o  TransLink considering a "trial" ferry from Ambleside as experiment for year or so

+++  INFObits   +++  --  WRITING TO MAYOR AND CCL?

When will Ccl see your letter?

When will public as part of ccl mtg package?   

At a ccl mtg some weeks ago staff stated 11 days ahead of a ccl mtg for a delegation but six for resident letters (general correspondence) when I asked if still same (11) for letters.  Clarification confirms that it is indeed still 11 days (except of course for Public Hearings -- public input accepted up until PH closed; efforts are made to include letters pertaining to an item on the agenda, added to the agenda at the beginning of the mtg).  Turns out it's six days before the ccl mtg agenda is posted, and that's usually by Thursday for the Monday ccl mtg so that's, count 'em, about 11 days.

===  gRUMBLINGS ===&nb= sp; NO ENGLISH?

At one adv cmte mtg a mbr asked what the District's policy is for signs on M property.  There had recently been a banner over the overpass where WV events are advertised.  There was no English so most wd not understand/know what the event was.  Good point.  Presumably the space is for cmnty events (permission must be sought from municipal staff to hang one), so to include everyone why not at least have some English identifying what's going on?

Good point.  I speak several languages and love the richness of our multicultural society but having a sign in the language of the local cmnty is the minimum of courtesy one can expect.

===  MAIN ITEMS CCL MTG May 9th ===  Supplementals may be issued on Friday

o  CORRESPONDENCE

Minutes: Sports/Rec Fac Planning (Nov 3rd, 10th, 24th, Apr 6th, 13th); FAC Mar 16th; HAC Mar 8th; PAC Mar 16th; Arts/Culture Strategy Implementation; Olympic Cmte.

Letters:  Evelyn Dr; Mtn Bike Park; LMTAC; Vote Wild!; dogwalkers; bears; E-Comm AGM; 8.1.26 Millennium Properties (Survey re Tunnel, Ev Dr, Devt, etc by Joan McIntyre's marketing company); Clear Cut across North Shore; Ambleside Park; Friendship - Huangshan; new rec ctr;  Gleneagles Golf Course; Outlook article re new rec ctr; BEST Commuter Challenge; Falun Dafa; Rec Ctr [C3] petition; Ambleside Sea Walk 13th - 19th; SOG; Candlelight Tribute.

===  REPORTS on Cmte Mtgs; CALENDAR to May 9th ===  Meetings at Hall unless otherwise noted

~ 3:30pm ~ YAC -- CANCELLED

~ 7pm ~ CSAC: NShore Study on Municipal Support for Social Services,  Cmte Workplan Review, liaison reports

~ 8:30am ~ Sports/Rec Fac Planning: options re C3 to be presented to Ccl on Monday 9th -- shd be interesting!   Also discussing the Gleneagles Adventure Park and Sport Field Planning

~ 5pm ~ PAC Special Mtg in Ccl Chambers to continue discussion of AMBLESIDE TOWN CTR STRATEGY

= 6pm = PEAC -- CANCELLED (tour of some parks)

= Thursday, May 5th =  ~ 5 - 9pm ~ Ambleside Youth Ctr Open House

= Friday, May 6th =  ~  8pm ~ Battle of the Bands Music Contest (Arena)

~ 9am ~ Seniors' Pancake Breakfast at Srs' Ctr

~ 5 - 7pm ~ HAC

~ 6 - 8pm ~ Ferry Building Gallery Opening Reception of "FIRED" celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the BC Potters' Guild: Joanne Copp, Lisa Henriques, Tam Irving, Lewis Krzyczkowski, Vincent Massey,

Sally Michener, Laurie Rolland.  Exhibit continues to May 29.  (Artists' Talk 2pm Saturday 14th)

Mr. Wally Oppal, the Former Chief Justice and now Liberal candidate for Vancouver Fraserview

~ 8:30am ~ Sports/Rec Facility Planning -- CANCELLED

~ 7pm ~ Welcome & No Host Coffee Bar

~ 9am - 1pm ~ Garage Sale at Gleneagles Cmnty Ctr

Introductions:

Aqeela Nanji, Youth Mayor (Sentinel Secondary, Gr 11)

Sadaf Rostamabadi (WVSS, Gr 9)

