Prince George, B.C.-  "People are not happy about the roads, I’m not happy" says Councilor Brian Skakun as he introduced  his motion presenting 7 points on possible ways to raise more  money to  repair  the  deteriorating roads. 

His  7 point plan opened  the door for in depth discussion at City Council  about the state of roads  in Prince George. "There are two lists I want Prince George off" said Councillor Lyn Hall, "I think we are off the MacLean’s List (high crime) but I also want  to see Prince George off the BCAA list for bad roads." With that in mind, Hall put forth a motion calling on staff to come up with some ideas on where funds can be  found this year from reserve funds to make  improvements now.  

Hall says the Core review will set the stage for funding for next year and beyond, but there needs to be action now.

Council  has supported that motion and added another that calls for  staff to  advise what needs to be done, what could be done this year and  where can those  funds be found?  So  staff will come back with  scenarios for up to or in excess of $1 million.  Councillor Dave Wilbur  also wants to see how the money borrowed from  reserve funds will be repaid as there are consequences and they need to be known.  "This is not the sustainable way to go" says Mayor Shari Green, "This is a bandaid". 

Despite crews filling 600 pot holes per day, and a revision in the paving plan to deal with the most urgent roads there is still a public perception that "nothing is being done."

Skakun’s proposals and his Council colleagues response are listed below.

1. Administration be directed to prepare a report for public consumption creating a list of City owned real estate holdings and what the total value of those holdings are for possible sale of some of these properties to help offset the costs of road repairs.

This work is already being done as part of  the core review. Councillor Frank Everitt says he doesn’t want to wait until the  Core Review is complete, he would like to see this now, with the public advised the properties are for sale.

2.That the City of Prince George lobby the Provincial Government directly and through the UBCM to allow municipalities and regional districts to share a portion of the Provincial fuel tax for local road rehabilitation projects. 

This has been sent to the Intergovernmental  Advisory committee  to come up with a resolution  to be presented to the UBCM.  Councillor Murry Krause says there have been 7 similar resolutions in the past including one from the City of Prince George in 2007 which died on the  convention floor because  it  duplicated something that had already  been approved.

3.That the City of Prince George consider using proceeds of the Terasen Gas lease in lease out fund to help offset the increased costs of road repairs. 

Skakun said he wasn’t going to "deal with this one".

4. That the city of Prince George contact the Province to find out what the process is for individual municipalities to collect a local gas tax for road rehabilitation 

Skakun says if such a tax  would be allowed, then the road rehab  tax could be removed  from the municipal taxes and  road rehabilitation would become paid for through a"user pay" system.

Manager Derek Bates says  the process lies within existing legislation, and the real question is, "is there a politial  will? as there would need to be  a  change in legislation."

Council  agreed to alter  the motion  so that it is the Mayor  who will write a letter to an elected  official  asking for further information.

5.That the city of Prince George conduct a public survey regarding the position of the Community regarding implementing a local gas tax similar to the provincial gas tax for road rehabilitation. The gas tax would be deposited in a dedicated fund created by a bylaw for the use of road rehabilitation projects only.

Councillor David Wilbur could not support the motion saying the public survey will delay the process.  Councilor Cameron Stolz  said he felt item  5 was unnecessary as  the City doesn’t even have the authority to  collect a tax, so it would be a waste of time to ask the publc if they would support such a tax.   "I for one think we are on  a fools errand here" says Wilbur,  as the City has not  shown it has the courage to  support such a tax  even if the public said they liked the idea.

City Manager Derek Bates says his experience is that pulic pariticipation is best when the question is concise and  the full consequences  for the  decision are presented.  At this point, there is no clear question as there is nothing to suggest at this point that the Province would support  a legislative change.

Council changed the motion to have it sent to the Committee of the Whole  rather than to Administration.

6. That administration be directed to do a cost benefit analysis on what the costs would be to have extended warranties written into our major asphalt contracts and report back to council.

This information is already coming back to  Council

7.That the city of Prince George create a two to five year financial plan for meeting our estimated short fall of $3.5 million per year of funding for road rehabilitation.

Finance and Audit Committee is already examining this  as part of the infrastructure deficit issue which is aleady at $12.3 million dollars.  The issue will be discussed at the  Finance and Audit  meeting set for July 16th

Councillor Albert Koehler says while he supports pressing the UBCM  , that won’t do anything to resolve the problem today, and offers no guarantee the issue will be acted upon by the Province.