Chilliwack is one of the first communities along the Kinder Morgan pipeline to turn up its nose at hundreds of thousands of dollars of free money from the Texas oil giant for local amenities.

The offer of $800,000 to pay for 80 per cent of a pedestrian bridge across the Vedder River was called a bribe by critics of the company and its plan to triple capacity of the 62-year-old Trans Mountain pipeline that runs from the Alberta oil sands to Burnaby.

Kinder Morgan has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) worth $5 million to most communities east of Hope along the 1,150-kilometre route of the pipeline except for two, according to the city's director of operations Glen MacPherson.

All that money is contingent upon the National Energy Board's (NEB) approval of the $5.4-billion project after the current review. The City of Chilliwack is a registered commenter in that review, and the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD)—of which the city is a member—is an intervenor.

"The FVRD has a number of concerns," Coun. Jason Lum said Tuesday in making a motion to defer signing the MOU. "Making the decision today feels a little like putting the cart before the horse."

Lum asked staff if the city knew the exact route of the expanded pipeline, most of which will run in the existing right-of-way. He was told that in one or two places the route has not been finalized.

"Part of the MOU is to offset some of the inconvenience and if we don't know where the route is going to be than it is hard to calculate where the inconvenience is going to be," Lum said. "I'm certainly not willing to vote in favour of this until I'm satisfied and the public is satisfied."

Coun. Sam Waddington expressed how torn he was about the decision since the pedestrian bridge would clearly be a great addition to the trail system.

"If it is going to come through Chilliwack [the pipeline] I'd like to see Chilliwack glean every last benefit out of this," he said.

Coun. Sue Attrll said she was concerned Kinder Morgan would use the MOUs signed with communities along the route as leverage with the NEB during consultations.

"I certainly do not agree that it's a bribe," Attrill said "[But] I do feel it would give them leverage with the NEB."

Lum further suggested the $800,000 in funds is "almost insignificant" compared to the tax revenue the city will collect on the pipeline if it is approved, money the city can allocate any way it wishes. And approval over which the city has no authority.

"If concerns are falling on deaf ears, I'd just as soon not accept the money," Lum said.

Gaetz suggested her concern with the motion to defer signing the MOU was that the money would be lost once the deadline of May 29 outlined by the company passed.

"There is a little bit of risk in this," she said. "If Kinder Morgan does not change their policy of having everyone in now, then we may be at risk of losing $800,000."