The District of Squamish has elected a new board to govern the future of the Oceanfront development.At a special business meeting of council on Tuesday (Oct. 25), council voted to reduce the size of the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation's (SODC) board from nine to seven and appointed six new directors, leaving one seat empty.The new directors appointed included Mayor Greg Gardner, Coun. Paul Lalli, current SODC board chair Bill McNeney, current director Matt Fraser, current director Gregg Smyth and SODC CEO Drew Stotesbury.The changes to the board are necessary to accommodate the waterfront project as it moves forward, said Coun. Rob Kirkham. As such, the district decided to review the abilities and qualities of people on the board, he noted. The district established a committee to interview potential candidates.Until now the board's goal was to gather public consensus. But with the Oceanfront Sub Area plan in place and rezoning on the table, the board has taken on a different role, said Coun. Doug Race. It is tasked with a business plan and directors require business and marketing skills, he noted. With the focus honed, the size of the board could be reduced, Race added.Coun. Patricia Heintzman said she agreed with council's assessment of the transitioning role of the board, but didn't think the new appointments achieved council's goal. She said she would like to see a combination of community members, as well as the expertise to bring the project to market."One of the biggest goals with trying to repopulate the board was to get that expertise and we didn't do that with this nomination," she said.Raiser agreed. He added that although everybody is aware of the time element when it comes to the Oceanfront project, he that warned when new councils get elected they have a habit of dismantling previous boards.Heintzman and Raiser were opposed to the appointments. Lalli did not vote on the appointments because of a conflict of interest. Mayor Greg Gardner was absent.For more on this developing story check out Friday's edition of the paper and stay tuned online.
