Barbara Roden
Black Press
The District of Fort St. James looks set to proceed with a proposed sale of park land to BC Hydro, after putting the matter to voters via an Alternative Approval Process (AAP).
The AAP calls for 10% of registered voters (121, in the case of Fort St. James) to submit their opposition, in writing, to a proposal. If that threshold is reached, Council can decide to turn the matter over to Assent Voting, more commonly known as a referendum. However, as of Aug. 28 no opposition had been received, with the deadline for filing being Aug. 31. No comments had been received about the AAP process, although early on there were a few questions about the land sale.
BC Hydro has asked the District to sell it 0.188ha of unused park land to the east of the substation on Murray Road, in exchange for a 0.188ha parcel of land to the north of the substation that is owned by Hydro. The exchange will facilitate upgrades to the substation, which are required to tie in power that will be generated by the Fort Green Energy Project, due to come online in 2016.
The “Land Disposal and Exchange Bylaw No. 951, 2015” was given first, second, and third reading at the Council meeting of July 12, 2015. The lack of opposition via the AAP means that the bylaw is likely to be adopted at the Council meeting on Sept. 9.