Staff Report — Update on Island Corridor Foundation Matters

Background

The purpose of this report is to inform Council of information related to the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF) and current City of Langford engineering capital projects.

The Island Corridor Foundation are the owners of the railway right of way in Langford. Southern Railway of Vancouver Island (SVI) are responsible for the maintenance and operations of the railway within the ICF right of way.

The City has had several discussions in the past few years with the Island Corridor Foundation regarding railway crossings in Langford. The two main areas of crossing discussions have been the future crossing for the West Shore Parkway over the railway tracks to connect the Trans-Canada Highway to Langford Parkway and the future crossing of Leigh Road over the railway tracks to Langford Parkway. The City has an agreement in principal with the Island Corridor Foundation that once the West Shore Parkway crosses the railway tracks that Humpback Road would become a cul-de-sac. The rationale for removing the Humpback Road existing crossing is that it is replaced by the West Shore Parkway crossing, therefore meeting the goals of the Island Corridor Foundation to minimize new crossings and allow a possible future rail option to operate efficiently.

In July 2015, the federal and provincial governments announced a New Building Canada Infrastructure grant for the construction of the West Shore Parkway to its full extent from the Trans-Canada Highway to Sooke Road. The total estimated value of this grant project is $22.5M. The railway crossing required for the West Shore Parkway over the railway tracks is currently under detailed design. The ICF has indicated that a rail signal arm will be required to cross the West Shore Parkway. The estimated cost of this rail arm is approximately $500,000 however the signal arm itself comes from the United States and the cost of the U.S. dollar is significantly impacting this cost for the City at this time. A deposit of $250,000 US is holding in the City's US Bank Account at a cost of $370,000 Canadian.

In May 2015, the City was also the recipient of a Bike BC grant to complete a section of cycling trail located on the lower side of Atkins Avenue that would connect the existing Galloping Goose trail in Langford to a future paved E&N Rail Trail. The value of the Bike BC grant is $321,350 which represents 50% of the total project value of $642,700. Construction of the Atkins Avenue dual direction bike path does not require that the path cross the existing railway located on Atkins Avenue, rather this path comes near to the railway and assumes that any future upgrades to the railway crossing for the continuation of the bike trail onto the E&N Rail Trail would be completed by CRD Parks. This project is currently under review by the ICF.

Commentary

The Island Corridor Foundation as well as Southern Railway of Vancouver Island require a series of steps and fees for review of capital improvement projects within their right of way. The City has not encountered these fees in the past due to the limited improvements completed in Langford until now.

In summary the fees and requirements for municipalities within the ICF jurisdiction are as follows:

• Initial File Opening fee to ICF of $2,000;
• Engineering Review fee to SVI of $3,500;
• Field assessment costs paid for by the applicant which include railway crossing assessments and completion of applicable checklists for both ICF and SVI. These fees are typically borne by the applicant and vary by project scope;
• Additional charges if the complexity of the crossing requires further review (e.g. The Atkins Avenue bikelane project will pay a $2,100 engineering review fee to ICF);
• Survey costs required to provide a reference plan to the ICF. This plan provides the outline of the area within the ICF right of way for which the City is requiring use or access to complete the capital project (e.g. for Atkins Avenue this is the area the road edge trail will be located within the ICF right of way, for the West Shore Parkway it is the area of the ICF right of way that the road will cross over the railway tracks); and
• Legal fees required to file the Statutory Right of Way reference plan and legal agreement that ICF provides (estimated to range from $3,500 to $5,000, but does vary depending on the nature of the proposed works within the ICF right of way).

Member jurisdictions that have been granted a property tax exemption do not have to pay a land use fee.

In 2015, the City of Langford did not provide a property tax exemption because they did not see the community benefit to justify the exemption with the train not being operational. As such, the ICF has indicated that the City must provide a $50,000 land use fee to the ICF before any additional reviews or approvals can occur for the Atkins Avenue project. This fee is based on the approximate amount of exemption that the ICF would have been granted if the City had given the ICF their permissive tax exemption for 2015. The City records indicate that the taxes assessed to the ICF for the entire length of their corridor within the City of Langford were $47,542.18. These taxes are currently outstanding and have incurred a 10% late fee charge of $4,754.22 as well as an interest charge of $8.14/day totaling $333.93 as of February 10, 2016.

Financial Implications

The West Shore Parkway Segment 5 will be funded through the City's Development Cost Charge Program with an additional 2/3 funding coming from the New Building Canada Infrastructure Grant Fund. The Atkins Avenue Bikelane project is funded 50% from Bike BC and 50% by the City.

Options

That Council:

1. Pay the $50,000 land assessment fee to the ICF to enable the Atkins Avenue bikelane project to proceed under grant funding by Bike BC; AND
2. Review the community benefit of providing a Permissive Tax Exemption to the ICF on a yearly basis until the rail line begins operating again OR
3. Do nothing at this time.

Respectfully submitted,

Michelle Mahovlich, P.Geo., P.Eng.
Steve Ternent
Jim Bowden
Director of Engineering
Director of Finance
Adriiinistrator