A window of possibility has reopened for Oliver's Landing Boat and Kayak Club (OLBKC) seasonal dock.
Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) directors voted at their Monday (May 25) meeting to commission a geotechnical assessment to determine the safety of the site and identify measures to mitigate hazards or alternate sites.
Though the board voted in March not to use the area for boat moorings, due to constraints such as the sediment containment area and fisheries habitat, the question is being reopened to determine conclusively whether the area is safe or not.
"The big thing is the potential hazard of allowing an activity in a debris catchment area everything else we think can be addressed and negotiated and managed," SLRD Administrator Paul Edgington told the board.
Edgington said there has been dialogue between the board chair, Electoral Area D Director John Turner and interested parties since the March meeting, demonstrating that some do believe the site is safe but there are opinions on both sides.
SLRD staff can't give a definite answer one way or the other at this point, he told the board, so the geotechnical assessment would provide that certainty.
"The board did make a decision to say 'no you can't,' and that was based on the staff recommendation that because the basin is part of a debris flow catchment area, that we not use it to put people in," Edgington said in an interview Tuesday (May 26).
"With additional information and a specific assessment that it's safe to use, we can recommend that something be done."
He said Turner and other board members have been "strongly canvassed" to reverse the decision, based on the belief the site is safe for use.
The assessment will be paid for by money from the Area D Select Fund, with the amount not to exceed $10,000, according to the motion passed by the board.
In a February 2009 letter addressed to SLRD board members and written on behalf of the OLBKC, it is stated that the club received a February 2008 letter from Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirming the department has no objection to the seasonal dock, following dredging of the basin and many consultations and site visitations.
The 2009 letter, which was forwarded to The Chief after the March board meeting, states that to ensure the dock is open to all Furry Creek residents, any resident can become a club member on a cost- sharing arrangement based on dock use.
The letter states the OLBKC is "not a private restricted membership club, but a cost-sharing group based on non-profit society rules."
"I can assure the board that this small community seasonal dock has fostered community spirit and involvement," the letter states.
The additional motion passed Monday by the SLRD directors states that should a suitable site be identified, SLRD staff should work with the OLBKC to prepare a permission agreement addressing any geotechnical and liability issues and the necessity of having no ongoing moorage but only "touch and go" use, an inspection and maintenance policy, public access to the dock, and mitigation of impacts on neighbouring residents and the debris flow containment area.
An SLRD staff report submitted to Monday's meeting said the club has been proactive in seeking a solution, and has confirmed the site is not to be used for moorage.
If the current site isn't safe, staff will work with the club and geotechnical engineer to identify an alternate location, the report added.