Byron Chard (Rockridge Secondary, Gr 11)

Pedram Moussavi (Sentinel, Gr 11)

Guillaume Curaudeau (Mulgrave, Gr 10)

Announcement:  Youth Art Display in Chambers this week

Additional item to agenda: Presentation from WV Sunshine Rotary Club re Youth Week

MMgr gave overview of the project, the presentation he gave to GVRD Board last year [slides]:

reasons for upgrade -- safety; improve reliability, mobility

12,500 a day now, cd be 35,000 in 2050

reduce natural events (slides, etc.), travel time

Olympic Bid commitment of three lanes

accommodate economic growth along corridor

Project Description and Timelines (finish by 2008)

other options: alternate routes through watershed, rail, tolls

intent content-sensitive design

original cost $1.2b, reduced to $600m made up of $400m plus $200m for contingency

closing down hwy too great impact on cmnties

gone from designbuild to DBOF (design build operate finance)

without a lot of consultation with WV, overland initial design considered: two-way, four-lane couplet

Options A to E, DWV prefers E, Ministry prefers B

four-lane, two-way overland (Ministry's choice): costs less, is safer, greater capacity, public prefers overland to tunnels, feel they can mitigate environmental impact

We've tried to understand and how strong those arguments are

felt Ministry had disproportionately raised tunnel costs and refused to look at suggested tunnel realignment

DWV's preference the four-lane tunnel

COST

bridge; underestimated land acquisition costs

not taken into account M's offer to donate or effect having project financed by public sector (cost $18m a year)

SAFETY

Ministry suggested two-way two-lane tunnel when in fact we suggested two-way four-lane

haven't taken into consideration steps that can be taken to improve safety

change assumptions, can change conclusion

cd take existing hwy for slower and dangerous goods

CAPACITY

overland six lanes into two

tunnel cd take it

volume is time-sensitive much like Lions' Gate Bridge

Overland B is traditional constuction but signif env'tal and rec cost

PUBLIC PREFERENCE

we've done formal surveys

residents 2 to 1 favour tunnel even if costs 20% more

3 to 1 favour tunnel if cost same

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Ministry consultants have recommended tunnel option; Ministry feels it can mitigate/compensate wrt losses of wildlife and vegetation; looks at other things

primary impact: arbutus stands, rocky bluff ecosystems, Larson Creek watershed, wetlands

22 endangered plant species, 13 in WV; tree loss underestimated; hydrology

RECREATION

relocation of over 600m of Baden Powell Trail

[slide of map showing overland and tunnel routes]

Pleased to answer any questions Council may have

Sadaf Rostamabadi: laws protecting farmlands and parks, how is it there no bylaw not protecting this?

losing this much and will never get it back if developed this way

MMgr: there are many laws, but prov has determined won't be signif impact

DWV has laws but prov can choose to ignore municipal laws if projects of a prov or federal nature

Byron Chard: WV's OCP has laws to protect natural ecosystem and environment

had to blast to get hwy there now, some of the ecological system had to be destroyed for it to go in

so must have grown even though hwy there

MMgr: a comment or a question?

[some laughter]

SR: 2010 bid book apparently showed a tunnel, how come this changed?

MMgr: good question

Olympic bid and prov/fed govts different entities; understand this project is not necessarily for the Olympics, Ministry said for safety and capacity so improvement wd hv bn done regardless of Olympics

Guillaume Curaudeau: how hard wd it be to upgrade tunnel rather than overland route in future

what need?

MMgr: not for some time, talking about a capacity over 50 years

depends on what kind of tunnel you're talking of; if two-lane to four, considerable cost

Kristine Chalk: MoT website says they respect regional goals and priorities

does that mean they're not respecting the regional area of WV? they believe safety more there with hwy than tunnel?

MMgr: believe they will indicate have to take a number of factors into consideration and balance them; Minister will say more on capacity and safety than env'tal impact

SR: if tunnel, less env'tal danger such as mudslides, lighting regardless of weather

shorter distance, so how is overland route safer than the tunnel?

