Sechelt council lobbied for social justice issues, pursued legislation to deal with derelict boats, voiced concern about escalating RCMP costs, explored funding for the airport expansion and asked the province for time to come to a solution on Davis Bay and Selma Park highway improvements -all at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention last week in Whistler.
Mayor Darren Inkster said the convention went well, pointing to four Sechelt resolutions which were endorsed: to increase support for youth outreach workers, community justice programs and people with mental illnesses, plus support an education program regarding full cut-off light fixtures to reduce light pollution. The convention also offered ministerial meetings and council's chance to mingle with other municipal politicians and draw on their experience and expertise.
Inkster chairs the derelict vessels sub-committee that hosted a clinic called Finding Solutions for Management of Derelict Vessels. The clinic looked at the idea of creating a fund out of boat licence fees that would cover the costs of municipalities removing and disposing of derelict boats.
Inkster said Minister of Forests and Range Pat Bell indicated that he was "very serious" about the issue and would shortly be drafting legislation to address it.
And Inkster said that legislation will be important to Sechelt.
"Because we're along the Coast and Sechelt has a very protected waterway behind us, we end up with derelict vessels in the Sechelt Inlet," he said. "It's an environmental concern, not only for the water, but also for people's eyes - they have to look at these derelict vessels."
Also at the convention, Inkster said Sechelt joined other municipalities in opposing escalating RCMP costs. Next moves for municipalities may include lobbying the federal government to pick up a larger percentage of the tab for policing costs - Sechelt currently pays 70 per cent - or asking that municipalities be protected from escalating costs.
Sechelt also had meetings with the Ministry of Community and Rural Development, where it clarified which funding programs would be most appropriate for Sechelt projects, and with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, where it inquired about airport expansion funding programs and discussed the Davis Bay and Selma Parks highway improvements issue.
"I went to the Ministry and said, if you could allow some time to work through this with our community, we're trying to work through it, trying to enhance it, and trying to do the improvements," Inkster said. "But I also told them that you need to know that we put an original set of priorities in front of you that were changed and the Ministry needs to know that has caused our council some stress, but that we want to work with them to get that work done."
