A three-year, $168,000 wayfinding project will be included in Parksville’s 2017 draft budget, but a proposed boost in local RCMP staffing was deferred as Parksville council wrapped up public consultation on its 2017-2021 budget bylaw Monday with a special meeting in council chambers.
The draft bylaw is now expected to be brought before council at its next regular meeting, April 19, and is tentatively scheduled for first, second and third readings on May 1.
The final budget, tentatively set at just over $12 million, will need to be approved in May.
The wayfinding project, which would provide signage, mapping and other tools to aid visitors and shoppers to Parksville’s downtown core, was added in a decisive yet contentious vote on Monday.
Presented as an addition to the proposed budget March 15, during the first of three special budget meetings, the wayfinding project was estimated to cost the city $200,000 between 2017 and 2019. Councillors asked staff to meet with the Parksville Downtown Business Association (PDBA) to gather more details before making a decision on whether to approve the addition of the project to the budget.
On Monday, PDBA executive director Pamela Bottomley and city Vaughn Figueira gave a joint presentation to council outlining the schedule of development and construction on the Wayfinding project, which included a new, lower price tag to the city of $168,000 over the three years.
The PDBA has already budgeted its share of the project cost, another $97,000.
“You’ll notice this budget is smaller than it was in our last conversation,” Bottomley said. “And that’s because, you’ll see, on the final signs we’ve suggested interim gateway signs instead of the tall, new ones, at a considerable savings to the budget at this point. The entrance signage we’ve suggested for the three downtown gateways that will give people more of a sense of arrival, because downtown is difficult to define, visually.
It will give us that sense of destination we’re looking for.”
The wayfinding project was initially developed as part of Parksville’s 2006 downtown revitalization plan, which included the creation of the PDBA and the downtown business improvement area. But it has never been implemented and, in 2014, Bottomley said, the PDBA explored international best practices on a system and presented that info to council.
In 2015, council budgeted a consultation, which was completed in 2016 and presented last November.
Coun. Leanne Salter Salter objected to the city spending money on the project, arguing visitors have been finding their way to and around Parksville for years without the aid of a local wayfinding system.
“I agree we should spend money on downtown revitalization,” Salter said. “But if we’re going to revitalize, we need to do something for all 12,000 people who live here. I think this money can be better used on something else.”
The motion passed 4-1, with Coun. Kim Burden, Mary Beil and Kirk Oates and Mayor Marc Lefebvre voting for it and Salter voting against. Coun. Teresa Patterson was absent and Sue Powell has been recused from council while running for provincial office for the NDP.
Council was asked when budget deliberations began March 15 to consider $61,103 for an additional RCMP officer for the second half of 2017 and $244,412 for two new full-time officers for 2018 and beyond.
That item will not be included in the draft budget, though council left open the possibility of addressing detachment staffing in 2018, pending additional information and statistics from Staff Sgt. Marc Pelletier.
“The request we made in our last meeting (March 15) was to define the need for additional staff,” Coun. Burden said. “Until I see a statement and that need is defined, I don’t want to commit money.”