Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) staff and B.C. Ferries may have found a compromise on the location of a new float, and staff have begun researching how the float can be built and paid for.
The new float, proposed by B.C. Ferries, is tentatively planned to be about 12 metres closer to the shore compared with the current one, giving travellers access to the parking lot.
"The direction is good. I think there has been substantial progress on the whole issue since the initial decision by B.C. Ferries," said Joe Wright, chair of the Langdale Access Working Group.
But there is an involved and lengthy process for the SCRD to go through before Keats and Gambier island residents can breathe easy. Wright said he is still very concerned that the process will not satisfy B.C. Ferries to extend their Oct. 15 deadline to close access to the dock.
SCRD staff must develop cost estimates for the dock, secure funding, complete environmental permitting and consultation with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Squamish First Nation as well as gain voter approval through a referendum or alternate approval process (AAP) to spend the money and conduct a feasibility study.
SCRD manager of transportation and facilities Brian Sagman's report projects the public process will not be completed until the spring of 2010. If all goes smoothly, the projected completion date would be July 16, 2010.
Meanwhile, the SCRD has already applied for grant funding from several federal and provincial funds including the Community Adjustment Fund, Island Coastal Economic Trust, Building Canada Fund and the Infrastructure Services Fund.
Previously, B.C. Ferries said it would help fund a replacement dock by contributing up to $25,000.
Wright said he was optimistic that West Howe Sound residents would support paying for the necessary engineering and feasibility study through a referendum or AAP, but he would like to see the $25,000 from B.C. Ferries be put towards the consultation and feasibility study costs to get the project moving faster.
Staff are expected to return with their report on projected costs of the new float at the Oct. 8 infrastructure services committee meeting, one week before B.C. Ferries' imposed Oct. 15 cut-off date.
"We've made good progress and I and my colleagues are pleased with that, but there's an ongoing concern that the progress is slower than what we've been asked to produce by B.C. Ferries. As a result, there's considerable uncertainty as to what the outcome will be on Oct. 15," Wright said. "There would certainly be a lot of people unhappy if access to the float was closed because we use it very, very much."
