Whistler – While secrecy, budget overruns and even the resignation of the city’s chief financial officer are swirling around the 2010 athletes village project in Vancouver, short-term financing for Whistler’s on-budget village was finalized this week with little fanfare.
Council voted at Monday’s (Nov. 17) regular meeting to approve the terms of a maximum $100 million loan from the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA) to pay for construction of the village, which will become a permanent neighbourhood called Cheakamus Crossing after the Games. Up to $100 million can be drawn from the loan as needed to pay for construction and the loan will be repaid as sales of the permanent homes close.
The loan has a three-year term at an interest rate of about half a percentage point above the Canadian Deposit Offering Rate — or slightly below three per cent as of Monday, said Lisa Landry, the municipality’s general manager of economic viability. Projected interest costs have been built into the purchase price of the units, resulting in no net cost to the municipality.
The MFA offers financing, which is currently not easy to come by, and preferential rates, Landry said.
Meanwhile, Mayor Ken Melamed reported that sales of the employee-restricted homes at Cheakamus Crossing are progressing. More than 100 out of 250 available units have been sold so far, he said.
People are excited about what they see at the new neighbourhood and they’re putting their money on the line, Melamed said.
Olympic permits raise concerns
Local business operators and other residents will soon have a chance to weigh in on a municipal procedure being developed to issue temporary use permits for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The temporary permits can cover everything from facilities for food and beverage service and retail to washrooms, offices and signage.
Several councillors spoke about the need to protect the local business community through the Games period, with Councillor Eckhard Zeidler voting against the proposed bylaw because of its inclusion of temporary permits for retail sales. He took issue with the recent discussion of temporary Olympic retail stores in a local news publication without any proposals having come forward to Council.
Zeidler predicted a “tremendous amount of poo-poo” raining down on Council at a soon-to-be-scheduled public hearing on the proposed bylaw to allow temporary permits.
Meanwhile, Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden asked that any of the temporary permits that could potentially affect the local business community come forward to Council for approval. She said approval for other permits, such as the installation of portable toilets for Olympic events, don’t require Council approval.
Bill Brown, municipal manager of community planning, said a procedure can be developed that would see certain types of permit applications come forward to Council and others issued by staff.
“There could be hundreds of these,” he said.
Councillor Gordon McKeever said Council has been adamant that local merchants have the opportunity to sell Olympic goods and there is local retail capacity to do so. Council has “pushed back against” the idea of the temporary retail superstores that have been seen at previous Games, he said.
Councillor Ralph Forsyth said he’s talked to some people who’ve said more retail capacity is needed in Whistler because of the high demand for Olympic products during the Games. He said a 2010 Business Readiness committee including Chamber of Commerce and real estate representatives is working to make sure the Games scenario works for Whistler’s retailers.
Melamed said VANOC officials are proposing a 5,000-square-foot Olympic retail outlet in Whistler, which is comparable to the size of Village retail shops. He said Council will have the opportunity to debate whether such a facility is the kind of compromise that will support both VANOC and local businesses.
With first two readings of the proposed bylaw carried at Monday’s meeting, a public hearing will be scheduled.
Debate over new fire trucks
The decision to order two new fire trucks at a cost of more than $1.5 million from the strained municipal budget generated debate at Monday’s meeting, with Wilhelm-Morden and Zeidler voting against the purchase and others questioning the expense.
Wilhelm-Morden argued that since municipal finances were the primary topic of the municipal election, the incoming council should be making decisions on such big expenses.
“I really don’t think we should be tying the hands of the people who will be coming to this table in two weeks’ time,” she said.
Zeidler questioned the lifespan of the existing fire trucks and how they compare with the age of equipment in other communities. He said he might be talked into approving the purchase, but there was not enough information provided for “our challenged budget times.”
“I’m just not in the mood for buying a new car,” Zeidler said.
Councillor Tim Wake asked Fire Chief Rob Whitton whether the department considered buying used trucks to replace the old ones. Whitton replied that when all the factors are weighed, buying new outweighs the short-term benefit of purchasing used.
Based on Whitton’s answers, Wake said he would support the purchase of the new equipment.
Whitton said the two existing trucks will reach the end of their life span in 2010 and are scheduled to be replaced that year. One of the engines has required significant repairs recently, he said.
The money to replace the fire trucks is included in the current municipal budget, and the estimated cost from the supplier is $138,000 below the allotted budget, Whitton said.
Once ordered, the vehicles take 400 days to manufacture, so any delays to the purchase would delay delivery to March 2010 at the earliest and would likely result in higher costs because of changes to the dollar value since the supplier’s quote was received, he said.
Council voted 5-2 to approve the purchase, with a condition that the final price come to Council again if it’s more than $5,000 above or below the supplier’s estimated $1.5 million.
New hostel to provide 180 beds
The new hostel being built at the Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood will provide 180 beds of budget accommodation for visitors to Whistler. Alistair McLean, CEO of Hostelling International, provided Council with an update on the project at Monday’s meeting.
McLean said Hostelling International has been looking for a new location in Whistler for more than 10 years. Its existing location on Alta Lake Road only has 25 beds, he said.
The new hostel, which will be used for athletes during the 2010 Games and then opened as a hostel later that year, includes 180 beds of shared and private accommodation, a small café, convenience store and meeting room, McLean said.
The new facility will bring about $1.4 million in revenue to the community in the first few years and will employ up to 25 people, he said.
“Now that we have more capacity, we will be promoting (Whistler) more,” McLean said.
Melamed said once the new hostel is open, the existing location will become a municipal park.