Mmgr: perhaps Mr Dozzi can answer that

Mr Dozzi, Engg staff: depends on what you're comparing

two-lane tunnel more congested than four-lane route, therefore more potential for crashes

Ministry's analysis looks at access, speed, whether or not roadway divided -- one of biggest consideration in evaluating the safety

the four-lane hwy plan has median barrier, whereas two-lane tunnel didn't consider a centre median

their argument being without it, more potential for crashes

since District has moved away from two-lane, two-way to four-way, four-lane, wd have a median, wd be much safer, eliminates hazards such as snow, debris torrents and is well-lit

our position is on balance, the two-way four-lane tunnel is much safer than four-lane hwy

BC: if a natural disaster, how will emergency vehicles get in there?

tunnel, isolated, how will helicopter get in, inside mountain

Engg: beauty of proposed design is that by maintaining existing hwy, some redundancy built into the system

can always access where crash is from both ends

SR:  This area has sensitive species, how come govt ignoring that

Steve Jenkins, Env'tal Coordinator:  the govt's own consultants say these areas are sensitive and shd be avoided and that the tunnel route is preferred

Morgan McLean: presentation said wrt hwy four-lane into two wd cause congestion in other areas

MMgr: correct

MM: wd tunnel avoid this at a point?

MMgr: even with a two-lane tunnel still be four lanes going into two

whatever we do, will reduce to two lanes up by Porteau Cove

Pedram Moussavi: As Cclr Chalk stated, prov finds important values of the local residents

however independent survey said 2 to 1 preference for tunnel if cost more, 3 to 1 if same

if clear majority of residents for tunnel, how come they don't take this factor into consideration?

MMgr: Ministry based this on the input they think they received

don't accept results of our survey

think much closer

Ministry made it clear that even though cmnty may prefer that, signif diff in cost

difference in capacity and safety

they suggested if WV wants a tunnel, WV shd pay for that, yet nowhere else in province has a Municipality had to pay for provincial infrastructure.  What they have done is what we've offered, provided land for free if that helps discount some of the cost

expectation that WV residents shd pay for a provincial hwy, we've rejected

Kristine Chalk: if a regional transportation adv cmte, to keep up with data on priorities

MMgr: we did make a presentation to GVRD to see if there was regional support for our preference, there was and was communicated to Ministry

SR: is $2130m a realistic estimate for the overland hwy

keep repeating $200m+ for tunnel and only $130m for hwy

does not seem realistic or logical to me

Engg: the Ministry has a good understanding of hwy costs, that's the biz they're in

look closely at costs, you see there's a built-in contingency

called a Class D estimate

as a project generally proceeds there cd be cost increases, particularly with the particular environment

BC: Mr Jenkins said no one knows about tunnels or constructing them

means get someone from another country

how will that help our economy even more, getting ppl/companies from other countries?

MMgr: the three companies that bid are all multinationals with different components

all three, including the one successful, have tunnelling expertise

certainly available and wd like use companies within BC

we have a lot of tunnels in BC, particularly for rail

so there are experts in Canada

we have been talking to some of them to see if can be built at more reasonable cost than est by Ministry

Guillaume Curaudeau: included maintenance costs?

Engg: those costs wd hv bn factored into that arrangement

understanding about half a million dollars a year

MM: for clarification, how much is the tunnel going to cost and the estimate for overland route?

MMgr if based on four-lane tunnel to two-lane tunnel, better comparison, $50 to $70m

look at over life span over 50 to 100 years, provides context whether good investment

SR: when they suggested the four-lane hwy, what were positives, better than tunnel?

what was intriguing, that looked so much better

Engg staff: at beginning Ministry was comparing four-lane overland route to the two-way, two-lane tunnel with no median barrier, so hwy safety; whereas tunnel didn't in order to limit costs

more capacity with four lanes than with two-lane

as we continued discussion and better idea of costs for upgrading from two- to four-lane apparent was doable and wd negate arguments Min had in terms of capacity b/c now four-lane vs four-lane and both with median barrier

so argument boiled down now to costs

Pedram Moussavi: since the Min states that one of their sole and chief reasons hwy over tunnel, less expensive

wdn't a tunnel be more favourable b/c one kilometer less?

