By Alison Taylor
As he wished everyone a happy holiday season, Mayor Ken Melamed
also called on the local community to exercise patience and understanding with
resort guests.
With a two metre base as an early Christmas present this
season, creating a winter wonderland, there is a strong possibility Whistler
will be very busy in the coming weeks.
“We could be inundated this holiday season,” said Melamed.
He urged residents to try not to compound the problem by
avoiding the busy times in the village. He even suggested taking the bus to
alleviate stressful parking and driving situations.
And he called on Whistlerites to be helpful and compassionate
to resort guests.
Rainbow hits another hurdle
Negotiations between council and the Rainbow developers hit
another snag recently over the finer details of the complex housing deal.
Council sent back Rainbow’s Land Transfer Agreement because,
according to Mayor Ken Melamed, it was inconsistent with its original
understanding of the deal.
He would not give any details other than to say: “We were
surprised by some of the things that were in it and we asked for
clarification.”
Subsequent conversations between the developer and staff have
cleared up some of the concerns.
But each snag potentially prolongs the development. The first
nodes of employee housing have been promised for December 2007. The timing for
this project is crucial. Any delays in the delivery of the housing could put
the Rainbow project in competition with the municipality’s athletes’ village
project, which will be sold as employee housing after the 2010 Games.
“(The timing is)
part of the negotiation that’s going on right now,” said the mayor. “Council’s
very concerned about the timing for the delivery and the ultimate completion of
the project.”
Petro-Canada to screen site
The future of fuel in Whistler is up in the air as Petro-Canada
continues to dodge questions about its intentions for its Creekside location.
Municipal staff told council this week that the company was not
prepared to make a commitment to rebuild a gas station at this time.
Councillor Eckhard Zeidler suggested it may be time to begin
looking for another partner who may be interested in
building a station in the resort.
He said the strain on having just one gas station is obvious,
as cars crowd the street around the Husky, waiting to fill up at busy times.
“This is truly a developing problem,” he said.
Meanwhile Petro-Canada has apologized to mayor and council and
nearby neighbours for its Creekside excavation site.
In a letter to council this week senior business development representative Byron Cook said: “We do agree that your idea of a more permanent fence would improve the look of the site.”