is to be sustainable over the long term. There is no ability for deficit financing. water, roads ???? The budget builds reserves that can be used to cushion against unforeseen future events. The budget establishes both building and road maintenance reserves pg 21 8) The Clearwater area would be classified as a District Municipality pg 22 significance? 9) Table 5.1 estimated revenues & expenses - no room for surprises ? Revenues - Administration of other program revenue - $48,000 may be able to recover - revenue from sale of services appears like double charging already pay taxes so would not want to pay. - Licenses & permits revenue
Expenses - CID offices are considered suitable for a municipal hall ( pg 29 ) - wheel chair access issue - fire dept what about reserves to purchase a fire truck? - Planning report indicates less satisfaction with this yet use same funding level that TNRD is experiencing after first two years - Public works vehicles CID already has 2 vehicles no indication of maintenance or replacement costs.
10) What about costs of snow removal on roads? Not clear that covered in study estimates. See letter at end of report. 11) Staff numbers report states 4.5 with increase required of 1.5 pg 29. Presently have Pam; Rob; Bryan; Teresa; Heather; Marion; Tammy; Margaret + 2 summer students Key issues:
1) costs of paving ( restoring ) roads 5.6 million ( pg 22). After that maintenance costs. ( see covering letter; pg 14 section 3.6 ). Clearly, road rehabilitation and future maintenance responsibilities represent a significant constraint to incorporation. Also no Conventional piped storm drainage systems pg 12. No allowances have been made in the road rehabilitation cost estimates for storm drainage improvements App D. Funded at modest rate in budget estimates ( pg 35 ). The greatest opportunity for tax shock will be when the municipality assumes responsibility for road maintenance in the sixth year pg 22. Information presented in table 5.1 suggests that road capital will reprent approximately one third of the total municipal budget pg 35. 2) business concerns leadership ( pg 13 ), taxes govnt financing ( pg 14 section 3.4). See table 3.2 pg 17 before incorporation snapshot. Should Clearwater incorporate, a Municipal council would not be bound by the contents of this report ( pg 19 ). Final budgets and service levels would be set out by a municipal council if incorporation proceeds ( pg 20). A municipal council has considerable flexibility in setting tax rates by class with the result that tax class multiples may change every year pg 26. Note: No deficit financing. 3) Study does not include any costs for inflation of budgetary figures.(covering letter). Costs will be expected to go up with inflation but the area is also expected to continue to grow, thereby, improving the ability to pay. In other words, annual total assessment increases, principally represented by new development, is anticipated to offset inflationary increases in costs. pg 21 correct assumption? 4) Policing is provided by the RCMP under contract with the provincial government. The province continues to provide this service until an area receives municipal status and reaches a population threshold of 5,000 persons. page 11 sect 2.4.18 Boundaries of study are could have serious implications.
5) Water & sewer parcel taxes levied by the CID are not included in table 3.2 recognizing that these utilities are operated on a self sustaining basis by the CID and accordingly are not impacted by incorporation pg 16. May have a serious cost associated with water in the near future 2 2.5 million. ( see assumption pg 20 ). A municipality would continue to operate separate utility funds for the water and sanitary sewer systems. These funds would continue to operate as they are now. There would be no rate changes directly associated with the restructure pg 23. Note: If major costs looming that would have caused CID taxes to increase ie water this issue will still be there.