Engg: estimates presume those differences in lengths of alignment

diff in tunnelling costs, $130m vs $170m

one km more road wd be $10m of that

SR: what's time difference between tunnel and hwy

Engg: v good question; from our perspective

answer as to how are you going to proceed with construction

tunnel is slower building but if coring machine, construct from either end cd speed it up to speed of overland route

for either, probably looking at three years, a matter of how many resources cd speed it up

MMgr: the entire improvements from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler, wd take between 17 and 20 min off  the current travelling time so in terms of WV wd be about two or three minutes, if that

GC: wch wd impede on traffic

Engg: tunnel route wd be preferable in terms of less impact on Hwy 1

several reasons: overland deviates at Horseshoe Bay, Eagleridge, where a lot of traffic, queueing back up -- ferry; imagine managing ferry traffic and new interchange

whereas the proposed tunnel route is a km back and work can be done beneath Nelson Creek bridge

only when into existing hwy do they conflict

MM: so your opinion that tunnel wd not disrupt traffic as much as hwy during construction

Engg: correct

BC: govt website, hwy capacity to 2020, when do you think for tunnel?

Engg: the capacity is dictated by the number of lanes

both four lanes so same

BC: so 2020 wd have to renovate again

wd be easier to expand, renovate, easier hwy than tunnel

MMgr: think you're referring to capacity estimates two-lane tunnel vs four-lane hwy

Ministry suggests two-lane tunnel wd reach capacity by 2025 whereas hwy four lanes to 2050

[however] both four lanes, both to 2050

SR: looking at map here, the tunnel actually does go through one of the sensitive areas

if going through still destroying, what's the advantage?

Jenkins: part of the District's contention

proposed tunnel one km in length, infringes northern boundary of wetland area

to avoid, we'ver preferred a 400m extension to that

look at blue and orange, it avoids that area entirely

SR: assuming after Olympics Vancouver becomes a large metro area and Whistler a hot tourist area

maybe hwy wd benefit us most if popn increases?

MMgr: expectation for a fair amount of devt along corridor: plans for Britannia, Porteau Cove, Sq booming

so expectations we'll see more traffic so important to do this

really the question is not whether to do the upgrade but the form it takes

PM: after M presentation to Ministry, why do they still prefer the hwy when tunnel wd have same capacity?

MMgr: a good question; again it's come down to cost, our understanding

MM: what wd happen to the existing hwy route after Olympics?

Engg: Min wd convert old 99 to a local arterial route

if tunnel were to go ahead, tunnel wd be exempt from transporting dangerous goods

lower route for dangerous goods as well

most importantly, old hwy provides redundancy; vv; cd divert traffic

KC: have tolls been looked into to cover the cost of the tunnel so might balance to hwy?

MMgr: KPMG did a study and concluded the diff in construction costs cd not be paid back in tolls

no biz case for it

Kevin Pike, Dir/Parks: maybe bounce back to environment

Mr Jenkins re types of species and already been a a road, and wd another one matter

Steve Jenkins: part of the District's position when we went to court is that this is not a widening of an existing road, this is a new, and even the judge said, a swathe through basically an undisturbed area; established itself over last 80 years

a couple of unique areas

look at bottom, Eagleridge Bluffs area, contains 13 unique species of vegetation of 22 found in just this one area

relationship of arbutus trees and [something] manzanita that are red-listed, means [fewer] than 20 occurrences throughout prov

road pretty final; once paved over tend not to grow back

up into wetland area, also a bluelisted plant cmnty meaning [fewer] than 50 in prov

highly sensitive area

prov's own consultants, potential of breeding failure of northwest salamanders; rather permanent

we look for opps to avoid impacts as first option

can't avoid, then we look to mitigate; shifting road side to side

re road going through there, the existing hwy is a fair distance away

all of the area, take it out of being productive, will fragment it, no opp for crossing

now there'll only be one crossing in 2.5 km, if above ground, only one crossing; bears etc

this is in the backyard of the Lower Mainland

enjoy Baden Powell Trail, 100K users annually

re costs: trying to quantify the loss of habitat to future generations

nobody's dared put on paper yet, once gone, gone forever

GC: if road goes through able to recreate?

Jenkins: good question

prov's own consultants say due to uniqueness can't; prov has looked for like habitat, try to buy same

haven't been able to locate that so nothing you can do there

BC: on govt website, says British Pacific Properties will develop that site for housing

is that true, and if so, won't that destroy the ecosystem?

