Peace River Regional District REPORT

Transcription

1 Peace River Regional District REPORT To: From: Chair and Directors Fred Banham, CAO Peace River Regional District Date: November 21, 2012 Subject: District of Chetwynd Boundary Extension/Realignments Willow Creek RECOMMENDATION: That the Board send a letter of No Objection to the District of Chetwynd with regard to the proposed boundary extension to include those properties along the east and south boundary of the existing Willow Creek, District of Chetwynd satellite boundary to include some Crown lands along with Peace River District Lots DL 374, DL 375, DL 376, DL 377, DL 378, DL 379, and DL 380, as identified on the preliminary map provided. BACKGROUND / RATIONALE: To respond to the November 14, 2012 letter from the District of Chetwynd requesting support from the Peace River Regional District, the Board s only authority for comment is on how the rural regional district services may be impacted by the proposed municipal boundary extension. The land identified for inclusion into the District of Chetwynd are lands identified in the Walter Energy mineral lease and currently contributes minimally toward local service taxation. There is some Crown lands and seven properties that are proposed to be included within the new Chetwynd satellite boundary that collectively contribute taxation to Electoral Area E services which amounted to $6,383 in taxation toward Area E services in These lands are not in the ALR. These lands are currently designated A2 Agricultural within one mile of Highway 97, otherwise there is no land use designation. STRATEGIC PLAN RELEVANCE: Not identified FINANCIAL CONSIDERATION(S): Estimated $6,400 loss to Electoral Area E specified service functions annually. OTHER CONSIDERATION(S): During budget considerations consider reducing the Area E Cemetery grant to the District of Chetwynd by $1,000 due to reassignment of contributing assessment. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Preliminary Boundary Extension Map for District of Chetwynd; 2. PRRD tax implications summary; 3. November 14, 2012 letter of request from District of Chetwynd; 4. Letter of support from Walter Energy mineral lease holder and property owner. Staff Initials: Dept. Head: CAO:

2 37e. jflj 1J._ F Proposed Municipal Boundary Expansion shown thus Estimated Area: 1,1 9Oho f] Existing Municipal Boundary Expansion shown thus m==ir4c bw :....admeasurement ha more or less. Existing Coal Lease Tenure Number shown Ts71 L / =: BC Assessment Parcels shown thus L] Sketch Showing PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BOUNDARY EXPANSION 7J Scale 1:50,000

3 Chetwvnd Boundary Extension Request Willow Creek Mine District Lot 374 Lease/Permit/Licensce #MINERAL Assessment: Converted Taxable Values Land Improvements Total Land Total Class4 534,000 19,395,000 19,929, ,560 6,594,300 6,775,860 Class 6 245, ,000 60,025 60,025 Total 534,000 19,640,000 20,174, ,560 6,654,325 6,835,885 Services Applicable: Charged Same if In or Out of Chetwynd Estimated Amount Area E 1100 Yes Legislative Regional 1190 No Land & Imp Legislative Electoral Areas 1200 Yes Administration 1210 Yes Administrative Fiscal & Other 1250 Yes Regional District Development 1950 Partial Land & Imp Grant to Comm Org. (Area E Only) 1951 No Imp. Only , Rec. Grants in Aid 2500 Yes No Land & Imp Emergency Planning 2540 No Land & Imp Emerg. Rescue Vehicle 2921 No Land & Imp Building Inspection 5160 No Imp. Only Cemetery 6100 Yes Management of Development 6423 Yes Invasive Plants 6500 Yes Economic Development 7110 Yes Regional Recreation 7180 Yes Regional Parks Defined Area: Service Areas: 7150 Yes ChetwyndlceArena 7121 Yes Chetwynd Public Library 2411 N/A Chetwynd Rural Fire 4300 Yes Solid Waste 7130 Yes Chetwynd Leisure Cnetre 7140 Yes Chetwynd Recreation I Estimated loss of tax revenue to Area E $ 6, I :46 AM M:\Kim\Miscellaneous\Boundary Ext Effect.xlsxChetWillow Creek

4 DlIETVVYNIJ o w Chetwynd, BC Box357 Canada VOC 1JO tel: (250) fax: (250) Vision Statement Chetwynd exists in order that area residents have sustainable opportunities for Security, Health, Safety and Prosperity in surroundings that display the best of our natural environment. include a parcel of land into the District s boundaries upon which they plan to develop their new Bioenergy Plant. The District has also been approached by West Fraser (Chetwynd Forest Industries) to advised by the Ministry that the current legislation (Local Government Act) does not provide for this type of correction, and that we need to pursue a formal boundary extension (see attached letter). extension. We have the mine owner (Walter Energy) onboard for this boundary The District s objective at this time is to correct an error of the past. We have been The District unfortunately did not ground truth the extent of the boundary extension at An error occurred at that time in not including all mine operating assets, likely as a result our District boundaries. that time and therefore we find today that all of the core assessments are still outside of of confusion over Mineral Leases, Crown Leases and legal ownership of District Lots. of the municipality. include the Willow Creek Mine (then Global Tex Coal Corporation) into the boundaries In 1996 the District of Chetwynd received approval for a satellite boundary extension to Re: Proposed Chetwynd Boundary Extensions / Realignments Dear Mr. Banham: Chief Administrative Officer Attention: Fred Banham, V1G4H8 Dawson Creek, BC P.O. Box 810 Peace River Regional District November 14, 2012 i I a District of Chetwynd

5 Proposed Chetwynd Boundary Extensions I Realignments November 14, 2012 Page 2 I have enclosed maps of both areas to enable a better sense of our boundary extensionlre alignment proposals. At this time we are seeking a letter of support from our Regional District to proceed with the boundary extension and realignment as noted above. Thank you for your consideration. Yours truly, D.B. (Doug) Fleming, AdS, CMC Chief Administrative Office cc: Mayor Merlin Nichols G:\LETTER5\ADMKEEP\PRRD Matters\Proposed Chetwvnd Boundary Extensions Realignmentsdoc

6 WALTER ENERGY. CONFIUEt{IIAL Willow Creek Mine P.O. Box 537 BC TeL: (250) Fax: (250) Jeff Lowe General Manager Willow Creek and Brute Mines jeff. Lowewa Iterenergy. corn October 19, 2012 DELIVERED District of Chetwynd Box 357 Chetwynd, B.C. Canada VOC IJO Attention: Mayor Merlin NichoLs Dear Mayor Nichols: Willow Creek Mine (the Mine ) I am writing in response to your September 11, 2012 letter requesting Wafter Energy s support for your proposal to redefine Chetwynd s boundaries by extending them to include Mine property. As I read your Letter, Chetwynd projects that inclusion of that property in Chetwynd will increase the Mine s annual property taxes by roughly $250,000. It is my understanding, from discussions with our property tax Lawyer, that boundary extensions of this nature commonly include a cap on major industry rates to shield the taxpayer from sudden tax increases. Walter Energy is prepared to consider supporting the extension of Chetwynd s boundaries to include the Mine property, on condition that: the Mine pays no taxes to Chetwynd for previous years; Walter Energy and Chetwynd agree on a tax rate cap for the newlyincluded Mine property to be reflected in the supplementary Letters patent, and Chetwynd confirms that it supports Walter Energy s operation of the Mine, and that Chetwynd wilt not impose standards which are more stringent than Provincial standards on Walter Energy s operation of the Mine. Please let me know if this is acceptable in principal to Chetwynci, so that we can engage in further discussion the foregoing.