Eleventh-hour decision saves $15-million project

CHARLOTTE PETRIE

It took an hour of persuasion and several desperate pleas, but city council voted this week to approve a site for a new RCMP detachment and headquarters in Iqaluit.

At issue were vague plans for a bypass road that would run through the proposed site.

If council had decided not to approve the RCMP’s plans, the city could have lost the $15-million project, as no other sites were appropriate and plans to move forward were competing against the clock.

The municipality would also have lost between $70,000 and $170,000 in property tax each year.

“Funding pressures within the RCMP and the federal government could result in the funding of higher priority projects coming down the line if this one is delayed,” said Brian Taylor of the federal department of public works.

“Should the RCMP experience delay in moving forward with the acquisition of the proposed site, beyond the end of July 2003, this will delay the awarding of the consulting services contract for design purposes,” he said.

John Henderson, commanding officer of the RCMP’s V division, said the city’s planning committee had given him the impression three months ago that, although there had once been thought of a bypass road through the site, it wouldn’t likely be reason enough to stop the project.

Then, last week, Henderson said, the planning committee added conditions of acceptance to the RCMP’s application.

One of those conditions was the completion of a six-month traffic study to include recommendations for other sites for a bypass road.

“We can’t wait six months,” Taylor explained to council. “And if approval is contingent on the results of a traffic study, then we cannot invest that kind of money in that case. Fifteen million dollars is a considerable investment.”

The lot, situated behind the Nunavut Research Institute, was identified years ago as a likely place to put a bypass road, as the city expanded. The city’s general plan states that council should protect the corridor for the future consideration of building a bypass road.

Those were fighting words for councillor Stu Kennedy, who refused to compromise the bypass road.

“It is clearly identified in the general plan that a road is going to go there, so we must protect that site for this future purpose,” Kennedy said.

But councillor Glenn Williams countered Kennedy’s version of the general plan, remarking that nowhere was it written that a bypass road would, for certain, ever be built.

The sentiment was echoed by Ian Fremantle, the city’s chief administrative officer, who preferred to consider the conundrum in “real terms.”

“You have a $15-million project in front of you – here and now – and a bypass road proposal without even a reference to it in the city’s five-year capital fund,” Fremantle told council.

But an adamant Kennedy chose to take a look at the big picture.

“We have to look at the big physical picture in terms of mobility and natural routing from areas that generate heavy traffic such as the sewage disposal area, West 40 and the industrial area,” Kennedy said.

“I’m not saying there isn’t other options, and a study could resolve those other options, but I think we need to resolve this issue before we give away the farm.”

The problem with that, councillor Chris Wilson said, is that in a few months there might not be a farm to give away.

“If the project falls through because of timing and there is no building to speak of in three or four months then it’s a moot point,” Wilson said.

Councillor Doug Lem was also in support of the project, betraying a hint of disbelief that the discussion was even taking place.

“I wouldn’t want to stop an enormous and important project like this when the city hasn’t committed to doing more than just talk about a future bypass road,” Lem said.

But Kennedy would not be deterred. “Keep in mind, you’re possibly eliminating the possibility of a bypass road right now. You’d be making that decision right now,” he warned.

But other councillors could not be convinced to delay construction. Williams added that the current decrepit RCMP building was a hazard to both employees and prisoners.

“It would be embarrassing for us as a city council if we were to make something that is not even in our five-year capital plan a priority over this project,” Williams concluded.

Council voted 5-1 to approve the plan. Kennedy voted against the application and Keith Irving abstained because he is owner of one of the architectural firms competing for the project.

Several councillors said they’re disappointed with the planning committee’s slow follow-up process, which left the RCMP with one week to scramble for a solution.

Although the RCMP will not have to wait for the results of a traffic study before it can proceed with the planning stage, it has agreed to conduct the study all the same, as a condition of approval.