SJN, Dir/Planning: true BPP owns land in that area, so does M

expected devt can be done respecting environments, avoid more sensitive areas

road in sensitive area whether Eagle Hbr, Clovelly, Caulfeild, wind through

great deal of respect for those areas

in OCP prior to deciding what happens, a thorough assessment is done before putting pen to paper

wd anticipate in this area, when reviewing, up around Brit Props and across, this is one of most sensitive looking at

[planning] you shd actually be building and roads on minimal part of that area

there wd be cmnties, if existing such as Eagle Hbr, Lower Caulfeild, Dundarave, do you want the Upper Levels hwy going through it?

wd it have an impact on that area

you can imagine the difference in scales

that's what we'd be looking at

hwy and tunnel two different kinds of projects

PM: in slide show, env'tal impact, says hydrology impact not examined; acceptable?

Jenkins: during env'tal review, looking at entire hwy' question has been raised for this stretch

at this point they only do a very highlevel cursory review, feel they can mitigate through some strategies they have

however looking at it in a more holistic way, we argued in court blowdown of trees in wetlands, cumulative effect, more blow down won't be as much rain/water interception therefore more hydrology impact than they've looked at

they don't

SR: not all but most of the problems that have come up wrt the overland hwy, with any hwy these issues wd come up: noise, going through cmnty, safety, landslides,

going to be these issues and you're not going to build a tunnel in ev case

ev hwy has these faults and since it costs less, why not go with hwy

MMgr: simply, we recognize the hwy has to be upgraded

even the tunnel option has some overland components

questions is if we're going to build a hwy, how build with least amount of impact on environment and cmnty, that's the reason for the tunnel

in many other hwy options, somewhere else, you don't have the sensitive env'tal components you have in this area so little bit of a difference in this area perhaps somewhere else where recommending new hwys

Mayor Nanji: is there a recommendation?

PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

[Applause]

8:23

SSch (MClk) announced that the next item was the Awards

so this item was skipped for some reason

Youth cclrs murmured about reports from councillors......

MClk announced Awards next even though agenda had:

celebration to recognize you as a valuable resource in our cmnty

recognize and honour, those who make exceptional contributions

Mayor Wood: these are examples

encourage ppl standing outside to come in

The Mayor and the Youth Mayor then read out the winners and made the presentations:

=  Cinderella project, Sentinel students raised funds to allow disadvantaged students to attend graduation (clothes and shoes), outfitted over 160 needy students: Anna Millar, Astha Dalkhoti, Midori Kaga, Stephanie Louie, Brandy Mars, Chista Kavoosi, Kate Mason,Sara Fan

=  Stephanie Langlois, not here tonight, dedicated volunteer, contributions to Food Bank, etc, Harmony Arts Festival, 30-hour famine, Rockridge Interact.....

=  Meghan Robinson of Mulgrave raised funds for Breast Cancer and reduced age for participation from 16 to 11; charity drive; raised funds for tsunami relief;.... youngest recipient of an award this evening -- 12!

=  Six female students from Rockridge, organized event, "Love the Skin You're In" -- for those with eating disorders, v successful, positive impact, raised over $500: Kasley Killam, Holly Goldsmith-Jones, Kirsten Southcott, Shaun Langlois, Chloe Freeman, Brooke Duholke, Sarah Irving

=  Pedram Moussavi, Sentinel, nominated by more than one person; participation in many orgs, editor of newspaper, volunteer at Library, multi-generational event, etc

=  Byron Chard from Rockridge, many activities including last year's Youth Mayor; active in and this year chair of YAC, active voice in Civic Youth Strategy, ... rep on Police Youth Adv Cmte, Christmas break at Youth Parliament

=  two brothers: Sean and Ryan Vaisler made DVD result of March of the Living, about Holocaust, travelled through Poland speaking to survivors; still photos, video, and music; now showing it to classes

=  Daniel Kim and Tory Scholtz of Collingwood; positive changes; projects to help reduce global poverty; raised $10k to reduce hunger; Daniel spent Christmas in Thailand to help build a pipeline; both helped organize a benefit concert at AYC

[Mayor asks in midpresentation: is that the one they went through the floor? must have been quite a dance]

helped rebuild orphanage in Mazatlan

= Joanne Jin, active in YAC since Grade 8; key organizer for Passion for Fashion event that launched Youth Week, Srs' Pancake Breakfast; chosen Rockridge rep for project on developing youth opps

