Briefs from the Dec. 1 District of Sechelt council meeting:
“As of this stage, we are on budget and on time,” operations centre project manager Jensen Metchie summarized at the Dec. 1 council meeting. On behalf of Colliers Project Leaders, the firm managing the $3 million project for Sechelt, Metchie said that the building permit for the new structure will be applied for this month. Plans are to begin construction in April and to have staff working out of the new facility by December 2022.
“Our public works and parks staff are watching this with a lot of anticipation. It has been a long time that they have been working in temporary facilities,” Mayor Darnelda Siegers stated as she thanked Metchie for his presentation.
The new home base for Sechelt’s parks and public works staff will be on the vacant portion of the existing public works yard, between Dusty and Allen Roads. In addition to the centre, a sani-dump station for recreational vehicles is being added to the site, with a separate budget of $127,000.
Meeting room upgrades approved
Sechelt will spend $55,000 of the COVID-19 restart money received from the province on upgrades to audio and visual equipment in its community meeting room. At the meeting, council approved spending the funds for new cameras, monitors and encoding equipment. Those purchases will upgrade the quality of the sound and video transmitted during live streaming of council and committee meetings, which Sechelt has been doing since 2014. They will also improve on how remote participation can be included in events being hosted from the room.
“Upcycle” theme proposed for 2022 arts festival
In her final report to council on the 2021 Sechelt Art Festival, event co-producer Diana Robertson said that plans are to have next year’s event focus on how the arts can help address climate change. The proposed theme for the 2022 festival is “Upcycle.” While details are to be discussed with the festival committee later this month, she described the potential for components like repair café workshops, a fashion show featuring upcycled apparel, displays of artwork created from recovered materials and concerts performed with musical instruments made from repurposed items to be featured in next year’s festival.
Robertson reported that although challenged by the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and stormy weather over its mid-November closing weekend, the 2021 festival came in on budget and engaged an estimated 4,000 viewers and participants. More than 100 artists and technicians were involved in the event.
Sustainability plan action reporting
Council asked that progress updates on Sechelt’s Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) be added to planning division quarterly reports. It also asked that ICSP goals and actions be considered as part of budget, capital and staff work plans.
That direction followed receipt of the plan’s first progress report at the meeting. Council adopted the plan in January 2019. It establishes a sustainability vision and a framework for integration of fiscal, economic, cultural, environmental and social sustainability into municipal decision-making.
Staff identified that progress is being made toward 32 of the plan’s goals and action items. They also identified that work has yet to start on addressing 12 other items. In the report, community planner Marina Stjepovic wrote, “Sechelt has achieved considerable progress on sustainability actions. But there are large gaps. Given the global climate emergency, governments around the world are being called upon to do more, faster.”
