Shhhdo you hear that? If you listen closely, you can actually hear the calm packing up its things as the storm impatiently taps its foot just waiting to pounce on our neighbourhood.
Already the writing is on the wall - or the highway, rather. "We're here, we're huge, get used to it."
Of course, with our first developments come our first challenges.
Since, what seems like forever, when you said "development" in Squamish it could only be one of a couple people - the baker's dozen of usual suspects who know and own this town inside and out. But now things are different. Now the world is watching Squamish and everyone who can, is looking here to make some fat cash.
And thank God they are. We have to face the fact that the job situation in this town is dustbowl depressing and the next phase of jobs in Squamish is going to be largely developer dependent.
Thankfully there are more than a few good developers that are willing to share their vision. In achieving that vision they hire local lads for a good wage. From the foundation to the landscaping, painting, drywall and stonework, even the lunch truck that buys its food from the kick-ass local deli. That's solid work for the next eight years with families being comfortably fed, clothed, and sheltered. This is exactly what we need to encourage.
Make no mistake, as you read this the land around Squamish is being divvied up. With developers come countless building jobs that we so desperately need. But they're of no use to us if at the end of the week the bills aren't paid. There's big money watching us very closely and our next moves will dictate the quality of people and projects to come.
Squamish is still a small town and the developer/contractor world is even smaller. So much so that when trouble brews, word travels fast. Hence our need to encourage and enforce responsible development. Those who refuse to act properly must be told they're not allowed to play in our waterfront games.
Which brings us to our first challenge. Our develop-or-die mayor and council have to finally stand up and set some examples. These new contractor jobs are great but they don't all have happy endings. We need these jobs and must let developers know that they are more than welcome to our town. They must also know that they will be held accountable.
As a community we have two choices: we can draw the line here, or we can continue to do nothing but send a clear message to developers: Welcome to Squamish, the sucker capital of Canada.
