It is sort of like a paper version of scrolling through last year’s Facebook posts.
The district’s annual 2014 report, released last week, gives a snapshot of where Squamish was at and what it was up to last year.
“It is a really good time to be able to reflect back on your accomplishments, reflect back on maybe what you want to improve on for the next year,” said Mayor Patricia Heintzman.
The province’s Community Charter mandates the report for all communities.
According to Squamish’s report, the district’s population reached 19,031 in 2014, a 1.8 per cent increase over 2013. The median age in the district was 36.8.
The unemployment rate sat at 6.2 per cent.
It will come as no surprise to Squamish residents who have grown accustomed to being awoken by the sound of hammers and construction worker chatter that it was definitely a busy year for residential construction in the district.
There were 125 housing units under construction in 2014 and 167 building permits were issued.
Some of the other interesting aspects of the report include Squamish RCMP statistics for 2014 compared to those of 2013.
Domestic violence incidents were down 23 per cent, to 56 incidents. Thefts of more than $5,000 were down 38 per cent to only five incidents, but thefts that were below $5,000 were up 28 per cent to 148.
Fraud was up 30 per cent to 87 incidents.
Despite high-profile bike thefts making headlines, theft of bicycles was actually down 59 per cent to 39 cases in 2014.
Theft from vehicles went down 45 per cent to 134 incidents in 2014.
Given that at times there seems to be more dogs than people in the district, the statistics on Squamish canines were telling.The district sold 2,200 dog licenses in 2014. Twenty-four dogs were adopted and 572 complaints were received regarding pooches. There were 158 dogs sent to the pound, 135 dogs claimed and 13 dogs surrendered by their owners.
The district topped the province in bus ridership in 2014, according to the report.
Transit ridership increased by 50,303 riders, or by about 21 per cent last year: the highest increase in the BC Transit system, according to the report. Growth is likely thanks to the additional bus route to downtown and more weekend and holiday hours added in 2013.
As well as reflecting on the year that was, the report also takes a look forward at things the council and the district plan to accomplish in 2016 and beyond.
Mayor Heintzman said she is hopeful the trend toward more transit ridership can continue even though the province did not increase the budget for 2015 and capped the budget without inflation increases for 2016.
“If that remains the same we would have to somehow look at a reduction in service or an increase in the contribution from property tax revenue as opposed to from the province,” Heintzman said.
She said she has talked to provincial Minister of Transportation Todd Stone and there may be some latitude in transit funding for Squamish.
“We’d love to be able to augment our transit system even more, and we are going to try to figure out some creative ways to do that and so obviously in communities like ours that are growing, we hope that the province doesn’t take a static, one-size-fits-all approach.”
She said the best way to augment transit locally is through land planning, making sure to put people on the transit route so they use that instead of the car.
Heintzman said future annual reports will include more benchmarking and more blunt analysis of what was accomplished.
“Really set out some benchmark aspects in it and then we can give ourselves a grade or a red, green, yellow light scenario so we know we are improving on things and we know where we have to do more work, and we are really candid with our performance with our community so we can make sure we are introspective on how to do things better in the future,” Heintzman said.
The annual report can be found on the district website, squamish.ca, or in hard copies at municipal hall.
Busy time for council
Heintzman said her first seven months in the mayor’s office have been a busy time, but because she had many years of experience on council and had been chair of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District the transition to mayor was almost seamless, she said.
For the new councillors it was a steep learning curve.
“It was by far the busiest first six months that any council has probably seen in Squamish,” she said. “We needed council to get up to speed very quickly because the issues are very emergent and so immediate that you don’t have too long to learn on the job,” she said.
The new councillors, Peter Kent, Karen Elliott and Jason Blackman-Wulff, have done a good job of catching up and contributing to council right off the bat, Heintzman said.
“Oftentimes new councillors don’t really say much for a couple of months or ask good questions, but all three of them have been very participatory and engaged, right from the beginning,” she said.
Heintzman acknowledged there are issues that divide the council, but that is a positive thing overall, she said.
“There are always issues that are going to challenge your cohesion and you want to have that lively debate and that interesting discussion, you don’t want it to all be head nodding,” she said. “At the end of the day, we all want what is best for Squamish.”
