91Ô­´´ Township council approved temporary borrowing of up to $74.9 million for strategic land purchases in the near future.

The Township voted on the original loan measure in April, 2024, with approval of a temporary borrowing measure in December. The vote on Monday, Jan. 13 was the final vote to approve a temporary loan.

The current, temporary loan will be in place only until the Township can finalize the full loan through the Municipal Finance Authority, which facilitates major borrowing by local governments in B.C.

A report when the loan was authorized in April noted that the Township does not identify exactly what land is being purchased when authorizing loans.

"Negotiations for the land acquisitions are still in progress and therefore staff can not identify the specific properties to be purchased with this funding," the April report said. "That information will become public at the completion of the property acquisition."

Municipal governments buy land for new parks, rec centres, and for road widening or major new intersections, among other uses.

The loan, because of its size and the 30-year length of time the Township would have to pay it off, was subject to what is called an "alternative approval process." This means that local residents can technically block the loan from going through, if 10 per cent of the total electorate petitions against it.

That would require more than 9,630 people to sign forms petitioning against the borrowing. According to a Township document about this case, exactly five local residents petitioned against the loan by the August deadline last year.