Kamloops RCMP detachment

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/RCMP

Kamloops voters will soon be asked to decide whether to give their blessing for a new Kamloops RCMP building, along with a host of less expensive projects.

Similar to the Build Kamloops loans approved last year, council opted for an Alternative Approval Process, using a counter petition rather than a referendum.

On June 10, Kamloops city council debated how to get voters to approve nearly $200 million in borrowing with the new police station taking up the bulk of the discussion as it will be responsible for the majority of the expected debt. Some on council suggested waiting and potentially using a referendum, but most wanted to get the long-delayed project started sooner.

"I think we have to move forward here because we've been sitting on (the new detachment) for years. It's time to just do it and not wait any longer," Coun. Dale Bass said.

Funding for the new detachment is projected to come from a $150 million loan, while seven other projects are likely to be funded by a second loan of nearly $50 million.

Finance manager Lewis Hill told council he is confident city coffers can handle the debt as it will still fall well below municipal borrowing limits, even when combined with the $275 million Build Kamloops debt.

Coun. Katie Neustaeter suggested waiting for the 2026 municipal election, allowing voters to decide by referendum at the same time, but others said that could just increase the costs of the projects, particularly for the new police station.

"That makes no economic sense," Coun. Stephen Karpuk said, suggesting costs could inflate by $15 to $20 million if delayed further.

Meanwhile, council has heard the long-delayed project is 30 years overdue and police officers have been squeezed into tighter spaces, while the current estimate is already double the cost projection from 2023. If the city waits too long, the federal government could impose a new station anyway and drop the bill on the lap of local taxpayers.

"All of us knows information the public doesn't, we won't be disclosing, but we know the bottom line is it needs to get built," Karpuk said.

Except for the new police station, the other seven multi-million-dollar projects have already been approved by council and three have already been completed.

Those already completed include a $16 million land purchase for a civic operations yard expansion, $2.5 million Sandman Centre renovations and the $1.2 million Pacific Way highway exit expansion.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson and Neustaeter voted against the Alternative Approval Process.

Now approved, the BC municipal affairs ministry will advise the city on how to pose the question to the public before the counter petition is open. The loan proposals will need 10 per cent of eligible voters to voice opposition and, if that happens, council will likely move to a referendum.

The Build Kamloops counter petitioners fell short last year, only getting roughly half the signatures required to overturn the projects.

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