Amid questions of service equity, the July 12 Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) community services committee instructed staff to explore the possibility of creating a bike lane and walking path function specific to Egmont and Pender Harbour.
When the 2012 SCRD budget was released, function 665 (bicycle and walking paths) included Halfmoon Bay, Roberts Creek, Elphinstone and West Howe Sound.
"I'm reasonably confident that a proposal for Area A to join the existing function would not pass AAP [alternative approval process] and it would be a waste of taxpayers' money," said Pender Harbour/Egmont director Frank Mauro in support of his motion.
In addition to noting a lack of support for function 665 in Area A, Mauro said that the unique challenges facing his region necessitated a different approach.
Those obstacles, he said, included the geographic separation from other areas, as well as the current condition of the roads.
"So for those reasons, I think it makes sense," Mauro said after introducing his motion. "Not to be separate and different, it's to do some catch up, get walkways and bikeways established."
While the committee expressed a cautious support for the concept, West Howe Sound director Lee Turnbull was the lone dissenter in a vote that followed.
She argued that the existing function was flawed in terms of the net benefit gained for Area F, relative to the tax dollars spent.
"I'm not sure why it seems like my projects fall off the table when Area A is allowed to be participating in a separate function," she said. "I'm looking for a better way to figure this out. My area as well as the needs of your area, director Mauro."
Directors Garry Nohr and Donna Shugar, of Halfmoon Bay and Roberts Creek, respectively, both lent their cautious support to the motion.
They worried it could set a precedent favouring regionally specific functions, rather than the cost-sharing and collaborative approach seen in functions like 665.
Shugar said the reason she was able to support the idea was because she didn't feel it would impact the existing, cross-regional program.
Nohr agreed.
"I would like to see it up there in that area because all the hotels, the resort areas are now giving out or renting out bikes, so it would be good for tourism," Nohr said.
He requested more details about the funding, specifically the part-time staff person that would likely be needed to co-ordinate a new function.
"I don't think that this is in any way trying to break away," concluded Mauro. "I think I gave the reasons and hopefully we can make this all work."
Nohr, Shugar and Elphinstone director Lorne Lewis requested more details related to staffing and equipment costs.
In response to Turnbull's opposition, Shugar requested a report on the allocation of staff time and resources, related to high cost collaborative functions, to be brought forward at the next community services committee meeting.
"That's part of the issue," she said. "We're really not seeing how staff time's tracked relative to these blended functions that are a bit confusing."
