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Developers asked to pay for RMOW sewer upgrades

Rainbow employee housing bylaws unfinished as negotiations continue

Developers of the Rainbow property and the municipality are at odds over how much money they should be paying for upgrades to the sewer system.

Municipal staff has asked developers to pay close to three times what they say their sewer upgrade costs should be to connect to the RMOW system.

"It’s our strong desire that Rainbow, which is really on the verge of success, not be derailed at this point," said Tom Rafael, one of the partners in the Rainbow development.

The latest snag in negotiations is based around a report, recently produced by Dayton & Knight Consulting Engineers, which highlights the work that needs to be done to the municipal sewer system. That work totals approximately $1.6 million and includes upgrades to the Nicklaus North Pump Station.

The report specifically highlights that just $250,000 is directly attributable to the Rainbow development, which is slated to go on 45 acres of private land in between Alpine Meadows and Emerald Estates.

The rest of the work is based on build out as defined in the Official Community Plan.

The municipal engineering department has suggested to the Rainbow developers that they pay for half of the overall work, roughly $800,000. That request has the Rainbow developers on guard as they work on the details of building this new neighbourhood, 85 per cent of which will be resident housing.

"The first item is sewer and we run into this tangle," said Rafael. "What on earth is going to happen in potable water or… building reservoirs or all the other steps in the process? That first disappointment has put us on guard."

The municipality’s general manager of planning and development said this week he has not taken a position on the matter, though he recognizes the engineering department has taken a different stand.

"I haven’t taken a position," Bob MacPherson said Wednesday. "There’s a letter from the engineering department that suggests it ought to be more than that (the $250,000). From my perspective, I have an open mind on this thing."

He said spending in excess of $1 million on sewer upgrades is not something that the RMOW wants to leap into without a full analysis.

"I think there’s more internal discussion (needed) and there may be some external expertise that we need to bring in as well," he said.

The decision ultimately rests with council.

MacPherson, however, is confident the two sides will be able to reach an agreement.

"I’ve heard a fair bit of alarm in the last 24 hours on this which has surprised me," he said. "Nothing that I’m seeing here is out of the ordinary.

"The idea of substantial resident housing at this location is something that is a great idea and I think that staff and council continue to support that. It’s just a matter of how we get there and that’s what we’re working on now."

When asked if the municipality squeezes developers for amenities more than other communities, MacPherson said: "I’ve never really done a comparison to other communities. The flip side of it is the development community has done very well doing development in Whistler. We have some special needs. The resident housing is probably the big one that we ask people to participate in. I don’t apologize for that."

MacPherson said the bylaws for the Rainbow development are still a work in progress. Among the other issues to be resolved are the density and parcelization of the land and the delivery of community amenities.

He could not give a timeframe on when the bylaws will come to council for first reading.

A strongly worded letter from the developers was sent to staff on Nov. 2. In it the developers asked that the municipality figure out as much as possible what they will be asking Rainbow to contribute in off-site work for the rezoning of the large employee housing development. The developers are getting additional market bed units on the land as part of the rezoning deal.

The letter states: "Given our costly and disappointing experience to date, Rainbow requests that the extent of our contributions are defined as much as is humanly possibly at this point in the rezoning process and for subsequent steps. We seek your assurance that, other than minor matters, there will be no additional, currently foreseeable work which will suddenly materialize and which the RMOW will ask Rainbow to pay for."

Rafael explained that the developers originally planned to build a self-sustaining neighbourhood community with its own water and sewer systems. They spent $250,000 investigating that possibility. Then they were told that the municipality wanted them to connect to the municipal system.

Following this misunderstanding the $20,000 sewer study was commissioned by the municipality. It was agreed the developers would pay for half of the cost of the study.

The hope was that the study would outline clearly what each party was financially responsible for. The developers claim that’s exactly what the study does, but the municipality is using the report as a starting point for negotiations.

"We agreed on a mechanism to determine what was and what was not attributable to Rainbow… and it was ignored," said Rafael.

MacPherson said that the report outlines what needs to be done and how much it will cost.

"We don’t typically ask consultants to figure out cost sharing for us so we’re having a look at it," he said.

The developers are prepared to pay for the off-site work which is attributable to Rainbow, including the $250,000 sewer upgrades, a water storage reservoir on municipal land and a well development as an additional groundwater supply source among other things.

Said Rafael: "Our position is that we deserve the courtesy of being told what it is upfront that we are paying for."