When It Comes To City Hall, It’s Just Money
Monday, October 28, 2013 @ 3:45 AM
If Initiatives Prince George thinks that the Crown would be only too happy to sell 584 hectares of land 38 kilometers north of Prince George at fire sale prices to facilitate "maybe" somewhere down the line a major industrial development, they had better have a talk with the people who set the price.
Plain and simply the Province will ask for three independent market appraisals on the property in question, and then set the price based on those findings. It doesn’t matter whether it is the City, the Regional District (who by the way should have been the folks looking into the purchase) or Robin Hood wanting the property for his merry men . Why should the Province hand out a deal to the City of Prince George? So in all likelihood, the cost of the land is more in the neighborhood of between $867,000 and $2,166,000 dollars.
Now the idea of the purchase was originally floated around the Regional District some years ago, but was dropped from the "to do" list because the Regional District was about to enter into an election and they didn’t want this as an election issue. Quite clearly it was felt that buying land and then trying to find someone to purchase that land and build a major facility was not going to be one; an easy task, and two; if you had to hold onto the land there was no guarantee of a return.
In the City’s case , if they were to acquire the property, they would likely be expected to have it rezoned as a condition of sale before they could flip it to a major development. The City has four directors on the Regional District, would all four excuse themselves from voiting on the rezoning? Would that constitute a conflict?
If the propoerty gets rezoned , until the land is actually sold, the taxes would have to be paid at the much higher heavy idustrial rate, and not the current rural zoning level. Given our past experience in land development the city ought to give this one a pass.
If a major developer wants to put together a major development such as steel mill, which was touted at one time on the property, or an LNG plant, or a fertilizer plant, they will need to go through the environmental process regardless of who owns the land. If the City wants to help , jump in at that point and give them all the support you can. The proponent will have plenty of time to get the ducks in a row before they need to purchase the property . The Province can offer up its support, so can the Regional District under whose umbrella the property falls.
The City can jump in at that point and savour some of the glory, that glory without spending between three quarters and two and half million dollars on a deal that has about as much guarantee as the BC lions winning the Grey Cup in 2013.
I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.
Comments
Too much speculation, the return on investment is not known at this time and who knows how long the city will have to pay taxes before the land is actually sold. The city has a hard enough time selling its’s own vacant lots and should concentrate on getting its own fiscal house in order before jumping into risky real estate businesses outside it’s jurisdiction.
The core review says ‘sell, sell, sell’ while city hall says ‘buy, buy, buy’
Mayor Green says ‘10% savings in each department’ city hall says ‘need direction to keep increases to 2.5%’
There a trend developing?
1. The land is zoned RU, which means it is not zoned for industrial.
2. The land has been shown through studies that the RDFFG paid money for to be prime industrial land.
3. because they do not want to make it an election issue, they have not followed through on the studies they commissioned to rezone the property.
4. The City of Prince George does not want to deal with a PAC because they do not want to make it an election issue.
What gives with these people that we elect. They sneak stuff through the back door when it suits them but do not do the things required to make this a progressive community.
In the words of the Governor of New Jersey: “They are all idiots”!!!!
There is no doubt the City needs to keep its nose out of this area, and this property.
This is a Regional District area of responsibility.
We have enough problems to cope with in the City proper. Such as higher and higher, service fee’s, increases in taxes, the inability of the City to properly manage a garbage transfer station;
If the City wants something to do, perhaps they can explain to us how the Community Energy System is working, with Lakeland being out of business, and the reduced price of natural gas. Are we on target for the savings that were initially forcasted, or has the reduction in the price of natural gas, made this project a complete and utter failure.
Ah geez, just don’t do it! This is so illogical, it screams. On what planet does this city need to by buying land for future development? We are being taxed into the storm drains with user feels, utility fees and reduction of services, they need to buy land?
Which misguided city mover and shaker has their fingers in this deal? This sounds like something someone came up with during one of those many events when the hoi polloi circulate amongst themselves. IPG is an expensive, meddling, misguided, mess of a bad idea. The only work it seems to create is for itself, not us regular city dwellers.
whoops, a few typos. Wish there was an edit function!
Every day I count my blessings that I no longer live in PG.
Cheers
Ah yes, Abby, the place that treats its homeless people with such sensitivity.
