Story:
A Sechelt council procedure bylaw that caused some concern in the community will be modified after council took those concerns into consideration at Wednesday's committee of the whole meeting.
Wording in the bylaw suggested placing agenda items on the District website would become optional and some worried a six-month time frame to keep recorded minutes was not long enough.
Concerns were emailed to council and discussed at the Nov. 28 meeting.
Assistant corporate officer Gerry van der Wolf said wording could be added to the bylaw to ensure items were posted to the website "barring any technical difficulty." He also said six months was a typical time frame to keep recorded meeting minutes in other municipalities.
Council asked that the wording change be made before the bylaw comes back for approval.
Ferries concerns
Coun. Mike Shanks, on behalf of Sechelt council, will make a presentation at the B.C. Ferries consultation meeting this Saturday, Dec. 1, urging the province to look at ferries as an extension of the highway system.
He brought forward the motion Wednesday after hearing local chambers of commerce would make a similar submission.
"I think the overriding issue seems to be one of indicating the capital expenditures of the ferry system should be borne by the province and that seems to be the message that a lot of organizations and individuals are trying to put forward to the province," Shanks said.
All council members agreed to have Shanks speak on their behalf.
Parking bylaw
Council tabled a new highway and parking bylaw until more information about the safe usage of Segways and other motorized devices on sidewalks can be investigated.
The bylaw, as it sits now, prohibits driving any vehicle other than a scooter on a sidewalk, curb or boulevard.
"To me the issue is not so much about whether it's motorized, it's whether it's safe on the sidewalks," said Mayor John Henderson. "So something like a four-wheeled scooter, we need to address the safety issues of that just as we should the Segway or anything else. My request is that staff consider whether we can add other things or indeed if we're addressing the safety issues of all of these on our sidewalks."
