Stop me if you heard this one before.
It has to do with the asphalt plant, Rainbow Park and pay parking.
For months we have been reporting the facts around the status of the asphalt plant near the new Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood.
We've learned that even the municipal lawyers agree that it does not have zoning to be there and yet there it is.
We've also reported on the case of the Saxton family, which is suing Whistler for allegedly paying it too little when 108 acres of land was expropriated for Rainbow Park.
B.C. Supreme Court ruled last year that the Resort Municipality of Whistler owes the family of Conservative North Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton Jr. nearly $1 million - and potentially millions more in interest - for the expropriation of land 23 years ago to build the popular Rainbow Park on Alta Lake.
According to the Vancouver Sun , the Saxton-owned Rainbow Country estates relied on market valuations from two appraisers, who found the market value in August 1987 to have been between $1.7 million and $2 million.
Whistler, using a valuation from its own appraiser, said the market value was $315,000.
In 2010 Justice Elaine Adair pegged the market value at $1.3 million, after reviewing the Whistler real estate market in 1987 and the evidence from the appraisers.
Last April the RMOW appealed the judgment but when it came time for the hearing in January it turned out some paperwork had not been filed and so the appeal was dismissed. This week a panel of Appeal Court judges are deciding if the appeal should be allowed to go ahead.
According to the January 26 council package, lawyers' fees for the case are $150,000.
Then there is pay parking: it too has been much in the news as many residents and some merchants voice concerns over whether this is really the right strategy for Whistler as it works to cater to an increasingly important drive-to market as destination visitors continue to return in fewer numbers compared to previous years.
Now we have a Chamber members-only survey on the latest reincarnation of user pay parking which could see it introduced across all the day lots 1 through 5.
Oh, wait... were you waiting for a punch line? I wish I had one.
Perhaps it is partly revealed in the story reported here last week about a developer's proposal to put a project on land opposite the entrance to the Callaghan and Whistler Olympic Park, which could get rid of all the municipal waste and fuel a greenhouse and aquaponics facility with the energy produced.
As I read over the lengthy and detailed report in the council package recently, I thought our lawmakers must have been considering this.
Then Mayor Ken Melamed stated at council last week, following the propontent's presentation: "I'm a little disappointed in our staff, frankly."
He went on to explain that under Whistler 2020 it is clearly articulated that Whistler does not want to expand its industrial footprint in the Callaghan area.
"I'm disappointed that staff bounced you this far down the road," continued Melamed.
This jogged my memory to a council meeting in January where Melamed, Councillor Ralph Forsyth and Councillor Eckhard Zeidler asked questions about the expenditures on several budget items, including Bayly Park at Cheakamus Crossing and the improvements at Lakeside Park, estimated to cost $240,000 and the decommissioning of surface water intakes.
Some were items that they had asked staff about before, requesting staff look at whether or not the costs could be scaled back.
Why then, they wondered out loud, were the exact same figures before them.
Said Melamed: "Frankly we did talk about many of these issues at preliminary budget sessions. Some of us have expressed concerns that they haven't been fully explored or addressed..."
Back the items went to staff and some changes were forthcoming at the last council meeting with funds for Bayly Park cut by close to 50 per cent.
As we absorb the ongoing information on these stories and others impacting our home, all are taking on a changing significance as we grasp that a municipal election is getting closer and closer, though first we will likely be casting a ballot federally.
We have seen a citizens' group grow locally in many ways as a direct result of this growing understanding.
But more is needed. People need to understand more fully how local government operates. Many have the simplistic view that we elect people we believe will get the job done and move on the items we want without the depth of understanding that government is about balance.
Staff, like federal civil servants, has power and knowledge. They don't leave just because there are new people in the chairs of the elected.
As our elected team heads into the head-hunting phase of choosing a new leader for our staff, let's hope they keep front and centre that all staff are accountable.
After all, on a daily basis, they are the stewards that residents, small business owners, visitors, investors and our environment rely on to keep the wolves at bay.
