Sechelt council gave three readings at its May 18 meeting to a bylaw that will allow zero emission vehicles on Sechelt's roadways.
The electric vehicles are slow moving and would only be allowed on roadways with 50 km an hour (or lower) speed limits if council adopts the necessary bylaw to permit them.
Councillors were happy to support the green driving alternative; however, it was noted that some consultation with the Sechelt Indian Band (SIB) should take place to ensure the vehicles would be legally able to access the hospital and Tsain Ko shopping mall, which sit on Sechelt Indian Band lands.
"I think its important for people in electric vehicles to be able to get to the hospital and I think this needs to be a co-operative piece with the Sechelt Indian Government District," said Coun. Fred Taylor.
Council agreed, and a motion was made to write to the SIB to make them aware of the bylaw and request that they look at adopting the same bylaw for use on SIB lands.
OCP
Taylor made a motion that the official community plan (OCP) be finalized by August if at all possible.
"I am very concerned if this OCP is not wrapped up by August because I think that it's a long, long delay that we've had," he said. "I don't want to get into pointing blame as to why, but I think that unless we wrap this up by August, it's just not going to get done, and that would be a serious problem for the municipality."
Mayor Darren Inkster noted the OCP is "connected to other issues," and said that the decisions being made by council around OCP concerns are leading them into a "difficult timeline."
Community planner Andre Boel, who was sitting in for director of planning Ray Parfitt, said making a decision on the Target Marine Hatcheries OCP amendment would get the ball rolling.
"That's basically the final step that would clear the way to deal with the OCP, so that's another route to get the process going," he said.
Community Forest
Council released an in-camera item showing they elected chief administrative officer Rob Bremner and Parfitt to replace former Sechelt Community Projects Inc. (SCPI) directors John Henderson and Len Pakulak. The SCPI group is responsible for overseeing the operations of the Sunshine Coast Community Forest.
Grant-in-aid
Council passed their grant-in-aid budget for 2011, granting $24,700 to local non-profit groups.
The largest grant of $10,000 was given to support the Gibsons Chamber of Commerce in their effort to set up a new tourist information site at the top of the bypass. However, the money will not be granted to the Chamber until all of the other governments pay their portion for the project, as was laid out in a motion made by council. It is hoped the effort will entice visitors to drive to Sechelt when they come off the ferry.
The two second biggest grants of $5,000 each went to the Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) to help pay for Christmas events and the night market in Sechelt.
BIA
In his report as liaison for the SDBA, Taylor said the SDBA is looking at changing the way the Business Improvement Area (BIA) fee is charged. The move comes after some business owners in the newly-expanded BIA cried foul and threatened to leave Sechelt over the $525 parcel tax being collected by the SDBA. Some business owners were concerned the tax was not equitable, saying small businesses are charged the same amount as the entire mall, but all merchants in the mall split the $525 tax.
Taylor said the SDBA is now exploring different ways to calculate the BIA tax, such as using the assessment rate instead of a flat parcel tax per property.
