Drum roll please. And the winner is Cushman and Wakefield.
The Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. (SODC) has selected the international real estate firm to take the community's prize waterfront property to market.
Cushman and Wakefield has a regional, national and international team to get the word out, said Bill McNeney, the SODC's chair on Tuesday (June 19).
They covered all the bases, he told The Chief.
The company owns some of the former B.C. Rail lands in town, McNeney added.
So far, the real estate agent has met with council. Over the next three months the company will familiarize itself with the project and start a soft marketing campaign, he said.
After that I think you will see ramping up of that [work], McNeney said.
There will be a commission paid for the real estate transaction, he noted. SODC operations costs average approxiamrtely $600,000 a year, Mayor Rob Kirkham said.
Ice time battles
Approximately 60 children may not be putting on their skates next hockey season because of a flawed ice scheduling process, says the president of Squamish Minor Hockey.
The District of Squamish booked groups' time in the rink this year, cutting the hockey club's time by seven hours, Ian Sutherland told The Chief. Municipal staff based the allotments on the club's participation figure from last season, a number the club warned was lower than in the past.
Now the club is expecting a jump in players and is faced with a shortage of ice time. The whole situation is frustrating, Sutherland said, because the club feels its expert advice is being ignored by district staff.
They changed the process of how they allocate the ice without making us aware, he said. There was a lack of appreciation for what we do and what we run in the community.
On Tuesday (June 19) the hockey club, Squamish Soccer Association and the Squamish Figure Skating Club approached council to voice their annoyance over the flawed system.
The hockey club pays $80,000 to the district for use of facilities, with the figure skating club dishing out $60,000 to municipal pockets, yet it takes six to eight months for the municipality to deal with arising problems, Sutherland said.
We need to feel like we are getting support from the district, he said.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman recommended the new standing committee of business process examine the clubs' concerns.
This is the type of thing the committee could have a look at, she said.
Heintzman's motion was backed by council.
UMBC study OKed
After five years, the District of Squamish has put its stamp of approval on the land use study for the Upper Mamquam Blind Channel (UMBC).
The study was initiated in 2007, when an application for an 8.3-acre mixed-use development near the channel hit council's table. Now compiled, it will guide potential future changes on the property that sits between Smoke Bluffs and Rose parks, the Blind Channel, Hospital Hill and Highway 99.
It's a high-level document, Coun. Doug Race said at Tuesday's (June 19) council meeting. There are still many outstanding concerns density and traffic routes being the two major issues that will be ironed out in rezoning processes, he said.
They are not, in my mind, in any way document or dictated by this plan, Race said. Most of the discussion is still going to come and it is going to depend on the type of proposal we receive.
Heintzman and Coun. Bryan Raiser voted against adoption of the study.
I think we are simply putting the cart before the horse on this one, Heintzman said.
The study is thin in many areas, she said. The district needs to figure out density for the property and map out a transportation plan for that area, Heintzman said.
The trouble with the study is the message it sends, Raiser said.
[The study] doesn't solve any of the problems that the previous development was denied for, he said.
