Squamish is one step closer to losing its cinema permanently.
On Tuesday (Nov. 6), the District of Squamish council gave third reading to rezoning that would allow the former Garibaldi 5 Cinema to be used for other retail purposes.
The theatre closed shop in August. In September, the owners of Garibaldi Village Shopping Centre filed an approximate $707,000 lawsuit against the U.S.-based company Metropolitan Theatres Corp. for alleged unpaid rent.
The theatre's property manager, Churchill Property Corp., is seeking to broaden the building's commercial options. The building's uses would expand from "theatre only" to allow for a fitness centre, restaurant, retail stores and indoor recreation.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman was the only council member to vote against the rezoning. Her concern was with the lack of minimum square footage allowance for retail space placed in the building. That could make way for a bunch of "tiny" storefronts in the facility, Heintzman said.
The rezoning has to come back to council for final approval. - USED
In the mail
Developers will soon have to cough up cash for mail boxes.
As of January 2013, Canada Post will implement a one-time fee to developers to install and activate all community mail boxes and addresses in new developments. The partial cost-recovery initiative will apply a fee of $200 per address, and is in addition to the existing process for installing boxes or physical delivery, Jacques Coté, Canada Post's group president, wrote in a letter to the district.
The move comes as a response to mail volumes dropping almost 20 per cent per address over the past five years - stats that have contributed to the corporation's unprecedented financial losses in 2011 and the first half of 2012, Coté wrote. - USED
A spoon full of hello
A Pemberton-based not-for-profit organization is asking Squamoleons to say "hello."
The Hello Pledge is a simple, cost-free way to improve community connectedness, Hello Pledge founder Maureen Douglas wrote in a letter to the Squamish council. It simply asks that participants say hello to the people they pass throughout the day, a challenge Douglas put before mayor and councillors.
"By increasing social connectedness we strengthen the foundation of our communities - leading to greater health, happiness and community safety," she wrote.
To sign up or for more information visit www.thehellopledge.com. - USED
PRV station
The district will pour close to $80,000 into a valve that will increase water pressure to Brackendale.
The Kingswood pressure reducing valve (PRV station) was originally installed in the 1970s during the construction of the subdivision in Brackendale. But to municipal staff's knowledge, the station was never commissioned. The water main connected to the PRV was installed the same year, even though the station wasn't activated, the district's engineering report stated.
Upgrading this PRV station and activating the water main will increase firefighting flows to Brackendale, Matt Simmons, the district's capital project manager, told council on Tuesday (Nov. 6). -USED
It's a sweep
USED - Squamish council is backing the rockers.
On Tuesday, mayor and councillors endorsed the Howe Sound Curling Club's application for an Infrastructure Fund Grant to assist with refrigeration system upgrade costs.
The club has raised $78,000 to date for the replacement of the refrigeration system, which is anticipated to cost $150,000, stated a corporate services report to council. The ice surface refrigeration system is operating beyond its anticipated lifespan, the report continued.
The district recently gave the same show of support when it backed grant applications by the Squamish Soccer Association and Squamish Slopitch Association. - USED
