Parksville council had to make some tough decisions recently, deferring and deleting a number of items from city staff’s work plan and the city’s five-year financial plan.
Council removed an official community plan (OCP) review, a policy to expedite affordable housing projects and the Phil St. Luke Statue project and committee.
Also eliminated were a tree bylaw review and a project to designate several parcels of land near Despard Avenue as an ecological site.
These items were slated for deletion during a committee of the whole meeting last December and then voted on during the Jan. 29 budget meeting.
Council also voted to defer several projects to next year, including a mail-in ballot system, a long-term solution to provide increased accessibility to the ocean, an upgrade for the community park lacrosse box and the engagement, design and budget for a Pioneer Road playground.
Both city staff time and the property tax rate were factored into the decisions.
A grant of $3,000 to the Parksville Downtown Business Association for parking was deleted from the financial plan.
Also taken out of the budget was a $2,500 funding increase for the Brant Wildlife Festival, recently taken over by Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute (MABRRI).
READ MORE: ‘Flyin’ Phil’ memorial project in Parksville may be scaled down
The festival will receive its usual $5,000, rather than $7,500.
“I note that the Brant Festival is actually a lesser time duration than what the previous ones were, so I’m prepared to leave the grant at this time to $5,000,” said Mayor Doug O’Brien.
Council also voted to reduce rebates for trees, security camera, low flow toilets and rain barrels.
A budget item for $125,000 for improved snow clearing equipment for downtown and priority sidewalks was deferred to next year.
Council also deferred a decision on a potential code of conduct review to a future meeting.
A lighting project for Memorial Plaza proposed by the Parksville Downtown Business Association will need to wait. The project is expected to begin in 2025 and $100,000 was budgeted annually for three years.
“We have a whole bunch of things to do before we even get to that so I don’t think it’s fair to allocate at this time, funding in 2024,” O’Brien said.
The next financial plan meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12. Council’s next regular meeting is Feb. 5.