Normally, municipal staff prepare reports for council well in advance of the next meeting. In Vancouver, these reports are posted on the city’s Web site, which gives the public and the media a chance to comment before the politicians vote on the staff’s recommendations.

Every once in a while, staff will rush a report to council without giving adequate time for the public to review the recommendations and request a chance to speak to council about the issue. These reports are stamped “Late Distribution”, conveying the impression that they had to be immediately advanced to council because of some sort of pressing concern.

Cynics who work in the media (yes, that means you, Allen Garr) sometimes claim that these “Late Distribution” reports are an attempt by the staff to reduce public discussion. There’s even a term for it: jamming.

On February 17, city staff sent a “Late Distribution” report to council regarding the rising cost of 252 units of affordable housing at the Vancouver Olympic Village. It was dated February 16, and it missed the weekend newscasts.

On CBC Radio on February 18, city manager Penny Ballem told host Rick Cluff that staff knew about the higher cost of these units a year ago. According to the report, the price tag on the affordable-housing units has risen from $65 million in 2006 to a projected figure of $110 million. The price of building a community centre in Southeast False Creek has risen from an original cost of $28.5 million to $35 million.

This report went to council around the same time Finance Minister Colin Hansen was delivering the B.C. budget in the legislature. As a result, the council debate received much less media coverage than it would have on a slower news day.

Staff recommended that the managing director of social development, Cameron Gray, report back to council by April 15 on options for dealing with the financial challenges.

The 70-percent increase in the cost of affordable housing on the site “eliminates the ability to utilize the normal business model”¦to allow affordable rents,” the report states. “Current estimates from BC Housing project that anywhere from $56M to $77M (depending on the renter mix) in additional City equity would be required to sustain affordable housing in the Olympic Village project.”

In 2007, council made adjustments to cope with higher-than-expected costs, approving $30.5 million to cover the community centre and $95 million to cover the affordable-housing component at the Olympic Village. However, that still leaves a $19.5-million shortfall on the affordable-housing component and the community centre.

The staff report notes that the developer, Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties Ltd., has a “cost plus 8 percent” contract. That has driven the estimated developers’ fees up to $7.5 million. Applying high environmental standards to the design of the buildings has added another $5 million to the cost, and increasing the floor area by 26,000 square feet incurred another $8.4-million fee. The construction market has been blamed for an increase of another 16 percent, or $9.75 million. Exterior finishes resulted in a 4.6-percent increase, or $3 million.

B.C. Housing’s fees added 7.5 percent, or $4.85 million, and the firm deadline imposed by the 2010 Olympics jacked up costs by 10 percent, or $6.5 million, according to the report.

The city’s manager of development, Ian Smith, told the Georgia Straight by phone that he and Gray were told to write the report two weeks ago, and that it was completed on February 13. “It was an attempt to get”¦the information out as quickly as possible so, over the next month, we can work on options and council can engage the public in a discussion,” Smith said. “The options that are going to come forward in the next report will be available and fully discussed in the public.”

Smith added that staff came to grips with the extent of the cost increases over the past month, which is why the report came forward on February 17, which just happened to be budget day in B.C.

I’ve never met a city staffer who has acknowledged “jamming” a report before council to minimize public discussion. Smith is no exception.