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CITY OF VANCOUVER Administrative Report | ||||
Date: |
April 26, 2004 | ||||
Author: |
M.G. Thomson | ||||
Phone No. |
873.7328 | ||||
RTS No.: |
04183 | ||||
CC File No.: |
1203 | ||||
Meeting Date: |
May 18, 2004 | ||||
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
General Manager of Engineering Services in Consultation with
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SUBJECT: |
Sewer Infrastructure Licence Agreements - Vancouver Port Authority |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services, in consultation with the General Manager of Engineering Services, to execute Licence Agreements with the Vancouver Port Authority (the "VPA") for the existing sewer infrastructure at:
1. the north foot of Victoria Drive, for a licence area as shown on the reduced copy of VPA Licence Plan No. 2003-095, attached hereto as Appendix "A";
2. the north foot of Slocan Street, for a licence area as shown on the reduced copy of VPA Licence Plan No. 2003-097, attached hereto as Appendix "B"; and
3. the north foot of Columbia Street for a licence area as shown on the reduced copy of Licence Plan No. 2003-099 attached hereto as Appendix "C".
All such licence agreements being consistent with the terms as described in Recommendation "B".
B. THAT Council give standing authority to the Director of Legal Services to execute Licence Agreements, drawn to her satisfaction in consultation with the General Manager of Engineering Services, for City sewer infrastructure located on lands owned or managed by a port authority, recognizing that these Agreements may include a provision whereby the City indemnifies the port authority and, if the Director of Legal Services considers it appropriate, the land owner for claims related thereto.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the report is to authorize the Director of Legal Services to execute three licence agreements with the VPA for existing City sewer infrastructure, and to grant the Director of Legal Services standing authority to enter into similar agreements with port authorities in the future.
BACKGROUND
There are a number of locations in the City where the City's sewer infrastructure crosses port authority lands.
These are historic conditions that have existed in one form or another since the first settlements in the City. This infrastructure is required to provide sewer connections to the Greater Vancouver Regional District sewers or to drain City lands to Vancouver's surrounding bodies of water, including the Vancouver Harbour (Burrard Inlet).
Vancouver Harbour is vested in Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada and is under the management and control of the Vancouver Port Authority (the "VPA").
In recent years there has been no formal authority for the City to maintain this infrastructure over VPA land. When each, old, infrastructure authority expired, the City and the VPA attempted, but failed, to negotiate new agreements. The reasons for failure were many, but focussed on length of term and the ever-changing environmental (regulatory) landscape.
Over the last year, City staff and VPA staff have developed a framework precedent agreement for the sewer infrastructure at various locations. This has been a difficult process but has resulted in a precedent document staff are prepared to recommend to Council.
The principles of the precedent document are:
1. The City has constructed and maintains the infrastructure over a portion of VPA land;
2. The regulation and enforcement of environmental matters in the Vancouver Harbour, including the discharge and release of wastewater effluent, is within the jurisdiction of Environment Canada and the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans;
3. The Provincial Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection has approved the Greater Vancouver Regional District Liquid Waste Management Plan (the "LWMP"), which monitors and deals with certain aspects of municipal wastewater effluent from outfalls;
4. The VPA is responsible to regulate the construction and enforce the operation of works within the Vancouver Harbour, such as the City's sewer infrastructure.
DISCUSSION
The challenge in concluding negotiations on a new agreement has been to find a term that was long enough to allow the goals of the LWMP to be met. One of the major goals of the LWMP is the separation of storm and sanitary sewer lines and the elimination of the discharge of sanitary effluent into the bodies of water surrounding Vancouver by the year 2050.
The VPA was required to make a shift in their thinking with regard to City sewer infrastructure and they now accept that federal responsibility for regulating discharges lies with Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This allowed the City and the VPA to negotiate a precedent document that assigns to the parties responsibilities for only those matters that are in their control.
That is rather than deal with matters that are the responsibility of others, the precedent acknowledges the roles of others, but only establishes business terms in the control of the City and the VPA.
The licence agreements are for 60-year terms, at a prepaid cost of $6250.00 for the entire term.
The City and the VPA have committed to each other that discussions on the renewal of the various Licence Agreements will commence 10 years before the expiry of the 60-year term.
This length of term will provide sufficient time for the City to complete the elimination of sanitary overflows before new agreements need to be negotiated.
Within the precedent document the City indemnifies the VPA as a result of the presence of the City infrastructure and agrees to abide with all applicable statutes and orders. In the absence of the Licence Agreement we would generally continue to have these obligations.
The Licence Agreement acts to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the City and the VPA. It is however, structured to not add any obligations to the City that we do not have, merely by virtue of our occupation of portions of the Vancouver Harbour.
CONCLUSION
The General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services and the Director of Real Estate Services, recommend approval of Recommendations A and B. The benefits of concluding 60-year Licence Agreements with the VPA that clarify our material obligations are many; not the least of which is that we will have the certainty of a 50-60-year period wherein the major LWMP goals can be accomplished before we review these agreements again.
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