Concerns about the expansion of gravel mining operations on the lower slope of Mount Elphinstone has prompted Gibsons council to draft a resolution for the upcoming Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) convention and Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) calling for the province to refer applications for mining or forestry activity on Crown land in watersheds to potential impacted local governments.
The Town’s aquifer mapping study identifies the eastern slopes of the mountain as a key part of the “recharge area,” feeding water into the ground. It’s also rich in the sort of glacial deposits that make a good source of aggregate
The resolution, approved by council Feb. 4, said mining and forestry in watersheds could be “potential threats to the natural assets that communities rely on to provide essential services.”
It asks that the province, “in their consideration of these projects, include a referral to affected local governments and undertake risk assessments to identify and assess any potential threats to the natural assets that communities rely on to provide essential services such as drinking water and flood mitigation.”
The AVICC convention starts April 17 in Nanaimo. UBCM meets in late September.
Affordable housing
Gibson council has confirmed that $50,000 in funding committed to the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society can all be used for capital costs for its project on Franklin Road.
The society is leasing the land from the Town to build a single-family home with a secondary suite and a garden suite on the property, which are to be rented out at approximately 25 per cent below market value.
In a motion passed late last year, council approved a total of $50,000 for the society, broken up into $20,000 for expenses like lot servicing and construction for the Franklin Road project and $30,000 to help the society’s “operational requirements” related to projects in Gibsons.
Council voted to repeal that motion and free up the whole $50,000 for capital costs if needed in response to a request from the society after its board decided on Jan. 30 to direct the $30,000 instead “100 per cent to the Franklin Road Project construction costs.”
