Wanted: 100,000 cubic meters of earth.
Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) is exploring options to keep costs down on its long-anticipated Oceanfront Park. Right now the SODC - a municipal corporation - is on the hunt for cheap landfill material to form the foundation of the proposed 12-acre green space. The park is the first phase of the corporation's plans to redevelop Squamish's waterfront into a "world-class work-live-recreate" community.
The SODC has examined the option of dredging the Mamquam Blind Channel as a possible way to get low-cost fill, but the project isn't contingent on that, said Trevor Dunn, principal of GroundEffects, the consulting firm hired by SODC.
While on the search for dirt, the project is steadily moving forward, he said. This week the corporation unveiled its 2010 Annual General Report.
The report highlighted headway made in cleaning up the land. Last year, the provincial government waived the need for an Oceanfront Park environmental assessment so as not to duplicate the federal assessments already in process, Dunn said. The SODC now awaits the results of that assessment.
Environmental monitoring and remediation has taken place throughout the year. In June, the provincial government awarded the corporation $121,500 to identify clean-up options. The grant was part of the B.C.'s Brownfield Renewal Funding Program and the SODC used it to investigate contamination levels on the GBA site.
Old equipment in the Blue Barn - a former wastewater treatment plant - has been removed. What is left are the final studies which, once completed, will allow the SODC to transition the building's use over to interested community organizations, including arts groups, Dunn said.
One of the corporation's most significant achievements last year was the district's adoption of the Oceanfront Peninsula Sub Area Plan, a key step in formalizing the project's direction and creating a business plan, Dunn said. With the plan's approval, the SODC was able to submit a land rezoning application in June. Dunn expects the rezoning request to come before council in September or October.
The corporation's available loan sits at $9 million, backed by a district covenant. The SODC is comfortable with the arrangement, Dunn said, because simply selling the land could repay the loan. The money hasn't all been used up and the corporation is not at risk of running out, he added.
"As we go forward and spend bigger money, we want to make sure we are really responsible," Dunn said.
The SODC has scheduled a public information meeting on the land rezoning on Thursday, Sept. 22, at the corporation's administrative building at 37321 Galbraith Rd. It starts at 6:30 p.m. with a formal presentation at 7 p.m.
