Editor,
I don't get it. No sooner had the smoke cleared from the recent referendum than Mayor and Council announce the formation of a committee tasked to determine what the priorities for community amenities are.
Not only was the committee given an unrealistic May 3 deadline for providing a response to Council, but one of the committee co-chairs had unabashedly signaled his own bias by taking out multiple full-page ads in favour of the referendum. Given the unequivocal rejection of the direction espoused in the referendum one would think that Council would be more cautious in how they move forward.
In fact, why the rush? Our town is faced with so much change, so many new developments remain up in the air, long standing issues are unresolved and District staff are overworked if not overwhelmed. I am supportive of our community investing in well-researched, cost-effective community amenities that respond to demonstrated need and serve the broadest spectrum of our community.
However, exactly what these are and how we achieve them are very much up in the air. Furthermore, I do not think our community is in some sort of crisis where we need to make rushed decisions. We need to concentrate on what is already before us
.The Adventure Centre, as good as it looks, has a bunch of questions hanging over it. Both promised provincial funding and additional corporate funding have not yet been secured.
Operational costs and projected revenues are both on shaky ground. For reasons truly unfathomable, we hear that the facility is scheduled to open May 7 and events are being planned accordingly. Though supportive of the Adventure Centre concept, its location on the highway, and our capitalizing on grant financing to have it built, it is, in my opinion, a cart before the horse.
Significant investment in basic tourism infrastructure (i.e. a signed and up-graded trail network among other things) needs to be created in order to serve the tourists arriving at the Adventure Centre. Such investments are long overdue and hopefully the Adventure Centre will be the catalyst to bring them to fruition.
What about the log books? Is Council able to move beyond the politics of how these things came into being and recognize their tourism value? The "pages" truly are works of art and both energy and resources are needed to find a suitable long term home for them. And that brings me to the Logger Sports Grounds.
For many locals these are an under-utilized community amenity. I think the District should re-assume responsibility for this beautiful facility, do the much-needed upgrades and start to use them, in addition to the annual Loggers Sports, as a venue for all sorts of arts, cultural and sporting events.
As pointed out in previous letters to the editor, the sports fields at Don Ross and Howe Sound Secondary schools are under-utilized and need investment. Instead of going in to debt to build new community facilities, why can't a joint-use agreement be worked out with the school district to make these fields truly community assets? Similarly, why are we talking about building an arts and culture centre when a partnership with the university or the new Cap College expansion could provide a venue similar to the Eagle Eye Theatre that has served our community so well.
Then again, there are the Wal-Mart and Home Depot projects; the Nexen lands and all they entail; the university; the Smoke Bluffs Park and Estuary access issues; a multitude of residential development projects; the new Skateboard Park and of course, the single biggest event to steamroll through our community - the highway expansion. All of these projects require the dedication of both staff and Council. I hope that Council can keep its collective eye on the ball.
Jim Harvey
Squamish
