View the Signed Letter [HERE]
Dear Residents of Fort St James,
Mayor and Council wish to thank everyone for their comments and feedback on the District’s five-year financial plan. Hearing from the Community helps guide us in the decisions we make as a Council and allows us to identify areas where we can improve our communications. We want residents to know that your comments have been considered and though we are not directly responding to all the comments received, our letter aims to provide information regarding some of the themes we heard.
Council’s Strategic Plan is a tool to track and measure our progress as a local government while focusing the resources of the municipality to address key issues. The Strategic Plan is a resource for Council in making budgetary decisions and we are pleased that the financial plan reflects our progress in meeting our Strategic Plan’s goals and focus areas.
The Fort St. James Public Library is an invaluable asset to the Community and as such the District provides annual funding to cover operational expenditures. Without the funding the District provides it would not be possible for our Community to have a public Library. We would like to highlight that the Library is not a Municipal Library. Rather, the District and Library have a funding agreement in place to ensure they have access to consistent and reliable funding. It is important to note that while the District provides the Library with funding, we do not control their budget or the programs they offer. In 2021 the base funding amount provided to the library was $213,043 and included increases in line with the British Columbia CPI rate year over year. In 2023 this funding and services agreement was amended, increasing base funding amount to $282,696. This increase created an option for equitable wages and helped with employee retention. Further to the funding agreement, the District provides accounting services for all payroll and accounts payable functions as well as providing the building and related costs. In the current Financial Plan, the total funding being provided to the Fort St. James Public Library is $308,704 and Council has directed staff to return with an amendment to the funding agreement to increase funding in-line with the library’s CUPE wage increases. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Library so that the community can continue to participate in the valuable programs they provide.
In 2023 the District completed a Water Master Plan which identified water treatment solutions. These projects had an estimated cost of between $9 and $13 million. Our staff continue to seek capital funding opportunities for a water treatment project.
This year we completed non-destructive testing on the water well to identify any weakness in well casing and above ground infrastructure. The testing results showed the casing is in good condition. We plan to continue doing this testing every 3-5 years to identify risks.
Projects that are identified in future years of the capital financial plan are recorded as placeholders to ensure money is set aside for these projects. Once a project is approved by Council, staff then put resources into estimating the scope, impact, and costs prior to the project moving forward. The scope and cost of the project are always subject to change as more information is gathered and additional options are explored.
We have heard comments regarding the new Fire Hall which has been discussed for a possible location on Stuart Drive West. In 2023, we hired Access Engineering to complete a Building Code Analysis of the current Fire Hall. Access Engineering recommended that the District complete a feasibility study to compare renovations with replacement of the Fire Hall. It was determined that it would not be worthwhile to invest in renovating the Fire Hall, due to the bank sloughing in its current location. Until we have completed a Design and Class B Feasibility Study to ensure that we have designs and relatively accurate cost estimates, the Financial Plan will not include a line item for construction of a new fire hall.
We heard multiple comments on the RDBN’s contributions versus contributions the District’s taxpayers provide to the RDBN. We acknowledge that information and presentation to the public could be improved in collaboration with the RDBN to better understand the proportions each community is providing as well as any other further partnership opportunities. We will seek to improve on this in next year’s budget process to ensure that everyone, including Council, can have a better understanding.
Again, we thank you all for your participation in the Financial Plan process.
Sincerely,
Martin Elphee
Mayor of Fort St. James