Brickbats for Adventure Centre Editor,
I can not believe the waste of taxpayer dollars that have gone on since Ian Sutherland became mayor.
We have an Adventure Centre with its costs up to $4.9 million now! What happened to the $2.3 million with only $900,000 of those as tax dollars? How could the expenditures become this high without anyone on council knowing? This is totally outrageous! Ian Sutherland had the nerve to say that disgruntled residents who say there wasn't enough public involvement were simply not taking the opportunity to get involved. How could the people of Squamish get involved when "much of the negotiations of contracts, real estate, and sponsorship were done during closed door sessions"?
I'm so glad that Mike Jenson has finally put forward a motion to: release all documents related to the adventure centre audit city hall
Mike Jenson also stated "the administrative costs have gone up over 100 per cent over the last five years" This is what Ian Sutherland and his wonderful New Directions team have left as a legacy for Squamish!
It's about time that the expenditures by Squamish Council were streamlined. Instead of constantly hiring more people into new positions, work within your budget, then you wouldn't have such a spending deficit! There are only so many tax dollars from Squamish residents available and they are decreasing as the job base is constantly dwindling away, BCRail, the sawmill, Interfor and Woodfibre having all been shut down.
It is time for this new council to tighten its belt and use the tax dollars efficiently!
Suzanne Kirkman (née Deminger)
Squamish
Bouquets for Adventure Centre
Editor,
I'm happy the Squamish Adventure Centre is built. Period!
My frustration isn't about the cost of the facility, but directed at the lack of pedestrian access from downtown.
Seriously, let's spend more money and build a footpath to connect the downtown neighbourhood to this wonderful community centre.
Peter Harker
Squamish
Editor,
What a delight to attend Wild at Art at the Adventure Centre on Saturday and see the facility so full of appreciative people. It's a magnificent building and a great setting for the art displays, poetry readings, developers' booths, plus outdoor entertainment. Yes, construction went over budget, but we have a building we can be proud of and one that will serve us for a long time. Wild at Art is just the beginning. (And it's clear that if construction had been delayed, the price would have been higher still. We'll soon be looking on it as a bargain!)
Several people we talked to said they hadn't been in the Centre before and were amazed at how lovely it is. They, and we, plan to stop by frequently to enjoy a cup of coffee, browse in the gift shop and generally enjoy this addition to our town.
Congratulations to Council for the vision and execution of this project.
Muriel Shephard
Squamish
Thanks for the record, Carney's
Editor,
Thank you John French of Carney's for responding to and correcting my information in last week's letter regarding the new garbage totes. I did not know that our tax dollars were not used to finance the totes. I am sure some other people didn't know that either.
To be honest, I don't know where my tax dollars are spent when it comes to garbage disposal and recycling. But I do know that I am paying a lot (comparable to Vancouver) without having the benefit of curbside pick-up for recycling. Perhaps many homeowners including myself would be interested in seeing a breakdown of where our tax dollars are going regarding garbage pick up and disposal, especially recycling. I would look forward to seeing that particular outline/graph in The Chief. Are our tax dollars used for specific services without diversion to other departments?
I have no problem contacting Carney's directly regarding my concerns; however, they are of a public nature. My letter was written for a call to awareness of individual differences in our community, it was not of a personal nature. I am fortunate that I can recycle and I do have a vehicle and do not have a reminder every week of a responsibility to my community that I cannot meet. I feel that the other questions in my prior letter are valid and worth as much attention as my error.
Thank you in advance for putting my concerns at rest. I would appreciate a public response from Carney's as I feel that this would set the record straight.
Ronaye Daly
Garibaldi Highlands
No half-solutions to bear problem
Editor,
Thanks to Larry McHale ("Bears' new lunch pails," Letters, Feb. 24) for his insights on the bear-garbage situation. Having lived in Canmore, I'm familiar with the garbage storage containers he mentions and understand they're fully bear-proof. It seems to me that such containers would be a workable solution for Squamish.
In the late 1990s, the Town of Canmore implemented its own, community-wide garbage solution that saw the number of bear-related incidents in town reduced from scores every year to just a handful. The municipality purchased something like 50 large, metal, community garbage bins with the same kind of bear-proof opening mechanism as the smaller metal bins seen in Whistler and elsewhere. My recollection is that the initial outlay was something like $200,000. The larger bins were placed strategically around residential areas so that no one had to walk more than about two minutes to a bin. Curbside pickup was eliminated, but of course the garbage contractor still had to come along once a week with a special truck to empty the bins.Initially, in a couple of neighbourhoods, not enough bins were made available, causing a couple of bins to fill up in less than a week and garbage to start piling up around them. But once the Town ensured an adequate number of bins in each neighbourhood, that situation ceased and the number of bear-related incidents plummeted.
The only other issue dealt with those with mobility challenges not being able to take their trash to the bins on a regular basis. In this instance a bit of neighbourly help seemed to do the trick.
Based on my experience in Canmore, I'm of the view that half-solutions to the bear situation in Squamish are no solution at all. Either we completely bear-proof our garbage collection system or the problem - for both people and bears - will persist.David Burke
Brackendale
