Weyburn city council passed a new development cost charge (DCC) plan which will place a charge of $86,000 per acre to help cover the costs of the city to provide infrastructure to accommodate new housing and commercial developments. The previous charge per acre was just over $40,000.
Council also directed administration to prepare amendments to the official community plan and to the development levy bylaw to accommodate this new charge.
The vote was 4-1 in favour of setting the new charge, which is designed to split the costs of infrastructure development between developers and the city. The charge came out of a study by Stantec Consulting, which determined that the infrastructure needed to accommodate the housing proposals currently being development (such as Riverwood, The Creeks, Douglas Heights and The Meadows) would total $169.4 million. The lone councillor to oppose this increase in the DCC was Winston Bailey, who was challenged on his change in vote by Mayor Debra Button.
"I understand we have to go up, we can't stay with a $40,000 levy (but) I haven't convinced myself that $86,000 is the number we should be at," said Coun. Bailey.
When Mayor Button pointed out that he supported this charge two weeks ago when it was discussed in committee, Coun. Bailey replied, "It's just overwhelming numbers.I'm afraid it's going to stall the growth of the city. I hope I'm wrong on that. I'm concerned that growth in Weyburn will not continue."
"We really truly cannot keep increasing the taxes on the taxpayer; would that not impact on the growth of the community?" asked the mayor.
Coun. Bailey answered he understands this aspect, but is worried that this increase won't just stop at this level of $86,000, but will continue to be increased.
Coun. Rob Stephanson said this charge would be constantly revised as costs rise, and recalled that council was unanimous at the council retreat that this kind of a change was necessary. He also voiced a hope that the city would finally be getting out of the lot-developing business, but would now be leaving this to the developers to do as part of their development of new housing and commercial properties.
In his report to council explaining the future of development in Weyburn and its costs, planning and development director Martino Verhaeghe noted what growth has been taking place and will be taking place with the developments now in place set to be built.
Proceeding based on a housing need and demand assessment which projects growth to continue at the rate of 3.8 per cent (the average rate of growth in Weyburn from 2006 to 2011), the city anticipates growth of over 3,900 new dwellings, bringing a further increase in population of 10,000 in 15 years' time, with an additional 350 acres of industrial and commercial development; the infrastructure needed (roads, water, sewer, etc.) would include $55 million in additional recreation facilities to accommodate the increase in population. Totalling the costs of infrastructure development at $169.4 million over the next 15 years, the fee was set at $86,000 per acre, which is 50 per cent of the cost (the city is to share the cost).
Without such a development charge in place, said Verhaeghe, the city "could not afford to undertake the public works identified in the DCC study. Without these public work investments by the City of Weyburn, appropriate services could not be provided (and) subdivisions would not be authorized by the Water Security Agency/ministry of Environment as they would be unable to issue permits to construct."
He also pointed out that Estevan just set a development fee of $92,000 an acre, and Regina's 2013 fee is $97,960 an acre.
A case study of The Creeks development was provided by way of example, where Verhaeghe notes the developers want to provide new housing for up to 1,850 new residents within the next five to 12 years, with 833 new dwelling units to be built on 155 acres.
For this development, the proposed development charge would work out to $20,000 on a new single-family home, or about $3,000 for a new condo unit.
For the city's portion of the costs, Verhaeghe suggests one way to handle the cost is to increase taxes by 18.2 per cent over 15 years, or an increase of 1.2 per cent per year.
The difference of $1,000 in the fee, he added, would add a cost to city taxpayers of $983,000, which is equivalent to 15 per cent of the annual tax revenue. This comprised the second option that council had, to make the DCC charge at $85,000 instead of $86,000.
The third option would be reduce the charge back to the city's former fee level of $40,387 at acre, which would require a subsidy from the taxpayer of $39,700,421.
One of the new developers in the city, Wes Ryan, was on hand to speak to council, and asked about the level of development fees, said this was not an unacceptable number, once he studied what all was entailed and noting the costs of developing homes in other communities like Estevan and Yorkton.
He did pass on a request that the city look at whether to apply the fees to lands that they are not developing, such as for the green spaces and the right-of-way for a storm sewer.
Another developer, from Weyterra Developments, who are developing The Creeks, indicated in a letter to the city they also did not find the new development fees were unreasonable.
City manager Bob Smith asked residents to be understanding about the size and number of potholes around the city right now, noting the weather is playing a huge factor.
Speaking to council about the calls the city is getting about the potholes, Smith pointed out the current cycle of freeze-and-thaw is exactly what causes the potholes in the first place, and have been frustrating efforts to fix them.
"It's difficult to fix them when you have freezing and thawing. We hope residents will take caution and slow down. If you see an area in the road that's darker, slow down and try to avoid it," said Smith, adding that they have made efforts to fix potholes, but due to this weather the fix won't take hold permanently, and really won't until we start getting the warmer weather of May and June.
"When we do fix them, we're going to be back to fix them again and again and again," he added.
The Housing Advisory Committee is moving forward with their Habitat for Humanity project, reported Coun. Bailey.
Council was told that Mike Weger has joined the board set up to handle the Habitat for Humanity project, and Janette Tonn has joined as the volunteer coordinator.
"I hope to deliver the business plan to (Habitat for Humanity) in Regina this week. It's going to be great for the city; as soon as we get approval from Regina, we'll meet with the Ministerial Association and the public," said Coun. Bailey.
The business plan is being completed by Meyers Norris Penny and is nearly done, he added.
Daniel Alecxe has taken over as the new chair of the committee in place of Jay Mowchenko, who stepped down in that role.
In other council business:
Council appointed two new board members, Mandi Mazer to the Parks Board, and Sharon Elliott to the Airport Board;
After asking for tender bids to do the audits for the City of Weyburn for the next five years, MNP was awarded the tender over Deloitte and Touche;
In a tender for the city's banking services for the next five years, the Bank of Montreal won out over the list of five other institutions, including the Weyburn Credit Union, which has held the contract since 2003.
The Parks Board is seeking new quotes to supply a gazebo along the boardwalk extension by the Soo Line Historical Museum; the board had a supplier lined up but they backed out of providing the city with a gazebo. Also, signs will be posted in Jubilee Park to remind dog owners that dogs must be kept on a leash.
