The news comes as the Capital Regional District faces criticism for its own alternative-approval process to borrow $85 million through its land assembly, housing and land banking service to create more housing.
The fate of a plan to borrow $48.5 million to upgrade Nanaimo’s aging public-works facilities is once again up in the air, after the alternative approval process hit another snag.
In Nanaimo’s latest case, forms were only made available on Jan. 18, eight days after the notice went out. It’s the second time the alternative approval process on the public-works plan has run into a snag. Late last year, the process passed with less than 10 per cent opposition, but was scrapped as a result of an administrative error in advertising.A statement from the city said staff spotted the latest error late last week.
City staff then posted an altered form on Nanaimo’s website to address the issue. But people were confused by the different versions, Noni Bartlett said. Noni Bartlett decried what she called the “wasted expenditure of public funds, as well as the public’s time and energy submitting forms that have no value, not to mention loss of trust in the mayor and council’s administration of our city.”
“Given the difficulties in the AAP elector response — which have been brought to the attention of the BC Ombudsperson — we have little confidence that the results reflect the broad judgement of residents,” said John Treleaven, chair of Grumpy Taxpayer$.