City and Island Ferries Conclude Lease Negotiations

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed June 19, 2014 9:00 AM

Summary

The City of Nanaimo and Island Ferry Services Ltd (Island Ferries) are pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement on a long term lease that will support the construction of a terminal facility for a foot passenger ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver.

The City has worked with Island Ferries to create a framework of agreements that meet both Island Ferries needs and the City's objectives of supporting a fast foot passenger ferry service to Vancouver, while ensuring the long term redevelopment potential of the City's recently acquired lands at 1 Port Drive are not compromised.

On June 23, 2014, a staff report will be brought forward to Council requesting direction to publish a Notice of Disposition in the local newspaper. After the Notice has run, Council will be in a position at the July 14, 2014 Council meeting to provide final approval of the agreements. With the lease agreements in place, Island Ferries will be in a stronger position to close on their financing and to prepare for commencement of operations, anticipated to be in the spring of 2015.

Link to Strategic Plan: Transportation and Mobility: enhanced transportation connections to Vancouver. Taking Responsibility: continuing to facilitate change and overall development consistent with vision and plans; taking action steps to be a catalyst for investment in the City's future.

Key Points

The lease will commence on October 1, 2014. Island Ferries is required to start operations by March 31, 2015.
The lease is for a term of 20 years, renewable twice at Council's discretion (not to be unreasonably withheld). Rent from the lease area is $52,000 per annum.
A separate licence agreement has been prepared to preserve the road right of way for the Front St. connection. The agreement has a term of one year and automatically renews. Rent is $15,100 per annum
Island Ferries has negotiated a lease for parking on land owned by CP Rail. To provide additional parking, the City will lease to IFSL a portion of the existing road abutting that CP Land.

Quotes

"This agreement is a key milestone in establishing a dependable, customer-focused, passenger-only fast ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver. It will provide Island Ferries with a site from which to base our operations. It also allows us to focus our efforts solely on the last critical element - securing sufficient funding to ensure long-term success. We look forward to starting service early in 2015."

Dr Stewart Vinnels

President

Island Ferry Services Ltd

Images

Island Ferries Lease/Licence Areas at 1 Port Drive

City owned lands at 1 Port Drive with IFSL Agreements

-30-

Contact:

John Ruttan

Mayor

City of Nanaimo

250 755 4400

Dave Marshall

Director, Marine Operations

Island Ferry Services Ltd

250 217 2925

Print News Release

Is there anything wrong with this page?

Help us improve our website

Don't include private or financial information in this form.

Email Address

What you were doing

What went wrong

Collection and use of your personal information

Information collected on this form is done so under the general authority of the Community Charter and Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) and is protected in accordance with FOIPPA. Personal information will only be used by authorized staff to fulfill the purpose for which it was originally collected, or for a use consistent with that purpose. Questions about the collection of your personal information may be referred to the Legislative Services Department at 250-755-4405, or via email at foi@nanaimo.ca. Please also see our Privacy Policy.