Shelter lease
BC housing’s application to lease district land for a homeless shelter is sitting with the development services department, according to a note in the Nov. 1 council meeting agenda.
The agenda included correspondence from BC Housing “formally requesting to lease a portion of the Waste Water Treatment site from the District of Sechelt to house a temporary modular shelter of approximately 40 beds.”
The letter also said BC Housing will apply for a temporary use permit and Official Community Plan amendment as required and that its plan for the site includes “fencing for the safety of residents and the protection of the remaining site, as well as landscaping for increased privacy.”
BC Housing and shelter operator RainCity reached an agreement with St. Hilda’s church in October to extend the shelter’s stay in the church annex until Dec. 1.
The agency also has an application going to the Advisory Planning Commission to amend the zoning at 5653 Wharf Ave. to allow for “temporary shelter space and related amenity space ... at the location of the current Upper Deck Hostel.”
If approved, that shelter space would also be operated by RainCity.
Budget
The District of Sechelt is making a couple of changes to the way it drafts the annual budget.
Director of financial services Doug Stewart told councillors at their Nov. 1 meeting that staff have been seeking input from community associations earlier in the process to try to get their priorities included in the financial plan’s base budget.
Stewart also said he plans to bring some capital projects forward for early approval in January. That change was welcomed by Coun. Doug Wright, who’s often raised the concern that too many projects face unnecessary delays.
“As you know, we’ve been going through a roofing and boiler replacement in September and October, and you better hope the weather is with us. Bringing those forward really does help and gives you a lot of lead time,” he said.
Cats
Sechelt’s bylaw department is working on a report about the potential for a cat bylaw.
In a joint letter, Nature Canada and the Stewardship Centre for BC urged council to consider a bylaw. “Being unsupervised outdoors is dangerous for cats. They are at risk of diseases, parasites, car accidents, getting lost, and fights with other cats, dogs and wildlife. It also impacts birds: Environment Canada estimates that cats, both pet and feral, kill between 100 and 350 million birds per year,” the letter says. “We strongly recommend that Sechelt adopt a no-free-roam bylaw for cats as both an animal welfare and environmental stewardship measure.”
There’s no word on when the report will come forward to council.
