Qualicum Commons Clarification

More information regarding Qualicum Commons surfaced at the July, 2025 Town Hall meeting. At the meeting, a resident noted that the agenda for a council meeting scheduled for later that day referred to a reallocation of staff and financial resources to support the due diligence period of the Qualicum Commons. I believe that I was as confused as the resident as I was under the impression that the town had entered into a one year lease of the Qualicum Commons. Done deal, end of story. The resident stated that he was not aware of a published due diligence closing date and asked if there was such a date. In response, Mayor Westbroek stated that the Town currently has a one year lease but is asking for a minimum thirty year lease because the costs to bring the building up to standard are significant.

There are a number of things to consider from Mayor Westbroek's disclosure.

Firstly, there was no prior public disclosure or discussion when the Town announced that it had entered into a one year lease of the property. All of the discussions took place in closed meetings with nothing announced until the news release of June 20, 2025. It now appears that further closed discussions have been taking place in regard to a thirty year lease of the property. When would we have been told of this extended lease in the absence of a concerned resident asking a specific question?

Secondly, a prospective tenant would ordinarily have conducted its due diligence prior to entering into a lease and possibly used the results to negotiate more favourable terms for itself. Given the reference to a due diligence period, this may not have been done. If this is the case, the Town may only now be discovering the extent of its liabilities under the already signed lease.

Thirdly, the fact that a thirty year lease is required to amortize the cost of upgrades to the property begs the question of what the cost of such upgrades will be. Surely, the public is entitled to this information. After all, it will likely be paid for from property taxes.

What can we conclude form this? More transparency and disclosure is owed to the public.

James Noel

July 25, 2025

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