Three and a half years after a referendum on the construction of a new city hall in West Kelowna failed, council is again considering the project.
“We need a proper city hall for our employees,” said West Kelowna mayor Gordon Milsom. “Our staff is in four different locations, so it is not a functional operation.”
Since the community incorporated in 2008, city hall has been operating out of what was a community hall next to Royal Lepage Place.
Some city staff work out of portables on site.
The city also has municipal services in other locations including in Lakeview Heights as well as on Elliott and Bartley Roads.
“It will be much better eventually to have everyone working together,” Milsom said.
On Tuesday, council will deliberate a bylaw that would allow the municipality to borrow up to $11 million for the project. Another $7 million would come out of reserves that will have accumulated by 2022.
Milsom said it makes sense financially to borrow the money now.
“If we don’t consider borrowing right now, the cost of a new city hall would be a lot more than it is today,” he told Global News.
“It is comparable to a young family, you know a young family that’s growing, if they may be able to save for a deposit for a home and they have some cash flow where they are putting money aside. But if they try and save for that home and buy it down the road, well it’s going to cost a lot more than if they borrowed money now, so that is what the city is considering.”
The construction of a new city hall has been a controversial issue in West Kelowna.
In March 2016, a petition against the project prompted a referendum on the plan, which eventually failed and quashed the project.
But this time, the city can move the process along without voter permission.
“If our debt load is higher than five per cent of our annual income we would require voter consent,” Milsom said. “However, since our debt load is less than five per cent, it is not required.”
Milsom is well aware that some residents feel the money should be spent on other community projects, but he assures people that the eventual construction of a new city hall will not impact other priorities, nor will it increase taxes.
“When the referendum took place in 2016 and the public told us not to build a Taj Mahal, not to increase taxes, and also to focus on water, clean water,” he said.
“And that is our number one priority here in the City of West Kelowna, is a new Rose Valley Water Treatment plant.”
The idea is still in the very early stages with no location identified for a new city hall or timeline for construction.