Tight squeeze forces staff in portables /Quick solution not the best

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - March 12, 2008

Cramped quarters at city hall and the RCMP detachment could mean some workers are placed in portables. Vernon council approved a plan Monday that could see portables installed on city-owned land to alleviate short-term space problems. “It’s the fastest way of dealing with the issue,” said Coun. Jack Gilroy. The portables will most likely be installed on the Coldstream Hotel property. In a written report, staff indicated that there is an immediate need for 6,148-square-feet to resolve tight quarters at city hall and the RCMP detachment. The portables will possibly accommodate staff currently in city hall’s basement, with the RCMP then moving into the those vacated premises. Portables could be in place within the next couple of months. “I hope it will only be for a couple of years,” said Leon Gous, chief administrative officer. “This would give council breathing space to make a decision on mid and long-term needs.” A detailed cost of renting portables is not known yet.

The issue of how to handle staff requirements arose after a majority of voters shot down construction of a proposed civic complex in January. Beyond the portables, council has instructed staff to look at mid-term space needs either through purchasing or leasing available office space, expanding city hall and the RCMP office or utilizing other city lands. About $25,000 may be needed to do preliminary design work for any expansion to city hall and the detachment. Gilroy anticipates that expanding existing buildings will occur before anything is purchased. “Buying right now may be difficult because property is so expensive,” he said. Gous believes expanding the current buildings is possible. “We’d probably build in the back lot where the RCMP park and have parking underneath, he said. Staff states that mid-term needs require 10,000 to 15,000-square-feet, but Coun. Barry Beardsell questions whether it must all be downtown.

“Do the RCMP have to be all in one spot? Part of their operation is highway patrol and it could be at the north end of town or the west end of town,” he said. Beardsell opposed spending $25,000 based on the amount of money that has been spent on the failed civic complex process and a previous plan for a cultural complex. “When is this going to end?” he said of architectural designs. Beardsell wants more discussion on the city’s space needs first. “There are so many questions that need to be asked before we start spending money,” he said.

March 12 EDITORIAL Morning Star:

One has to wonder if Vernon council is legitimately trying to address short-term space needs at city hall, or if it just trying to turn the screws on an electorate that turned down civic complex plans? Officials always warned that they would have to consider other options for staff if the civic complex referendum fell through. But the alternative that has risen to the top of the list is portables — those ugly box-type structures that one generally finds on school yards. But instead of at school, these portables will be plunked down on one of Vernon’s most high-profile properties — the Coldstream Hotel block. At the same time that council talks about how important downtown revitalization is, it’s installing unsightly portables for an unknown period of time. That sight is surely to impress the tourists the city covets so much. Were portables the only solution to the space crunch at city hall and the RCMP detachment? With an immediate need for 6,148-square-feet, could rental space not have been found in the downtown core? Such office space may not have been adjacent to existing city buildings, but nothing in downtown Vernon is too far from anything else. There is also the fact that it would avoid the need for ugly portables, and the payment of rent could be seen as an investment in the business community. No one disputes the fact that council must address the short, medium and long-term space requirements of its staff, especially if the public is to receive the services it demands. But it appears that the answer to part of this solution has been rushed, and not that well thought-out.