Gibsons council saw delegations for the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s agricultural plan, the Gibsons Chamber of Commerce fourth quarter report and a recap of the past year from the Visitors Information Centre at its Tuesday, Jan. 20 meeting.
Steve Olmstead, general manager of planning and development for the SCRD, presented the agricultural area plan, which is aimed at enhancing the local food industry.
“The plan focuses on self-sufficiency and food security, conserving land and water resources, and having a sustainable approach to agriculture,” Olmstead said, “looking at prosperity for farmers, protecting farmland and looking at ways to encourage diversity in farming activities.”
The extensive plan includes six goals, such as protecting local farms and developing sustainable water supplies during summer drought months.
Zoning in B.C. regarding the ownership of livestock can be problematic for small farms striving for self-sufficiency.
“This is something that will likely need to be addressed if the Ag Plan is to be successful in its goal of increasing local food consumption,” Olmstead said.
“Agriculture presently accounts for less than three per cent of our local food consumption,” said Olmstead. “Our regional sustainability plan talks about, as an aspirational goal, achieving 20 per cent local food production by the year 2020.”
Mobile business licensing
Gibsons Chamber of Commerce executive director Donna McMahon and Visitors Information Centre (VIC) manager Victoria Chapman presented the Gibsons and District Chamber of Commerce fourth quarter report.
McMahon brought forward an inquiry about mobile business licences recently made by a member of the Chamber.
She said the Chamber member wanted to buy a single business licence for the Coast, rather than have to purchase a separate licence from each municipality.
“It allows businesses who operate in multiple jurisdictions such as plumbers, carpet cleaner services and contractors to do a one stop shop for their licensing needs,” explained McMahon. “Here on the Coast, the number of businesses affected would be fairly small, but on the other hand it would be a business-friendly gesture if local governments are able to set it up.”
Mobile business licences are now available for a number of regions in B.C., including the North Shore, Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Greater Victoria, Central Vancouver Island and Cowichan Lake.
VIC report
Beginning in the first quarter, the VIC began updating its maps of Upper and Lower Gibsons. The project is still underway.
In the second quarter a canopy tent was purchased for use as a mobile visitors centre at festivals, events and trade shows.
In an effort to attract bicyclists, a bike repair kit has been purchased for their Gibsons Landing location. A pump and some tools are available to the public, as well as a new map of bike trails in the area.
In the third quarter Gibsons reported almost 11,000 visitors in 2014, mostly during the summer months. The visitors centre operated seven days a week, staying open late on Fridays to accommodate tourists.
In the fourth quarter it was brought to the VIC’s attention that there were more than one billion international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2013, registering a growth of five per cent over the previous year.
“Destination BC along with other provincial and federal tourism organizations have a mandate to go after that business,” Chapman said.
Since their move to a new office in Sunnycrest Mall, professional development workshops can now hold up to 20 participants. The upcoming workshop, YouTube for Small Business, presented by Vancouver Islander Garland Coulson, is on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.
Procedural bylaws
In the absence of councillors Silas White and Stafford Lumley, Mayor Wayne Rowe put forward a motion to move the procedural bylaws recommendation forward to next month.
“We will have the further report on procedure bylaw, probably coming up in February, I suspect,” Rowe said.
Two of the more significant changes include limitations to the length of inquiries at meetings and the way delegations are structured.
