Public Works Facility
Project Details
Status: Underway
Priority: Critical
Budget: $37M
Essential Services for Squamish
The (District of Squamish) Public Works Facility is at the end of its useful life and is no longer able to support the needs of the community. The Public Works Facility is one of three critical facilities identified for immediate replacement in the District’s Real Estate and Facilities Master Plan. A new facility is in the final stages of design to ensure uninterrupted essential service delivery such as clean drinking water, safe roads including snow and ice control, and emergency response such as flooding and extreme weather.
Project Background
Facility challenges are growing and will continue to grow as the community and its service demands increase. The new Public Works Facility is carefully designed to support the needs of the growing Squamish community through 2040 and beyond. It will maximize efficiencies and energy savings and will minimize costs where possible.
Take a tour of our current Public Works Facility with Chief Building Inspector Colin McCarthy and Technical Operations Manager Ben Kineshanko.
Funding
In September 2023, Council adopted a bylaw to authorize the borrowing of $20.2M that will support funding to fund the design and construction of a new Public Works Facility. Long-term borrowing over 20 years provides the most flexibility at a low interest rate with the least impact to taxpayers. Borrowing is a valuable tool that helps to spread the cost of large capital projects amongst current and future taxpayers. Long-term borrowing for this project has allowed the the District to:
- Divide the cost amongst all future taxpayers over time
- Fund major capital projects that have a long life span
- Reduce the average taxpayer impacts
Upcoming Decisions & Actions
- Continue groundworks, return to Council with final indicative Class A costing/scope of work/specifications prior to moving forward with building construction contract
- Yard space design above Flood Construction Level (FCL) underway.
- Detail layout design of the office space and maintenance bays is underway.
- Interior design specifications and layout of office space underway.
- Northern boundary detail design to adhere to sensitive environmental guidelines.
- Construction plan around existing items on site underway (includes soil contamination management, knotweed management and existing site sewer/stormwater pipes).
- Impact of building close to Waste Water Treatment Plant circular waste holding tanks in research.
- .Parking design, ramp design, accessibility design, future expansion allowance, sustainability details underway.
Frequently Asked Questions
The location for the new Public Works Facility has important advantages that make it ideally suited for Public Works, including:
- Centrally located
- Highest and best use of this land
- It is located beside the Waste Water Treatment Plant, an important function of Public Works. These facilities share staff and office space, creating management efficiencies and reducing operational costs
- Known site preparation and land costs (e.g. environmental and geotechnical conditions)
- Development can begin in a timely fashion (e.g. no rezoning or land acquisition processes required)
Yes. To limit costs to the taxpayers, the District explores opportunities to combine facilities each time a new municipal facility is considered. At this time, the new Public Works Facility will include the following service areas:
- Water supply and distribution
- Wastewater collection and treatment (in adjacent building)
- Roads and drainage services, including snow and ice control, stormwater collection and drainage
- Fleet maintenance (including all District vehicles, Squamish Fire Rescue, Parks, Search and Rescue fleet)
- Diking and flood monitoring
- Parks, Trails and Horticulture administrative space
- Facilities Planning and Maintenance Department
There will also be office space included in the new facility to accommodate additional municipal staff.
Opportunities to relocate the new Tantalus Fire Hall were considered at Public Works. However, due to insurance requirements, the location of the Tantalus Fire Hall must remain within a strict boundary in order for it to service the community. The Public Works land falls outside of this boundary.
Public Works provides critical services for our community. Along with two fire halls, it is the highest priority to replace. The Public Works Facility is not a candidate for external grant funding as typically grants do not fund these types of projects. Therefore, borrowing to complete this project is the preferred way to pay for this facility as it will have the least impact on taxpayers.
With over 20 facility upgrades identified in the Real Estate and Facilities Master Plan, external funding will be required to complete all of the upgrades in a reasonable time frame. External funding could come in the form of grants from other levels of government, sponsorships, or partnerships.
Brennan Park Recreation Centre is an important facility to upgrade for our community. It is a great candidate to attract external funding and the District has been heavily focused on sourcing funds that do not impact taxation. The District will continue to pursue grant funding opportunities to complete the important upgrades needed at Brennan Park. In April 2023, Council endorsed the REFMP Pre-Development Project to undertake the due diligence required to support important upcoming decisions on several projects, including Brennan Park. This work will:
- Determine how the additional facilities uses (eg. ice rink, pool and wellness centre) can co-locate together at the Brennan Park location.
- Understand how these facilities interact or are supported by satellite recreation facilities throughout the community.
- A thorough scan of external funding sources, including grant funding, private operators, partnerships, sponsorship, community amenity contributions and other alternative options.
Resources
Read the background on how the District has arrived at the current Real Estate and Facilities Master Plan.
In April 2018, the District of Squamish completed the Real Estate and Facilities Strategy to ensure it is providing the necessary services to the community in a fiscally responsible manner over the next 25 years.
In 2019, the District completed the Real Estate and Facilities Master Plan to establish a prioritized list of future facility and land investments (“What”), a recommended timeline for making those investments (“When”) and potential funding strategies to support those investments (“How”). Read the Real Estate and Facilities Strategy Executive Summary.
The Five Year Financial Plan sets out objectives and policies of the District and includes funding sources, distribution of taxes, and proposed expenditures, among other things.