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Directors support whole-site liquor licences

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News and notes from the SCRD.

Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors gave their support last week to the Synchronicity Arts Festival’s request for a whole-site special occasion licence that would allow liquor to be served on the field at Shirley Macy Park from Aug. 22 to 24.

Under new Liquor Distribution Board (LDB) rules approved in April, whole sites for major events can be licensed instead of a separated beer garden, provided the area is secured with perimeter boundaries.

Festival organizers would set up a perimeter around half of the field at Shirley Macy for the three-day event, while the park amenities would remain accessible to the public, parks services manager Carolyn Mortensen told the community services committee on July 10.

The whole-site licence, which also requires LDB approval, allows persons under 19 to attend the event, but not to drink, serve liquor or sell drink tickets.

A wristband system will be set up and people purchasing tickets at “libation stations” will have to show valid ID, the committee heard.

The committee also passed a similar motion in support of Persephone Brewing obtaining a whole-site licence at Shirley Macy for the company’s Tough Kegger victory party Aug. 16.

Persephone general manager Dion Whyte said it was still not clear if the victory party would be held at the Persephone site or at Shirley Macy. The Tough Kegger is a seven-kilometre foot race on back-country trails in which teams of four carry a 20-litre kegs of beer.

Funds raised from the event will be donated to the Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living.

Bike path

The Ministry of Trans-portation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has issued permits to start construction on the long-awaited bike path on Marine Drive in West Howe Sound.

The work will include moving four hydro poles, and Mortensen said the SCRD will pay the cost-price, after MOTI arranged a price reduction with BC Hydro.

“We’re planning for construction in the fall, once the summer traffic has died down,” she said.

Metal rising at Sprockids

Directors asked for a staff report after hearing that metal and other debris from the decommissioned landfill at Sprockids Bike Park were rising to the surface.

“There’s nothing that’s a safety hazard at this point,” Mortensen said, “but it’s a concern that as erosion takes place it will be an issue in the future.”

Staff said one small trail is being closed due to the problem, but the landfill debris was generally not evident on the trail system or in the skills area.

The committee passed a motion by Gibsons alternate director Lee Ann Johnson to have staff come back with a plan for monitoring the site and dealing with potential hazards.

“Just to close a trail because garbage is coming up is, from my point of view, not acceptable,” West Howe Sound director Lee Turnbull said.