Key things to remember: 1) province continues with routine road & bridge maintenance for a period of 5 years from the effective date of the restructure; 2) item # 4 above 3) see table 5.1 estimated revenues & expenditures
Incorporation Bert Walker Oct 4/05 1) Building use CID building address wheelchair issue transition grant or other grant $. Need to reflect under expenditures. 2) Existing CID staff & service committee staff highly likely transfer over as municipal office staff already trained & familiar with what needs to be done. Need to look at #s Page 29 of study shows the CID now has 4.5 employees and it is expected that an additional 1.5 employees would be required after incorporation. Since study, CID now has 7 employees + administrator + services committee ( Leslie ). Needs to be looked at not sure ICBC was considered in study when suggesting #s. Extra functions may warrant need. Pam/Leslie would need to be looked at as to who would be best for administrator position. If not, need to reflect severance package costs in expenditures. 3) TNRD role services they would provide are negotiable need to review. Economic Development & Tourism; Planning; Local Television reception; sportsplex; transit; building inspection. 4) Assets/equipment would transfer over to municipality. Services committee also has some equipment. 5) Pave & maintain roads need to cover off as much as possible in commitment with provincial govnt upcoming meeting with Kevin. Good negotiating item as provincial govnt prefer to see local govnt. Regular maintenance for next 5 years would be part of this. Road costs will be reviewed under new study. Last time looked for longer amortization period ie 20 years in lieu of 10 to reduce costs. Snow removal costs included in $ figure in study. Contracting preferred can Argo do? Why duplicate? No automatic requirement for sidewalks if become a municipality. Standards required of a municipality the same as those required of improvement district. 6) Funding amount of the small community protection grant ( also called unconditional grant ) increased significantly - $320,000. Amount of restructure assistance grant is higher as is provincial transition grant.. Another factor would be if Canfor/ Weyerhaeuser/Interact included in tax base as community services these. Questions: 1) Suggested boundaries examined closely last time. Probably fine. Would need to balance revenue would receive if add on vs expenditures required if increase. 2) Environmental quality issue at Dutch lake has to do with rise in phosphates/nitrates as a result of septic sewage. Who responsible to address? 3) Services of TNRD negotiable. 4) Need to have tables 6.1 & 6.2 explained to see the association. 5) Economic development Wells Gray Country Services 6) Water issue Need to reflect under expenditures. 8) No significance. Determined based on population & density. District municipality vs town or village. 9) Need to review these in new study. i. fire trucks look at leasing from MFA as a municipality cheaper ii. existing vehicles costs need to be reflected in expenditures 10) snow removal costs included in study. 11) Staff numbers covered earlier Key Issues: 1) Will be revisited in new study. What will be covered in commitment with govnt? Longer amortization period. Storm drainage issue requires discussion required ? What are costs reflect under expenditures. 2) Discussions required with business community. Bert has people willing to do this. 3) Inflation costs need to discuss that assumption correct. 4) Policing will take considerable time to reach 5,000 people. 5) Water covered earlier. Population projections for 2006 and on? What is our current growth rate? What are the costs of 911 currently under TNRD, would this move to Municipality or stay with TNRD? Dutch lake: what obligations would a municipality have to clean up this lake and are there are funds to access for assistance? How building permits have been taken out each year since 2000? What is the average per year and is there a recent increase? Who would take care of subdivision applications? Who would take care of rezoning applications? Service typically provided by Regional District vs Municipal Council (pg 7) has any of this changed? Do municipalities work with school boards in any way? What is a regional park? Are they TNRD responsibility? TNRD still provide mosquito and weed control or would an incorporated body? Hwy rescue would this remain under the TNRD? Or be split between town and outlying areas? Sewer system would it be a must to get going on expanding and how would we do so what would the costs to the village or district of Clearwater be? Water regulations are changing who will be responsible for these costs if we incorporate? Are there going to be grants? Fire protection would come under municipality for Clearwater would out lying areas ie: Blackpool, Upper Clw, East Blackpool, Birch Island be covered by village or the TNRD? Road
rehabilitation when does it start and how is the maintenance done by who
etc???? Storm Drains pg 35 from the last study? Dykes? What is the cost now to maintain? What is the level of service on the dykes? Cemetery would the TNRD continue to subsidize? Does Road Mtce stay with the MOTH for 5 years still? Building inspection and planning can these be services still offered by the TNRD? This would save staffing costs for the municipality. Village = 2500 or less Town = 2501 to 5000 the study refers to the incorporated body as a district municipality? Area is considered as well to designate if a district municipality what is the size range? 2300 for households or people for budget estimates re: page 20 where did that number come from? Incorporation grant current rate? Was $200/capita in report. Are there still Small Community Protection Grants? What where assessment in 1999 to now for my house? 2000 = 94,400 taxes = $ ; 2002 = 92,600 taxes $1024.97; 2005 = 88,500 taxes = $907.79 Do class tax rates change every year? Ie: business residential, light industry etc? Grants we miss out on because we are not a municipality? How much is in reserves at the CID? Could municipality become a government agent to increase potential revenues process social services etc? How many properties are turned over for auction due to delinquent tax payments in the CID? How would municipality handle free riders? ie: Barriere using the Sportsplex, etc What happened to the CID reserves? Do they become the municipalities? Ability to develop a linear park for walking/biking trails? A village or town what is required for # of council members? What happens to current CID staff? Especially the mtce people? Are there certain requirements to keep current staff? Does administrator automatically become the CAO? In the event that personnel could not fill the required positions for a municipality would the government appoint a retired CAO to help municipality get on its way? What would the staffing positions be?
