Mayor's Report - December 1998

Looking ahead, 1999 is a milestone year in that Belcarra will be celebrating its 20th anniversary as a municipality. And no other project could have been more appropriate on the eve of this milestone than "Between Forest & Sea: Memories of Belcarra". The Belcarra Historical Group has made a tremendous contribution to our community. Book sales have now passed the 800 mark, and the consensus opinion is that the book is an excellent piece of work. On behalf of Council and all Belcarra residents, I want to thank the Belcarra Historical Group for their perseverance with this phenomenal project and for creating this legacy. As a consequence, I am calling upon the Belcarra Historical Group to undertake another project for Belcarra. To mark the 20th anniversary event on August 22nd, eight months hence, I am asking the Belcarra Historical Group to plan and create a time capsule to be opened on Belcarra's 50th anniversary in 2029. I am also calling for volunteers from the community to form an Anniversary Committee to plan and organize community events to appropriately celebrate this milestone.

Onto the more mundane, December is the month that the portfolios are delegated to the members of Council. In order to maintain continuity, I feel it is important that the Councillors continue in the portfolios delegated to them. Accordingly, I am recommending that:

• Councillor Carlsen be re-appointed as Chair of Public Works & Infrastructure;
• Councillor Drake be re-appointed as Chair of Intergovernmental Affairs, and also re-appointed as Belcarra's representative to the GVRD Parks Committee and Alternate Director to the GVRD Board;
• Councillor Glover be re-appointed as Chair of Protective Services & Environmental Affairs;
• Councillor Ross be re-appointed as Chair of Planning & Special Projects;
• Councillors Carlsen and Glover be re-appointed along with the Mayor to the SVFD Board of Trustees; and that
• The Mayor be re-appointed as Chair of the Finance Committee, and also re-appointed as Belcarra's representative on the GVRD Board of Director's.

For most of the 1990s, Council has focused on the maintenance concerns of Bedwell Bay Road and has undertaken several sizeable projects with the generous support of the Ministry of Transportation & Highways. After expenditures of close to $900,000 we now are more than halfway toward our objective of re-furbishing and re-surfacing Bedwell Bay Road.

As we look ahead to the coming year, the problems of restricted revenue and the provincial deficit will continue to mean a lack of funding for programs and services. However, we are hopeful that there may be funding for highways projects via another Federal / Provincial Infrastructure Program. Accordingly, Public Works has the next Bedwell Bay Road project designed and cost-estimated to enable a fast response to any program announcement!

Over the past four years, Council has pursued the installation of fire hydrants at strategic locations around the community, and it is Council's intent to continue with this program of enhancing fire protection infrastructure within the Village. During 1998, Council obtained a Crown Land lease on the hillside at the south (top) end of Tatlow Road, completed site preparation, and installed the underground pipe from the tank site to a fire hydrant at Main Avenue. Installation of the water storage tank is anticipated in early 1999 and, budget priorities permitting, Council hopes to extend the Tatlow Road system to provide fire hydrants at Bedwell Bay Road and Marine Avenue. Council also intends to pursue the other very strategic site at the height-of-land next to the Dutchman's Creek Water Users water tanks. GVRD Parks recently agreed to the Village locating a water storage tank on park property, which means that surveying and system design can now proceed. These projects are included under Councillor Carlsen's Public Works & Infrastructure portfolio.

A critical issue that has gained prominence in recent weeks is that of treaty negotiations within the Lower Mainland. In particular, the recent advancement of the Tsleil-Waututh table to Stage 4, negotiation of an agreement-in-principle, means that 1999 will see considerable discussion as Belcarra completes its "Inventory of Interests" for input to the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee (LMTAC) and the Provincial negotiators. In order to ensure community involvement, Council has scheduled a public information meeting for January 12th, 1999, for the purpose of obtaining community input early in the process. In addition, I am again recommending that Councillor Ross, who has been Belcarra's representative on the LMTAC for the past two years, be re-appointed to this very important function.

The Protective Services Committee has the most breadth of all Council functions. This committee is responsible for liaison on all matters relating to:

• Block Watch
• Family Court
• Simon Fraser Board of Health
• Emergency Health Services (Ambulance)
• Emergency Preparedness (PEP)
• Policing (RCMP)
• Fire Protection (SVFD)
• District 43 Community Policing Committee

An essential component of any community protection strategy is a well-functioning community Block Watch program. To maintain momentum in this important area, and to also pursue new initiatives, I am recommending the re-appointment of Ted Bojanowski, Larry Carlsen, Jim Chisholm, Keith Evans, Gary Glover, Dave Warren and Bob Wilson, along with new appointee George Stewart, as citizen members of the Protective Services Committee. I am also recommending the re-appointment of Keith Evans as Belcarra's representative on the District 43 Community Policing Committee, and re-appointment of Dave Warren as Belcarra's representative on the Family Court.

Regarding the environment, Council was successful during the past year in having Indian Arm designated as a "no flush zone". However, this is only a first step to controlling boats discharging sewage into Bedwell Bay and Indian Arm. During the past two years, the Environmental Affairs Committee has worked with the Vancouver Water Ski Club to educate the boating public who utilize Bedwell Bay on the issue of sewage discharges to recreational waters. This initiative has included distributing brochures to boaters, and soon to appear new signage asking the boating public to be respectful of Bedwell Bay waters. To continue this work, I am recommending the re-appointment of Denise Bougie, Eric Broberg, Corrine Goodman, Jillian Hull, Maureen Jamieson, Donna Smallpiece, Hillary Tisseur, Trisha Tisseur, Irene Turnbull, Jennifer Wilkie and Paul Wilson (Vancouver Water Ski Club) as members of the Environmental Affairs Committee. We will be looking to Councillor Glover, as Committee Chair, to move us forward in this important area.

Over the past 15 years, the Finance Committee has successfully implemented fiscal strategies to minimise the impact of decreasing provincial grants, and to minimise borrowing costs through expenditure scheduling. It has also been Council's policy to pursue a "pay-as-you-go" strategy for both the municipality and the Sasamat Fire Department by advocating a combined program of building reserve funds and fiscal planning. It is my intention to maintain these strategies.

As can be seen, the coming year will be as busy as ever, and I am confident that both Council and its committees can meet the challenges and achieve their objectives!

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