GDVFD truck
The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board has approved the purchase of a new ladder truck for the Gibsons and District Volunteer Fire Department.
The SCRD, which administers the fire department’s budget, awarded the contract to supply the new ladder truck to Associated Fire Safety after a competitive bidding process.
The bid came in at $829,605. The next step is for the SCRD to amend its budget to $840,000 with $500,000 coming from reserves and up to $340,000 from a short-term loan. The original budget was $800,000.
The tender documents called for a delivery date of August 2017.
Housing
Gibsons council has reversed a committee decision to ask Calvary Baptist Church to come back to the Town with a site plan for a 55-plus affordable housing project on Venture Way that would allow the property to be partially rezoned for housing, while keeping the frontage industrial/commercial.
At the Feb. 7 committee of the whole, councillors heard the land was available and the church wanted to get a sense of whether a rezoning would have support before filing a formal application.
Coun. Silas White, who voted against the motion at the committee, said at the Feb. 21 council meeting that conversations he’s had with people since have strengthened his opinion that the original staff recommendation to preserve the land as industrial/commercial was the right one. He added that he would welcome the chance to talk with church officials about a project on its Park Road lot, which is already in a residential zone.
Coun. Stafford Lumley, who was acting mayor in the absence of Wayne Rowe, said he had also rethought his position since the idea was before committee.
“Vancouver will be out of industrial land within the next 10 years, and there’s some pretty bleak outlooks for outlying communities [in Metro Vancouver] as well,” he said. “Quite possibly this could be an opportunity for someone to look at Gibsons. I’m not sure this [housing] would be the best use of our industrial land.”
Strom Road
Council has approved the naming of a road in the Parkland neighbourhood after former mayor Diane Strom (1986 to 1990).
“She was instrumental in making Gibsons Library a regional library … which really saved the library,” said Coun. Silas White, who put forward Strom Road as the name at a committee meeting in January.
“She was involved in purchasing the land for Winegarden Park, which really required a lot of leadership. … That was a really controversial issue in those days and it required a lot of vision. I think she was a really important leader for our town and a role model for young women as well, being our second female mayor … It’s time that her leadership was recognized.”
