Here's a quick look at what to expect at Tuesday's council meeting, kicking off at 5:30 p.m. at the Maury Young Arts Centre.
REVISED HOUSING GUIDELINES TO BE PRESENTED
When council last saw proposed employee housing projects from five private developers, it opted to revisit its guidelines for such projects (read more at https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler/rezoning-continues-for-private-employee-housing-projects/Content?oid=13278212).
On March 26, council will consider endorsing a new set of guidelines to give developers more flexibility.
The updated guidelines propose to remove the requirement that all projects in question must be 100-per-cent employee housing, changing the wording to "projects shall optimize the amount of employee housing ... and may include limited amounts of new unrestricted market accommodation to support project viability."
The proposed changes also allow the projects to include both rental and "owner-occupied" units (rather than rental only).
Public information meetings will be held before zoning bylaws are brought forward for each project, followed by a full public hearing process in which all residents can state their case for or against.
All correspondence received on the projects to this point will also be included in the process.
INFRASTRUCTURE CONTRACTS
Council will also consider awarding two infrastructure contracts at the March 26 meeting.
The Sewer Trunk Main Lining Project will get underway this spring, and include cured-in-place-pipe lining of about 805 metres of sanitary sewer trunk main (697 metres between Alta Lake Road and Function Junction and another 108 metres in Whistler Cay Heights).
Staff are recommending a $1,266,479 contract (GST excluded) be awarded to Mar-Tech Underground Services Ltd. for the work.
The Baxter Reservoir Upgrade Project, meanwhile, will upgrade one of Whistler's most critical reservoirs (located in Bayshores, just below Kadenwood).
The Baxter reservoir is nearly 30 years old, and uses components from other "decommissioned water infrastructure," according to municipal staff, making it less-than-operator-friendly.
Staff recommends the contract for the upgrade work (in the amount of $992,268) be awarded to Coastal Mountain Excavations Ltd., which provided the lowest of six bids—though its bid was still 19 per cent above the engineer's estimate of $833,255.
Find the full council package at https://www.whistler.ca/municipal-gov/council/meeting-agendas-and-minutes.
Pick up Thursday's Pique for more from council.
