The Town of Gibsons will go ahead with its usual permissive tax exemptions this year; however, two groups have not received the tax relief they asked for.
Good Samaritan Cana-da, which operates Christ-enson Village on Shaw Road, has seen its annual tax exemption reduced from 100 per cent down to 50 per cent. The Sunshine Coast Community Services Society (SCCSS) has been denied a tax exemption for its thrift store on North Road, on the grounds that it is a revenue-generating business.
Coun. Bob Curry voted against the motion at the corporate services committee level on the grounds that neither group was given a chance to argue their case before the committee and that, in the case of SCCSS, the money is used to generate funds to support its other charitable works.
Coun. LeeAnn Johnson said the tax exemptions put the Town in a difficult situation whereby every tax dollar exempted for one organization must be passed on to the rest of the taxpayers' bills.
Director of Finance Ian Poole said representatives from Good Sam and SCCSS have both asked to appeal the decision at the Sept. 21 corporate services meeting and that the committee and council may choose to reverse their decisions at that time.
Gospel Rock
To fill the gap left in the Gospel Rock refinement working committee left open when the Town's former director of planning, Chris Marshall, left last month, council has appointed Jeff Paleczny, the Town's planning assistant, to the vacant seat.
Mayor Barry Janyk noted at Tuesday's council meeting that, while never a sitting member of the committee, Paleczny has been present at every meeting since the committee's inception last year and knows the issues and process extremely well.
Janyk said he hoped the committee's work would be complete soon, and he anticipated only another two meetings before the draft neighbourhood plan is complete.
Aquifer mapping
The Town is set to go ahead with phase two of its aquifer mapping project.
The Town was able to secure $400,000 in grant funding to run the aquifer mapping project, while paying an additional $100,000 from the Town's budget. The second phase is expected to expand on the data gathered in phase one, which served to identify the boundaries of the underground aquifers that the Town relies on for drinking water as well as what factors affect its accessibility and quality.
Sea Cav
Council has resolved to ask the Sea Cavalcade committee to consider re-locating its annual street dance after this year's dance caused a number of complaints related to public drunkenness, violence and mischief. One location proposed by the Town is the Gibsons and Area Community Centre. The Town is encouraging the Sea Cav committee to work with Sunshine Coast RCMP on the matter.
