The last four times the District of Squamish went to the people for an opinion on a borrowing bylaw, the voters said yes twice.
Four money-related referendum questions in the last dozen years resulted in two rejections, one resounding yes and one squeaker.
In November of 1993, the council of the day asked residents through a referendum question posed in conjunction with regular civic elections if there was support to build a new $2.4 million library. The answer was yes by a margin of 10 votes with a 43 per cent voter turnout, according to a Chief story at the time.
The library wasn't built for another four years after the vote. The new building might have been completed earlier but at the time of the vote the largest lumber mill in town was not operating and local leaders felt uncertain about the community's economic future.
In June of 1995 residents were asked to approve a plan to borrow $6.4 million for construction of a new public safety building. The request came after years of RCMP complaints that their space on Tantalus Way was too small and the urea formaldehyde insulation in the building was blamed for causing major employee discomfort.
Voters rejected the plan by nearly a three to one margin, with 73.4 per cent of voters saying no.Turnout for the vote, which was combined with a byelection for a position on council, was 41 per cent.
The most decisive positive referendum result came when Squamish Council decided to ask voters during the 1999 civic elections if they supported borrowing up to $966,000 over three years to build a slo-pitch field and two all-weather multi-purpose fields.
At the time, some members of council felt it was wrong to go ahead with a referendum because municipal staff was in the process of studying what amenities were most needed in the community and what projects should be given priority, but 61 per cent of voters approved the initiative on the November ballot.
The last time council took a money issue to referendum was in June of 2002 when the district wanted to know how voters felt about the idea of lending Sea to Sky University up to $8.4 million via a $5-million revolving line of credit for construction of offsite works, including roads and sewers to the university lands.
With a voter turnout of only 18 per cent for the single-issue vote, 58.3 per cent of voters rejected the plan, forcing the university to seek financing for its servicing elsewhere.
Other recent referendum questions that didn't involve borrowing requests included two on whether or not residents wanted fluoride in the drinking water, whether residents supported the idea of allowing a maximum of 10 leases for airport-related businesses at the Squamish Airport and whether there was support for a big box retail operation in the business park.
Fluoride was removed from the water supply after a referendum on removal which won 60 per cent of voters' support.
The fluoride issue was back on the ballot again in October of 2000 when residents were also asked to give council direction on the future of the airport.
The airport question, which supported a plan to allow up to 10 new leases for airport-related businesses with no night flights, was supported by 57 per cent of the voters, while voters rejected fluoride again by a margin of 61 per cent. The referendum drew 25 per cent of eligible voters.
Support for the big box referendum in a November 2001 vote - held at the same time as a by-election that put Ian Sutherland on council - helped Wal-Mart move its interest in Squamish forward.
Referendum open houses
The District of Squamish is holding two information open houses as voters get set to decide on Feb. 26 if they approve of the District taking out a loan of more than $20 million to build new amenities.
The first is set for Wednesday (Feb. 16) between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Brennan Park. The second is set for Thursday, Feb. 24 between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Municipal Hall.
The Chief is also offering a chance for residents to discuss issues relating to the referendum through a public forum at Eagle Eye Theatre on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.
Advance voting takes place next Friday (Feb. 18) at Municipal Hall, while the polls are open for the referendum on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Brennan Park Recreation Centre.