” ….. consider Abbotsford’s history with its homeless population. Earlier this year, the city’s government apologized after staff spread chicken manure over the park (where they were staying) in the hopes of scattering the camp.
“There have also been pepper spraying incidents and other heavy tactics”
Headline: Mobile shelters may be the next phase in Abbotsford, B.C., homeless standoff
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/mobile-shelters-may-next-phase-abbotsford-b-c-143356410.html
I agree with Gus on the City avoiding the Performing Arts Centre, at least until after the next election.
Hopefully a number of people presently on Council will move on and not run again.
In any event the City should give us a progress report on the PAC, and let us know how the Performing Arts Society, is doing, and how their great supporter IPG, is doing.
We need to have this issue as a referendum on the next election. Its just that simple.
If the City feels that its citizens want a performing arts centre then give them a vote.
Money will magically become available for the sale of land along Highway 16 including the Playhouse, plus money from the Feds, and the Province.
The City has a plan. The problem is, we don’t know a bloody thing about it, and we are paying the bills.
Must be a pretty full day between counting your blessings and coming on here to complain about somewhere you don’t live…
I probably missed it in one of the stories, but how did this exact piece of property get selected?
Interceptor, this is the latest report that I am aware of. Link below for anyone interested in reading it.
PRINCE GEORGE AREA INDUSTRIAL LAND PROFILE prepared by RDFFG, May 2008
Page 26
âThis site was identified 30 years ago in the China Steel Study as the most suitable site for Heavy Industry within the region, and has ever since been identified in local long term plans for Heavy Industrial uses.â
So that makes it 35 years ago this year.
“In order to accommodate business interests that require land for industrial use, there needs to be a coordinated approach between the Regional District, the City of Prince George, Provincial Integrated Land Management Bureau, and private business towards enabling the supply of all types of industrial lands.
“Furthermore, the potential for environmental impacts of new industry, such as on the Prince George airshed and other settled areas, needs to be an instrumental element in the selection of potential industrial development areas.
“Given these circumstances, the City of Prince George, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, the Lheidli Tâenneh and McLeod Lake First Nations, Initiatives Prince George, and the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture and Lands formed a steering committee to develop an Industrial Profile of the area with the intent of helping to direct industry to the most suitable lands.
“There is an inventory of information for potential industrial sites developed in the 2002 Prince George and Area Industrial Lands Study. Criteria essential to accommodating industry is to be refined within the environmental and regulatory limitations that this area faces.
“IDENTIFIED SITES NEED TO BE FORMALIZED IN PLANNING POLICY AND ADDITIONAL DETAILED DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION GATHERED AND ANALYZED.
“ULTIMATELY, LANDS SHOULD BE MADE MARKET READY, AND CLOSE TO MARKET READY, FOR EASE OF DEVELOPMENT BY PROSPECTIVE BUSINESSES.”
http://WWW.RDFFG.BC.CA/SEARCH.HTML?Q=PGAREA_INDUSTRIAL_LANDS_PROFILE.PDF
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So, another example of a report that has sat on the shelves and nobody has lifted their ass off their seat to act on this.
TYPICAL of what local and probably most politicians anywhere are all about SAVING THEIR ASSES IN AN ELECTION!!!!!!
What does “IDENTIFIED SITES NEED TO BE FORMALIZED IN PLANNING POLICY” mean? Simple …. OCP and rezoning!!!
“ULTIMATELY, LANDS SHOULD BE MADE MARKET READY, AND CLOSE TO MARKET READY, FOR EASE OF DEVELOPMENT BY PROSPECTIVE BUSINESSES.”
IPG just had a problem with a potential interested party because the land was not market ready …..
These people do not act on their own studies. Totally useless bunch. Typical bureaucrats. One of the reason this place is not moving and one of the reasons we are not thought to be business friendly. Other communities have land that is development ready. We lost the trailer manufacturing business for a similar reason.
All the right parties were at the table!!! NONE of them acted!
IPG is now stating its frustration….. the City is proposing to act … for all we know, IPG talked to the City, they then talked to the RDFFG and the RDFFG told them to take action. RDFFG is a small organization. They do not have the capacity to do something like this in as quick a fashion as the City can.
It took far too long for the RDFFG to actually come up with the 2008 report.
Where is the Minister of Jobs on this??????
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