By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Updated: March 11, 2013 5:54 PM
Procedural wrangling has a high-profile project hanging in the balance. Vernon council will hold a special session Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. after a motion to increase the budget for 30th Avenue revitalization died in a tie vote at Monday’s regular meeting. “This is a fairly serious situation because it’s a large scale project,” said Will Pearce, chief administrative officer. “It will give the engineers and ourselves time to go through the project and bring back a new resolution.” Staff had recommended Monday that the original budget for revitalizing 30th Avenue, from 33rd to 35th streets, climb from $2.1 million to $2.4 million because of higher than expected tender prices. The scope of the project had been reduced somewhat so staff was seeking an extra $267,130. Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe declared a conflict of interest as her family owns land within the area, and when the matter went to a vote, it was 3-3. Legislation stipulates that a motion dies in a tie vote. A few minutes later, Coun. Brian Quiring attempted to have the motion reconsidered. But that did not proceed because there wasn’t unanimous support from council to bring it back. It was then decided to hold a special meeting Wednesday as a way of possibly keeping the project on track. “There is a concern it may collapse,” said Quiring, who supports revitalization. “Too much time and energy has gone into the project. We’re a little bit over budget and we need to find the money.” Timing is critical because city staff want the work completed before the summer tourist season. If it can’t be done by then, revitalization may wait until next year. Coun. Catherine Lord wants the project to proceed but she opposed the staff recommendation. “It’s strictly an issue of financing,” she said. Instead of relying on potential surplus budgets from low capital tenders in 2013 or eliminating some priority capital works, Lord suggested deferring the next phase of the 29th Street Polson Greenway because she doesn’t believe it’s critical at this time. Coun. Bob Spiers insists he will not endorse revitalization in any form. “We’re going to take from priority, necessary infrastructure to give to Pleasantville infrastructure,” said Spiers, who has previously referred to revitalization as cosmetic. Previous revitalization attempts have been shot down by property owners in the two blocks, but they recently asked the city to move ahead with the work.
-----------
Downtown Project In Limbo
Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Monday, 11 March 2013 18:23
Vernon council will need a special meeting Wednesday morning to decide if the final phase of downtown revitalization goes ahead this year. As it stands now, the 2.3 million dollar project to upgrade 30th Avenue from 33rd to 35th streets, is in limbo after a staff request to add $267,000 to the budget due to higher tender prices, was defeated with a 3-3 vote. Councillor Catherine Lord was opposed, concerned about taking money from another project, but adds she could change her mind, if staff come up with a better plan. "Yes, then I would support it. I think we've come too far in that. We've got the support of the business people downtown and that was difficult to get over a period of time, so I want to see that whole street completed," Lord tells Kiss FM. Councillor Brian Quiring supports the project and hopes council will reconsider. "There is a concern that it might collapse and that's why we're getting together again on Wednesday, to continue looking at options to make sure that we can see it become a success." Mayor Rob Sawatzky, who supports the project, feels council is a bit conflicted. "They understand the merits of supporting downtown revitalization but they want to get the details right on how it should be funded." Councillors Juliette Cunningham and Bob Spiers were also opposed to the current plan, while councillor Mary-Jo O'Keefe didn't vote due to a conflict. Spiers says he won't be changing his mind, as he's been against what he calls a "cosmetic project" from the start. City Engineering Services Manager Rob Dickenson says the window for proceeding with the project is tight if they want to get it done before the end of June, and the start of the tourism season. "As well, we had a commitment to the contractor to award it by now, so we may be looking at penalties because of that as well."
No comments:
Post a Comment