Times Colonist
The City of Nanaimo is going ahead with borrowing $48.5 million for the first phase of a new operations centre after asking residents to weigh in.
Nanaimo residents had until Nov. 3 to register their opposition to borrowing the money under an alternative approval process. If at least 10 per cent of electors, or 7,799 people, had submitted forms opposing the plan, Nanaimo council would have had to revisit its proposal.
The city said Friday only 3,035 people registered their opposition.
This is the first of four phases in a process that would see the existing public works site at Labieux Road — where some of the buildings are 80 years old and deemed past their useful life — redeveloped and modernized. The plan will consolidate the city’s public works and parks operation over several years.
The first stage of the plan includes:
• A $40-million fleet maintenance facility, a truck wash-and-dump facility, and site servicing at 2020 Labieux Rd.
• $4.5 million to install stormwater-management facilities at 2300 Bowen Rd. to handle stormwater from Labieux Road.
• $1.25 million to retrofit existing fire-training apparatus at 2020 Labieux Rd. to help utilize that site more efficiently.
• $2.75 million to build a multi-use pathway at 2300 Bowen Rd.
The existing public works yard was built in the 1960s when Nanaimo had a population of 30,000. The city has grown to an estimated 107,000, served by the same buildings and additional portables.