= Mbrs (21) of Amnesty Int'l Club actively making a difference for social justice; wrote letters of conscience, etc; class presentations; keep in contact with Foster Child; recent forum Together Against Violence Against Women...; created Project Share a year ago providing meals for 350 people living on the street in the Downtown Eastside, every second week, every second Friday make soups and sandwiches at AYC, etc and AYC van delivers them next day -- to total of 20,000 meals; their understanding has touched thousands of lives; commend commitment to social responsibility

Meryl Stewart here to help present: Sean Edmond, Dan Edmond, Jeff Jardine, Lindsey Lenters, Kelsey Lenters, Rosemary Chu, Bjorn Bean, Marian Foucault, Bryan Thomlinson, Hanna Perry, Robyn Hooper, Meghan Cavanaugh, Po Liu, Won Sug Lee, Rebecca Ronsley, Gemma Taylor, Claire Jacobsen, Tiffany Elsner, Rose Lee, Katherine Ovenall-Carter, Mimi Wilcox

Meryl tells me they're studying, final exams start tomorrow!

=  Mbrs of Rotoract of Rockridge: created Teens helping Teens; raised over 1000 for Youth Safe House and Christmas bureaus; tool drive for trade school in Honduras; Caribbean hurricane and Asian tsunami; worked at Capilano Care Home joined Rotary to serve annual Srs' Christmas breakfast: Alison Beaty, Dawn Stephens, Thomas McLaughlin, Alison Schatz, Lisa Milne, Lena Karaush, Christopher Nixon-Giles, Jae Choi, Alyson Kerr, Jordan Trimble, David Meszaros, Daniel Fiss

=  YAC mbrs: YAC important example of the often unheralded input; officially recognized as a standing cmte of Mayor and Ccl for over 15 years -- leadership, liaising with Police, Library, etc.; creating a vision, strong voice for Youth

YAC exemplifies a partnership between civic govt and youth; essential and valuable component of municipal/local govt; rep from each [secondary] school: Kelsey Beninger, Simona Spassova, Ashley Thomas, Morgan McLean, Guillaume Curadeau [on list given to me, but Curaudeau on sign in Ccl Chamber], Dina Shin, Sadaf Rostamabadi, Michael Calb, Collette Brown, Jakob Roberts, Kristine Chalk

= Aqeela Nanji, Youth Mayor, regular volunteer Sentinel library; reaching out club sponsoring pennies for poverty; Downtown Eastside Youth Alliance; founder and main leader of Sentinel School's Environmental Protection Network; committed to environment; organized events Hay Park, WWF, recycling program, speaker on toxic waste, energy conservation, etc

8:52

Mayor expressed thanks........

invitation--

concludes presentations this evening

oh, not quite--

and then

MClerk went back to item 4, Reports:

sorry, before break, each cclr has a report to make on Youth Events

BC: Apr 30, annual Beat the Heat basketball, five on five; overall, firefighters beat out the lifeguards to win tournament

MM: Saturday morning, Mar 31st, with Lighthouse Park Preservation Society, bimonthly ivy pull

AN:  Env'tal Network of WVSS at Hay Park

KC: Fashion of Passion, success last Saturday -- over 100 youth participated

SR: Youth Entertainment Extravanganza, all welcome to Cmnty Open House May 4th at the Ambleside Youth Centre; fingerfood, coffee, and refreshments, 5 to 9pm

GC: Friday May 6 Battle of the Bands, competition 8 to midnight at Ice Arena

PM: Sat May 7th, Srs' Pancake Brkfast 10am to noon; annually since 2000

BC: Fear Factor at Aquatic Ctr -- three tests, 7 - 10, great prize for winner; only $2 to enter; watch contestants eat disgusting items

no walk in the park.

MClk: if that concludes reports then adjournment

8:56

 At the April 18, 2005 meeting, Council received the report dated April 12, 2005 from the Assistant Planner, a copy of which is attached for reference [Correspondence Received]

RECOMMENDED:  THAT

RECOMMENDED: ... introduced and read a first, second, and third time.

RECOMMENDED:  THAT "Water Shortage Response Plan Bylaw No. 4418, 2005" be introduced and read a first, second and third time.