Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Squamish artificial turf field one step closer

Construction timeline has soccer players using the field this fall
news_seatosky10

Squamish could have a new turf field by October after the District passed the ball for development to a pair of companies to get going on the project.

"Tonight, I bring good and happy news," project engineer Greig Garland told the members of council at a regular council meeting on Tuesday, June 19.

A company has been chosen to grade the area and install a drainage system while a second company will supply and install the synthetic turf.

"Staff remain optimistic that the field will be completed by late fall 2012," Garland wrote in his project summary.

Garland said a careful tender review process resulted in DOS staff choosing Coast Mountain Excavation (CME), a Whistler-based company, to do the initial preparation work and WorldWide Turf Inc. will take over from CME for the second half and install the turf at the Brennan Park field.

The project is estimated to cost $1.2 million and the project budget sits at $1.7 million with contributions from the Provincial Community Recreation Program, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games Sports Legacy Fund and the Squamish Soccer Association. The DOS 2012 capital budget amount hasn't been confirmed but if that contribution is approved the amount is slated for $683,185.

Garland said a few project extras still need to be worked out. He noted that parking issues need to be addressed and there's an ongoing discussion around whether the field needs to be fenced and how high the fence should be if once it is installed.

The council members had questions about the lighting.

Councillor Susan Chapelle said she wants the field to have competition-quality lighting so the field can be used as an economic generator. She encouraged Garland to install conduit so lighting on the existing gravel field can be upgraded in the future.

Garland said the $90,000 machine that is needed to maintain the field won't be purchased as part of the project. Instead he said Quest University is interested in sharing the cost of renting the machine from a company that has one when both parties need it.

Garland told Councillor Patricia Heintzman that while the field at Quest is different from the one the DOS is about to install the machine needed to do the maintenance will work on both fields.

mamquam Channel plan approved

A plot of land that has proven to be a challenge to deal with was on the agenda for Squamish council this week.

Council was asked by DOS staff to endorse the land use and policy statement regarding the Scott Crescent area at the top of the Mamquam Blind Channel. The land across Highway 99 from the former KFC and Taco Bell building has been the subject of a public consultation process dating back to the first quarter of this year.

A number of development proposals have been submitted to the DOS for the property at Highway 99 and Scott Crescent, but each idea has been rejected. Traffic concerns have been a primary concern.

Councillors Bryan Raiser and Patricia Heintzman voted against the policy statement regarding the land. The other council members approved the policy.

Councillor Doug Race said the policy only represents five per cent of work required to redevelop the area beside Highway 99.

"Most of the discussion is still going to come," said Race. "It is going to be dependent upon the type of project we actually see for development."

Councillor Heintzman said she felt like the cart was put before the horse with the consultation process used to get community feedback on a future policy for the area.

"There's a whole bunch of work that I think is rather thin in the study," said Heintzman. "I do think there's good stuff in the study but I do think we need to figure out the traffic issues before we actually create any sort of expectation of density on the southern part of the land."