West Kelowna enters month-long 'quashing period' for $8M fire hall loan

West Kelowna’s borrowing of up to $8 million to partially fund the replacement of Fire Hall #32 is moving to the next steps.

On Mar. 22, the city said it had received 68 valid elector response forms that were opposed to the borrowing over a month-long Alternative Approvals Process.

To defeat the borrowing, 10% or more of eligible electors would have needed to submit forms indicating their opposition to the borrowing.

That means of the 28,098 eligible voters in West Kelowna, 2,810 would have needed to submit a form.

During the Tuesday meeting, council adopted the Loan Authorization Bylaw.

Next steps, which is sometimes called the “quashing period,” will see a month-long period where an individual may apply to the Supreme Court to set aside the bylaw if they believe the legislative requirements were not met.

According to the staff report presented to council this week, the quashing period will run from Mar. 26 until April 25.

After April 25, the city can apply for the Certificate of Approval from the Inspector of Municipalities.

Once the city obtains the certificate, the funds for the project can be accessed and work on replacing the 50-year-old fire hall can begin.