The money received by the City of Prince George through a termination payment from FortisBC will sit in a reserve fund until public consultation or something better comes along.
This didn’t stop many Councillors during tonight’s (Monday) City Council meeting from having different ideas on what the $28 million should be used for, or when.
Councillor Cori Ramsay wanted the money to be put into a legacy endowment fund that would need to be paid back after borrowing from it.
She said that the money needed to have restrictive uses on it so that future councils would have a direct say on how the money is used.
Councillor Frank Everitt said the intent of the funds was originally meant to be a one time legacy fund for a project that would last many years in the community.
Many councillors agreed, with Councillor Brian Skakun adding that this should be something that has public feedback, and shouldn’t be touched until after the October 15th election.
“I don’t think there’s any harm at all in trying to get some really good public feedback with what they want to see us do with this. I don’t think this council, in my opinion, should decide what to do with it. We’re going to have an election in the fall.”
Councillor Murry Krause worried that the performing arts centre would get forgotten again, and would like to see at least some of the funds go towards it.
More talks about consultation and waiting continued, as both Councillors Terri McConnachie and Kyle Sampson noted that there didn’t need to be a definitive decision made tonight.
Although Sampson added that the right project shouldn’t be snubbed if it comes along before the election.
“I don’t agree with the notion that we have to leave this for the next council. I mean, we’re in our term and if we want to not commit to doing anything, maybe we hang it up until October 15th, but I think I like the idea that we’re not committing to doing something, and we’re not committing to not doing nothing.”
“We’re saying more consultation, more information needs to come forward, and if the right move comes in play in two months from now, then it does, and we make that decision,” added Sampson.
Councillor Garth Frizzell played with the idea of an endowment fund, noting that it could generate more revenue on an ongoing basis, but noted that most of the Councillors around the room weren’t interested in that option.
He said one thing in the popular option needed to be changed though.
“Fortis go benefit from us using the taxpayers’ credit card to finance their work.”
“I was looking for something that would be non-consequential, make it the 2022 Reserve Fund, a simple change. Because they’re not paying for naming rights,” added Frizzell.
Councillor Susan Scott said she appreciated the conversation, noting that sometimes these things need to be chewed on for a while.
Mayor Lyn Hall was happy with the way the conversation was going, adding that he wasn’t going to support an immediate decision tonight.
“There was no way in the world that I was going to make a decision tonight on this. This is going to take a tremendous amount of public consultation, because that what it deserves.”
More decisions around the money are slated for future dates, with nothing really being set in stone, but the wheels were set in motion.
Council also discussed changes to the October 15th election which will set a higher bar to run in it, the city is looking for new, improved ways of getting public notices out, and Council discussed tax exemptions for churches in the community.
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