Province believed committed to legacies package
Want to have your say on the Olympics?
Now is your chance. Council’s next meeting, Oct.21, starting at 6 p.m. at The Fairmont Chateau Whistler, will be all about the Olympic bid.
Spokespeople from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid will outline the process from beginning to end and will take questions and comments from the floor.
Council will also make a presentation. (For details go to www.whistler.ca).
At the end of the meeting, which promises to be lively, it is likely council will vote on whether or not they are going to endorse the bid.
Mayor Hugh O’Reilly is hopeful the outcome will be positive.
"We said, ‘If you can build it within this framework and deliver on these legacies that we would support it,’ and I believe they have," he said.
"So obviously I believe that council will support this bid."
He believes the bid and council have looked at every issue but if something comes up at the meeting it will be addressed.
"We have done a lot of work," said O’Reilly.
"We want to communicate that to the community. But we also want to assure people that if they have concerns and reservations there are still tools to deal with them."
The City of Vancouver, other municipalities, tourism organizations, various chambers of commerce, the provincial and federal governments all came out in support of Vancouver’s quest to host the Games months ago.
But Whistler has been ‘Mum’ on the issue.
Sam Corea spokesman for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation said the announcement of the meeting is welcome news.
"We will have to wait and see what their response is," he said.
"It is really up to Whistler now. The fact is that we have worked through a process, we followed it and Whistler followed it, and on Oct. 21 we will be at the next stage of the process."
The hold up has been the municipality’s desire to get three legacies from the provincial government in place before offering support. These are legacies the resort will get whether or not the bid is successful.
B.C. will learn next July if it has won the right to host the 2010 Winter Games.
"I am comfortable that we have commitments to everything the community should be concerned about," said O’Reilly referring to agreements with the provincial government on the legacy package.
It includes a large tract of land in the Callaghan Valley, which will be site of the athlete’s village and Nordic event centre, the expansion of municipal boundaries, and new financial tools to support the resort.
Having land in the Callaghan will give the community some flexibility in dealing with the on-going housing pressures facing local employees thanks, in part, to sky-rocketing real estate prices.
The idea is to use the athlete’s village as employee-restricted housing after the Games. More housing could also be built in that region in the future.
The construction of the village will be partially funded out of the $620 million promised by the provincial and federal governments for facilities should Vancouver win the Games.
The expanded municipal boundaries would include a section of the Callaghan Valley and the Rainbow Mountain watershed.
The financial tools are still being worked out but are likely to focus on some type of resort tax that could be applied to goods and services used by tourists to help pay for things like park maintenance and sewage.
O’Reilly does not believe the delay in endorsing the bid has hurt B.C.’s chances of winning the Games, although he admits it was an even longer process than he expected.
"My personal opinion is that this has been a very challenging process because it has taken longer than anyone anticipated," he said.
"But the outcome is exactly what we hoped to deliver.
"And the timing now is good as it is still well before the bid book is delivered."
The 420-page bid book must be in the hands of the International Olympic Committee by Jan 10, 2003.
"It is late but it is still well within the time frame to add value to the bid," said O’Reilly.
The Bid Corporation has worked incredibly hard to make sure the community values and guiding principles were adhered to throughout the process, he said.
"The due diligence done on this bid is probably more than on any other bid submitted," he said.
"We are confident that everything we have got is doable and with options. There is incredible flexibility built-in in areas such as the Callaghan.
"We will have a chance to have the sustainability plan finished so the community will have a chance to say, ‘OK we now have a better understanding where we want to go and how do we blend that with the bid to make them both successful.’"
But not everyone on council is comfortable with the plan as it stands.
"It is safe to say that I am still uncertain as to whether I will endorse the bid or not," said Councillor Ken Melamed.
"I have any number of concerns although I have to say I am battling upstream in a sea of enthusiasm for the bid."
At the top of Melamed’s list is the commitment of the bid to sustainable issues, the development of the Callaghan for resident housing, and how new financial tools will be used in the community.
He is concerned that the downgrading in importance of environmental issues has already begun. Months ago it was understood that the $14 million needed to complete Phase II of the conference centre renovations would come from the $620 million promised by senior levels of government for facilities should the Games come to B.C.
Recently, said Melamed, the amount for the conference centre has been reduced to $3 million.
Phase II of the renovations would put in place a host of sustainable initiatives, which would allow the building to be LEED, certified, a US certification recognizing the environmentally friendly aspects of a building.
"With only $3 million it puts the whole thing at risk and there again we have people saying ‘well that is not serious, we’ve got seven years to work on the province and federal government’s to raise that money’," said Melamed.
"But it just raises the red flags over concerns about their commitment. So already, we haven’t even won the bid and they have downgraded their commitment."
Melamed’s concerns around the development of the Callaghan focus on the decision to shift the search for resident housing out of the community of Whistler to a satellite village. He believes the community should be working to re-develop existing infrastructures.
According to the latest polls done by the Bid Corporation support for the Games in B.C. is hovering around the 67 per cent level. The results, based on polling in July, August and September, show that the bulk of supporters – 55 per cent — are behind the bid because of perceived benefits to the economy.
Many who are still considering whether to support the Games or not have some serious issues with the expenditure on the event at a time when hospitals and schools are being closed down.
And, despite assurances from the senior levels of government, debate rages as to whether anything but debt is left after hosting an Olympics.
"We're too broke to maintain funding for schools, hospitals, courthouses, and legal aid," said Van Powel a local business owner who with a partner started an information site on the Games www.whistlerolympicinfo.com .
"But we are going to borrow hundreds of millions, maybe billions to build sporting facilities for the Olympics."
Powell also questions the whole concept of a legacy.
"Games promoters talk about ‘Legacies’ and ‘Legacy Funds’ as if they are gifts from the IOC," he said.
"In fact, they are paid for by taxpayers. Kind of like, ‘Give me $100, I want to buy you a present.’
"Except in this case it’s, ‘Give me a couple billion. I want to buy you a Legacy.’
"Budgets routinely double. Sydney taxpayers bailed out the Olympic organizing group with hundreds of millions of dollars three times in four months leading up to the Games."
