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Much needs to happen before shovel goes into ground for new Comox Valley hospital

Rezoning of the land slated for the new Comox Valley Hospital likely won't be complete until the fall.

Rezoning of the land slated for the new Comox Valley Hospital likely won't be complete until the fall, according to Courtenay CAO Sandy Gray.Premier Christy Clark announced North Island College as the chosen site for the $334-million new hospital last week, and said the procurement process is set to start right away with a hope to have shovels in the ground early next year. Although Gray noted council is fairly supportive of the chosen location, he said the land must be rezoned with full public process before councillors cast their votes — which will take some time."Procurement is one thing," said Gray. "To go through a rezoning of this size, I'm sure you're talking, if we're into May now, it will be September/October before a process would be satisfied enough to get rezoning."My guess is that they're not going to go ahead with the purchase until they've got zoning."Gray noted the process could be rushed through in two to three months, but the City wants — just like with any project of this size such as Costco — full public consultation during the rezoning process, and the City doesn't plan on "pushing anything onto the community over the summer."About 10 acres of the chosen site is owned by NIC and about 2.3 acres belongs to the City of Courtenay, both of which would have to be rezoned with full public consultation, according to Gray.He also said the City "may hold back because we want to control something like design, because part of what we want to do is we want to make sure we don't lose the use of the property."Council traditionally doesn't have approval authority on institutional design, but Gray said Courtenay and Campbell River — as a $266-million hospital was announced there — sent a draft agreement to the Vancouver Island Health Authority some time ago regarding project design, adding design is a "critical issue" for the City.Gray said VIHA met with city staff Wednesday to discuss transportation and traffic issues, and another meeting was scheduled for Friday to discuss things like rezoning requirements, design and public consultation.Courtenay council will hear a report from city staff at Monday's council meeting, and City staff will continue to work out the project details with VIHA, which Gray said is a good thing."Does it create challenges, sure, but I'd rather have challenges than wishes," said Gray. "It's a huge economic generator, it's a wonderful resource, it's an opportunity for a new hospital — any community would love to have it."According to VIHA's website, now that the project has been approved by the Province the next step, besides finalizing consultation and transferring land ownership, is a request for qualifications. This phase of the project is expected to take three months.Once a shortlist of qualified contractors is determined the request for proposals process will begin, which will take about nine to 12 months to complete. Construction will begin immediately after a contract has been signed with the successful proponent.For more information, visit VIHA's North Island Hospitals Project webpage at www.viha.ca or the City of Courtenay's webpage at www.courtenay.ca/hospitalproject.writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com