What are the costs for road mtce per lane km in 2005? Road ways can this be contracted out to Argo? Note #1 (Max Tanners notes from A Guide to Municipal Incorporation Policy Principles: the process for examining incorporation should be locally initiated and Page 3 focused; : the decision to incorporate as a municipality must be made by the electorate through a referendum; : this vote should be made by an informed electorate; and : all sectors of the community need to be involved in the discussion. Roles & responsibilities: Ministry of Community, Aboriginal & Womens Services pg 7 : TNRD - page 7 : Incorporation study committee page 8 : study consultant page 8 : residents - page 8 Purpose of committee: Responsible for guiding and managing the research, analysis and Page 8 public discussion of the implications of municipal incorporation. The committee is neutral on the question of incorporation, but a key task is to recommend to the Minister whether or not an incorporation vote should be held. Page 10 Generally, committee members should view themselves as process managers, not decision makers. Consensus rather than votes is the best way of moving forward on the items that must be addressed. The committee can, if it wishes, use a vote of its members for key items, but this should be considered as a last resort, only if consensus cannot be reached. Steps for considering municipal incorporation: ( Review ) page 8 - steps 1 3 completed Bert explain - step 4 - ministry needs to be notified in writing of the committees formation & membership. Ministry gives approval for committee to begin. Tasks for committee: - membership phone #; e-mail; fax - first meeting choose individuals for the following roles, and confirm the name of the committee ( chair, secretary, treasures, spokesperson, ex- officio members) page 11 page 10 with subsequent follow-up detail - define the committees operating framework; - develop terms of reference for the study ( sample Bert ), and issue a request for proposals; ( Barriere ?) - review proposals and select the study consultant ( framework for evaluating proposals pg 12 ); - develop a budget for committee operations; and - notify the ministry and request the full study funding. - Committee has a key role to play in helping the consultant design the details of the consultation page 13. The task of the committee is to manage the public review process, provide feedback to the consultant, and approve the final study. Once the committee has heard from the public, it will be in a position to decide whether to recommend to the Minister that an incorporation vote be held. page 13.
Notes: Meeting with MOTH by Bert & Max : e-mail from Bert re: policing, etc : page 17 look at when incorporation takes effect tax implications ________________________________________________________________________ What is committees role in meeting with public prior to making TOR for study ie business community, others? Note #2 From meeting with Ministry of Transportation Regional Manager Following are notes of highlites I captured at meeting. Anything else that you can think of ? No monies planned to pave any of roads within CID boundaries for next 3 years. MOTH looking at some work in future years 4 , 5, 6 ? Clearwater River bridge will be resurfaced next year. Paving ( recycling ) Hwy 5 Raft River to Blackwater next year not what is required for CID roads and would only do CID roads when doing actual paving project in the area as cheaper when tie in when doing major project ( otherwise costs prohibitive ). Suggestions: 1) Delay incorporation until MOTH conduct future paving project so CID roads could be done years 4, 5, 6 ? No set time line at this point. 2) Have consultant conduct an assessment of what is realistically required - life cycle/cost benefit analysis - phase in required work over realistic timeframe do repairs rather than major investment until have to do major investment - review water/sewer system requirements & ensure done ahead of any paving project - MOTH would be willing to review any work done by a consultant. Ensure terms of reference clearly state what we are looking for not Cadillac version. Committee may wish to discuss terms of reference with MOTH prior to going out for bids. May also wish to contact MOTH prior to finalizing which bid would be accepting to see if they will give any comments. MOTH indicated most of consultants in Kamloops area are good Urban Systems, Pacific - In future when municipality is conducting paving projects, schedule so can piggy back with MOTH when doing major paving projects considerably cheaper. Note #3 From Derek Trimmer, Ministry of Community Services, Victoria Further to our phone conversation this morning, this will confirm the the Ministry will provide a full 'package' of information within the next few weeks to set up the municipal incorporation processes for Barriere and Clearwater. First, I checked, and a Minister's letter has not been sent to the Board. Regardless, the Board's support for these projects was communicated back to us after the Minister's meeting with the Board before UBCM. The Minister has indicated that they will be priority projects for 2006. Effectively, we can consider that these projects have an 'approval in principle' for restructure planning grant funding. The package we will send will be composed of the following: - a
suggestion on the timeline for the process; It may work that Ministry staff can travel to meet with the committees about (say) the end of January, but that can be arranged later.
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