Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) Administrator Paul Edgington assured board members that an upcoming meeting about the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) between representatives from the Ministry of Community Development, the SLRD and the District of Squamish is not a negotiation session. At Monday's (Jan. 26) board meeting, Edgington said the meeting will be a conversation to discuss the process under which the RGS dilemma could be resolved and "identify the issues that would stand in the way of Squamish accepting the plan."The District of Squamish is the only RGS holdout within the SLRD, after Squamish rejected the plan for corridor growth. The Minister of Community Development needs to direct the District of Squamish and the SLRD to a dispute resolution process, and a December letter from Minister Blair Lekstrom to SLRD board chair Russ Oakley said a discussion will help choose between binding arbitration and a non-binding dispute resolution process. ALR subdivision not supportedThe board voted to forward an application for a subdivision within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) in the Squamish Valley to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) with a position of non-support.Archie and Susanne St. John originally submitted their application to the SLRD in December 2007, but the board refused it and did not forward it to the ALC, which makes decisions regarding the ALR. SLRD staff recently realized the board may only withhold applications in certain circumstances, according to a Jan. 26 staff report by Tracy Napier, so the proposal came back to the board Monday.A letter from Archie St. John states that he and his wife can no longer care for their large house and property."We really love this beautiful serene valley and wish to live out our days here as we have lived here for 32 years and know no other home. If we are allowed to subdivide the land, we would have a cottage built or a house trailer on the four-acre piece," St. John wrote."although it is not clear if the proposal would have a negative impact on farming in the area, it is not consistent with the policies of the OCP with respect to the preservation of agricultural land, and minimum parcel sizes. When this application was considered previously, the board did not support the proposed subdivision," Napier's report said.The board voted to forward the application with a recommendation that it should not be supported.Britannia support on holdThe board hesitated to endorse a request for support from the B.C. Museum of Mining and its Britannia Project to the Building Canada Fund, seeking more information first.A Jan. 22 letter from Mark Germyn, president of the Britannia Beach Historical Society, states that the museum and its Britannia Project are moving forward "with support of industry and the federal government," and officials are seeking a matching $5-million contribution from the Province.Germyn's letter said the Province has indicated that support could flow through the Canada-British Columbia Building Canada Fund's Communities Component, where the provincial and federal governments are each putting $136 million to support infrastructure projects in communities with fewer than 100,000 people. The proposal needs the SLRD's support in order to meet eligibility for that fund.According to Germyn's letter, the group is applying for funding for infrastructure items such as upgrades to water, sewer, electrical and lighting services, parking lot improvements, flood debris mitigation and preservation works."We are most appreciative of the support we have received from the SLRD board and staff in our efforts to date to make the B.C. Museum of Mining and its Britannia Project a reality. The requested resolution of support will (greatly) assist us proceeding with the development programme for 2010 and beyond," Germyn wrote.But Gimse said the board should see the application before supporting it, in order to understand the details, and she thought the proposal could possibly cause competition with other municipal projects in need of funding within the regional district."If we are supporting the Britannia Project for this funding, it will compete against the municipal projects," Gimse said.Area D Director John Turner said he would also prefer to see more information about the funding request. The board voted to ask to see the application before supporting it.
