The City of Prince George will help provide one-time relief funding for businesses impacted by last month’s explosion.
At tonight’s (Monday) meeting, City Council approved $20,000 from the Council Contingency Fund to be allocated to a Downtown Vibrancy and Vitality Initiative, which will be delivered and administered by the Prince George Downtown Business Improvement Association. (DBIA)
City Manager Walter Babicz noted the assistance would be capped at $1,000 per claim, and the businesses would need to provide receipts and other evidence to indicate the damage or repair being reimbursed.
“This document was prepared in collaboration with Downtown Prince George,” Babicz said.
“The category of repair costs is quite broad, but it does require that the damage was specifically related to the explosion incident on August 22nd, so it’s not only insurance deductibles, but it’s the cost of repairing physical damage to the storefronts.”
The funding was not met without opposition.
“My concern with this is we went way outside the norm for using the Council Contingency. We are going to be compensating businesses for an explosion, yet businesses that have been closed, there was a couple years ago when that new beauty spot on Third Avenue was burnt to the ground, we have done nothing for the other businesses that have suffered through this, all the garbage going on,” said Councillor Brian Skakun.
“My concern is we’re giving away money, this is a tragic event where a city worker was seriously injured, and I don’t want to lose sight of that. I’m not going to support this, because I think if we truly want to look at compensating businesses that have suffered through a lot of this stuff downtown, that’s a separate issue, and this issue here, the City is not to blame.”
Skakun added he appreciated the intent behind the motion.
“You have voiced what a great many people have been saying,” replied Councillor Susan Scott.
“However, this was an extraordinary circumstance, and I think on this occasion, I have no issue standing behind this.”
Mayor Simon Yu was concerned they were setting a precedent if a similar incident were to occur in the future.
“I can understand Councillor Skakun’s concern, because there are many people downtown throughout the last few years, their property has been damaged through no fault of their own,” Yu said.
“If it’s just one incident and we’re doing this, perhaps there will be some precedent set.”
“I think that this is just really important, it’s been made clear in the initial intention of referring this back to staff that this was a one-time thing,” replied Councillor Cori Ramsay.
“A significant number of businesses were impacted by a really unanticipated event, and I understand that there’s been a lot of frustration over downtown, but this is a way where we can direct some funds to the DBIA to really help a lot of businesses that were impacted from this explosion.”
The motion was carried 4-3, with Mayor Yu, Councillor Skakun, and Councillor Trudy Klassen opposed.
Sampson, along with Councillor Garth Frizzell, were absent from the meeting.
Other items discussed at tonight’s meeting included an Arts Hall of Fame in Prince George, and a Council-Staff Relations Communications Policy.
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