PUBLIC WORKS YARD CONTRACTOR SELECTED - KNAPPET PROJECTS

 

BREAKING: City Awards 3½-Year Public Works Yard Contract to Knappett Projects After Voters Blocked $90M Borrowing

The City of Nanaimo has awarded a 42-month contract for major upgrades to the Public Works Yard on Labieux Road to Knappett Projects Inc. of Victoria, even though voters previously rejected a $90-million borrowing bylaw for the same project.

Tender #4068 – “Nanaimo Public Works Yard Updates – General Contractor for Integrated Project Delivery” is now listed as Awarded, with Knappett Projects Inc. (contact: Roger Yager, 555 Pembroke Street, Victoria) named as the successful vendor.

The bid description says the City is seeking a General Contractor as an IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) partner to carry the project through four phases: validation, design/procurement, construction and commissioning, and warranty, under a CCDC 30 agreement and a 42-month schedule.

In 2024, council asked residents for permission to borrow up to $90 million for the Public Works Yard upgrades through an Alternative Approval Process (AAP). More than 10% of eligible voters filed opposition forms, meaning elector approval was not obtained and the borrowing bylaw could not proceed under the rules in place at that time.

Council did not go to referendum. Instead, staff continued planning for a full rebuild of the yard and, following provincial changes that expanded how much municipalities can borrow without voter approval, the City has now selected a construction partner and committed to a multi-year IPD contract.

A long list of major firms registered interest as plan takers — including Bird Construction, Chandos, Kinetic, Pomerleau, Windley Contracting, Knappett Industries (2006) Ltd., and others — but Knappett Projects Inc. emerged as the chosen proponent.

Key details still missing from public view include:

• the total value of the IPD agreement, and

• how the related borrowing will be reflected in Nanaimo’s debt and tax plans.

Voice of Nanaimo will be following up as those numbers and decisions come forward.

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The Works Yard — Do You Have Anything To Say About It?

• What is it?
  The City’s Public Works Yard on Labieux: where the trucks, crews, and equipment that keep water, sewer, roads and snow clearing running are based.

• What’s the plan?
  Not just repairs. A full “campus” rebuild in the $100-million-plus range – new buildings, consolidated offices, the works.

• What were you asked?
  Pretty much one question:

  “Do you approve borrowing up to $90 million to redo the yard?”
  No simple menu of options like: basic safety fixes vs. full makeover.

• What did voters say?
  In 2024, more than 8,600 people signed forms to block the $90-million loan.
  Result: the borrowing bylaw failed. Voters hit the brake.

• What changed next?
  The Province then doubled how much debt cities can take on without voter consent.
  Staff now plan to bring the Works Yard back to council under these new “assent-free” rules.

• How will it be built?
  Through a complex Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) model with:

  • City staff

  • a special IPD contractor

  • multiple consultants

  • plus a separate “IPD facilitator” hired for about $137,000 to run the process.

• What’s missing?

  • A clear public option for “just the essentials” vs. the full dream build.

  • Any real discussion of the community’s ability to pay higher taxes.

  • A straightforward way for voters to say yes or no to the new borrowing plan.

• Why should you care?
  Because this isn’t just one yard.
  If this goes ahead, it sets the pattern for how much your city borrows, how projects are chosen, and how little you get asked, for years to come.

The Works Yard — Do you have anything to say about it… or are you happy to let this one go by on autopilot?

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MAYOR'S VIEW ON BORROWING REGARDLESS OF TAXPAYER WILL

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Mayor Krog on Borrowing Without Consent

“I don’t see it as undermining the vote under the AAP. I see it as council taking the leadership role that it’s elected  to undertake. Public office is not about pleasing a minority. It’s about doing  what’s right for the larger community.”
 — Mayor Leonard Krog, CHEK News

Let those words sink in. On the page his contempt for public opinion may not fully come through, but it is there.
This is the same Mayor who once said that if the AAP for the public works yard failed, Council would be stuck with a referendum.
Now, when more than 8,600 taxpayers — over 10% of eligible voters — opposed that massive loan, Krog dismisses them as a “minority.” Meanwhile, his own mandate came from less than 17% of eligible voters. Six of the eight members of Council did not get that many votes, if the AAP opposition is not legitimate, then neither are those sitting on Council.

LET THAT SINK IN!!