Gibsons Town council received a report from chief corporate officer Selena Williams on Dec. 15 regarding the escalation in Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted to the Town.
Town staff received seven FOI requests in 2013, 15 in 2014 and eight last year.
“[FOI]s are time consuming for staff and costly for the taxpayer,” Williams wrote in her report. “Typically, the cost of producing records in response to an FOI request are three or four times more than the amount recovered from the applicant.”
In some cases fees are collected from the FOI applicant, but not always. In June 2013, the Town had to pay $370 for an FOI regarding the George Hotel and recovered nothing.
In 2014 they paid $2,760 for an FOI requesting all written exchanges between director of planning André Boel and George proponent Art Philips. They recovered a little over $716.
Winegarden Park
Council voted to establish an advisory committee to ensure that Winegarden Park be restored to its pre-construction condition once construction of the George residences building is complete.
The advisory committee will consist of four members of the advisory planning committee, one representative for the George developer and four members of the public to be solicited through a call for expressions of interests.
Arts Building
Council voted to support the Arts Building Society’s (ABS) request for rent relief over a six-month period.
In exchange, ABS will foot the bill for renovations and upgrades to the building they lease from the Town at 464 South Fletcher Rd. ABS’s primary goal is to upgrade the kitchen.
The current rental rate is $250 per month plus utilities. The renovation estimates total $5,420.
Public Market
Council voted in favour of a development variance permit for the Gibsons Public Market requested by the Gibsons Community Building Society for upgrades to the market building.
The variances include a reduction in rear setback, increased lot coverage, permission for a roof sign, reduced on-site parking and waiving of frontage improvement requirements.
These variances were approved by council on Dec. 1. Notifications of the variances were sent out to residents neighbouring the public market.
Since then Town staff have received three letters in support of the upgrades from neighbouring residents.
Bike skills park
Coun. Silas White made a motion for staff to report back to council by Jan. 31 on the potential and viability of a bike skills park in the Town of Gibsons.
The idea for the bike skills park was initially introduced at the Dec. 1 council meeting through delegation by Alun Wooliams.
Council voted in favour of White’s motion.
Intercommunity business bylaw
The intercommunity business bylaw to establish licensing between the District of Sechelt, the Town of Gibsons and the Sechelt Indian Government District was approved by council on Dec. 15.
The new bylaw allows businesses to operate between communities on the Coast without requiring separate business licences for each area. This bylaw applies mainly to food trucks and services like plumbers or tow-truck operators who operate up and down the Coast.
