A reorganization of Sechelt council’s advisory and select committees has meant the end of the accessibility advisory committee and the creation of new committees looking at housing, economic development and other key priorities for the new council.
Mayor Darnelda Siegers presented members of the accessibility advisory committee, which had been meeting since 2007, with certificates of recognition at the Dec. 5 council meeting.
“Your efforts have raised the profile of accessibility issues in the minds of developers, our staff and council,” Siegers said. “Going forward, as positions on the advisory planning commission (APC) open up, we hope that we can add your expertise to that board.”
Before the meeting, committee chair Bill Conway sent a letter to Siegers saying he was disappointed with the dissolution of the committee and the way it seemed to come out of the blue.
Speaking later with Coast Reporter, Siegers said she’s since met with Conway to explain the reasoning, and how she sees the APC absorbing the accessibility committee’s advisory role.
Siegers’ appointments to the new committees were announced in a brief report at the same meeting.
Siegers said the four new and reconstituted select committees – focusing on airport development, harbour expansion and development, downtown revitalization and water resources – will work under the umbrella of an economic development advisory committee.
Siegers and Coun. Janice Kuester will represent council on the economic development advisory committee.
There have been committees focused on airport development and downtown revitalization in the past. The downtown revitalization committee was listed as “dormant” in Sechelt’s 2017 annual report, and Siegers said the airport development committee, though it existed on paper, was not functioning.
Siegers told Coast Reporter this week that the airport development committee will focus on the work that needs to be done on the district-owned industrial lots, as well as the improvements needed at the airport itself.
The downtown revitalization committee, she said, will have a different focus than its previous incarnation. “This [committee] is going to look more at creating a framework. People say they want density downtown – what does that look like? So when developers come in, for example, they know this is what density downtown looks like.”
The harbour expansion and development committee will look at opportunities on both sides of the isthmus, and the idea of a formal harbour authority. Siegers said both could involve cooperation with the shíshálh Nation. She also said the committee will look into the ongoing effort to deal with abandoned and derelict vessels.
Siegers said the water resources committee will work toward strategies for re-use of treated water and water supply for the district.
“Water for Sechelt, inside of looking at what’s happening at the regional district,” she explained. “Is there something else that we need to do here?”
The terms of reference for the committees have yet to be drafted, and Siegers said the community representatives would be recruited and appointed once terms of reference are finalized.
