Elected officials and staff from the Powell River and Sunshine Coast regional districts exchanged a vast amount of information at a joint meeting held at Cranberry Seniors' Centre in Powell River on Wednesday, June 27.
Of particular interest to Powell River directors was how their counterparts on the Sunshine Coast use gas tax funding to build pedestrian and bike trails.
Both Texada Island director Dave Murphy and Electoral Area B director Stan Gisborne said they were glad to hear gas tax money can be used for building trails or widening roads.
Murphy has been working for a number of years to get co-operation from the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (MOT) for a pedestrian right of way along the road from Gillies Bay to Shelter Point Park, which is well used, but narrow. "Every time you go down that road, you have to pull into the other lane to avoid those activities," he said. "There are dips and hollows on it and there have been a lot of very close calls."
Gas tax funding is applicable wherever there is an alternate transportation route provided, a footpath or bike path, other than driving.
Donna Shugar, director for Roberts Creek, said recreational trails do not qualify. "They have to be for offsetting automobile transportation," she said.
A pedestrian path in her area was able to use the funds because it was part of a transportation corridor.
When the regional district builds a bike lane that is basically a wide shoulder, Shugar added, MOT will sweep it and clear the snow from it.
"If a piece of it falls apart, it's our job to repair it," she said. "But where we have separated bike paths that are not a wide shoulder, that are actually off the road, the maintenance falls to us 100 per cent."
Another difference in the regional districts is that on the Sunshine Coast, gas tax money is divided up for each electoral area on a per capita basis. The board has to approve any project that uses the money, but directors are able to develop projects using the funds allocated to their area. In Powell River, the funds are not divided by electoral area.
Another topic that animated the group was the upcoming public consultation about B.C. Ferries' service levels in coastal communities. The provincial government has issued a request for proposals for a consultant to conduct the process.
Colin Palmer, Powell River regional board chair and Electoral Area C director, chairs a group of 13 regional districts that meet and lobby the provincial government about coastal ferries. He said the group wants to ensure the consultation process doesn't go off the rails.
"If those consultants turn up with B.C. Ferries in your community and say, 'By the way, you're below 30 per cent, so we're going to cut your services, for that very reason,' there's going to be all hell let loose," he said. "This whole capacity thing is a bit of a bogus issue. Did we decide on the size of the ferries that turned up? It was never our decision, so why are they building ferries too big?"
Whatever the minister decides, Palmer added, there has to be a promise to communities that fares are going to come down.
"If they come in and say, 'we're going to cut your sailings and this is all to everybody's benefit, but the ferry fares stay on,' what was that all about?" he said. "Are we trying to preserve the boats and the employees of the BC Ferries system or are we trying to look after the communities? If that's not the case with this consultation, it's not going to be very good."
Coun. Lee Ann Johnson, the alternate director for the Town of Gibsons, said the impact of ferry fare increases is disproportionate to everything else going on.
"It's having a significant impact on every aspect of our community," she said. "The basis of our economy, and the reliance of all economies, on transportation is fundamental."
Palmer agreed and said his group is arranging a meeting with the marine branch of MOT and the B.C. Ferries commissioner to discuss the public consultation process before it starts.
Directors discussed a wide range of other issues including capital funding of the new complex care facility in Powell River to replace Olive Devaud Residence, waste management, budget processes and watershed management.
