Our recently elected municipal representatives have been officially sworn in, and now Squamish residents have sizeable performance expectations from an assembly endowed with a deep well of talent and ambition.
Let’s start with the budget process. Taxpayers are counting on more than the customary lip service from council about reversing our annual double-digit property tax and utilities rate increases. Creative spending-cut strategies and imaginative approaches to expand the district’s revenue base will be top priorities.
As well, after a decade of consultation and community input, the lingering second guessing and recriminations associated with the Squamish Oceanfront development project need to be laid to rest. Now that the district has finally agreed to terms for the sale and development of the property, council’s mandate will be to keep the venture on track.
Meanwhile, the proposed Garibaldi at Squamish four-season resort will soon be returned to the front burner. Mayor Patricia Heintzman cautions that “it’s hard to understand where that one is going.”
According to a 2010 consulting report, the project is estimated to generate $5.7 billion in total expenditures, 38,331 person-years of employment and $40 million in municipal revenues. The naysayers claim Garibaldi at Squamish is an environmental liability, its infrastructure requirements will be a drain on municipal coffers and the real tax and job creation impact will be negligible.
The Woodfibre LNG plant is a similar politically charged undertaking, albeit the future of that contentious proposal is in the hands of decision-makers in government jurisdictions much higher in the pecking order than the District of Squamish. Still, as Heintzman points out, “if it happens, then we need to get the best possible deal for the community and the environment.”
Over in the Cheekye Fan area of Brackendale, a proposed 750-unit high-density housing development, along with its associated debris hazard barrier, has already ruffled feathers in the neighbourhood and will require skillful stick handling from district officials.
On another front, the long-awaited Branding, Development & Marketing Action Plan was unveiled in early October. This highly publicized initiative contains 55 recommendations designed to fast-track the Squamish brand to the next level. But most of the recommendations have a cost component and in several instances the “possible funding ideas” with which they are associated are ambiguous. As a result, without the full support of district officials, the plan could become a protracted cat-herding exercise for the Brand Leadership Team.
Whatever spin we put on the abovementioned challenges, this most recent iteration of council will need to hit the ground running.
