A new outdoor adventure activity is set to begin at Lost Lake Park, despite reservations from three councillors.
Geocaching is the latest Whistler offering - an outdoor treasure hunt where people use a GPS to find caches hidden in the park.
The activity is billed by Whistler Geocaching Adventures as a "great way to explore the outdoors, enjoy the scenery, stay active and to implement strong team building skills."
Municipal staff suggested the company could use the upstairs of the Lost Lake Passive House as their home base.
Council members quizzed staff about the intended use of the Passive House space and what the municipal investment was in the building.
Conceptually, explained Bob MacPherson, general manager of community life, the downstairs was to be a lease space and the upstairs a gathering place for community groups.
Letting the geocaching company set up operations there might be different from the intended use but it's consistent with the concept.
"As long as it's not a daycare," said Councillor Ralph Forsyth.
Councillor Eckhard Zeidler pointed out that the Passive House is a community asset. It was a legacy from the 2010 Olympic Games with the municipality investing about $300,000 into it.
He, along with Forsyth and Grant Lamont, voted against the license agreement with Whistler Geocaching Adventures.
Staff to investigate goose droppings
After a complaint from a constituent over the Canada Day weekend, Councillor Ralph Forsyth has asked staff to look into goose droppings at Rainbow Park.
"It really isn't pleasant," said Forsyth, of the sheer volume of goose droppings blanketing the ground at the park.
"I'm not sure what the course of action is."
Jan Jansen, general manager of resort experience, said maintenance crews are at the park on a regular basis.
He told Forsyth: "We'll have a look at that and see what we can do."
Council members frustrated over ongoing non-conforming space issues
The municipality and local homebuilders are still wrestling with the issues around non-conforming space in homes in Whistler.
In response to a letter from Eric Prall, the president of the Sea to Sky chapter of the Canadian Home Builders' Association, Councillor Ralph Forsyth asked staff:
"Can we get a small win on the way of volumetrics?"
Volumetrics would measure a home's size by total volume rather than square footage.
Bob MacPherson said municipal staff have agreed to work cooperatively with the CHBA to find a solution to the widespread problem in Whistler.
"The CHBA estimates that 75 per cent of current housing stock within the RMOW presently has illegal space," wrote Prall.
"These non-conforming, illegally developed spaces are not designed, nor inspected by professionals and can potentially have issues with building and fire code conformity."
The CHBA also wants to see a resolution to the issue.
Both Forsyth and Mayor Ken Melamed expressed an interest in changing the definition of crawl space.
"I'm ready to see the end of 10 foot high crawl spaces," said Melamed.
Prall's letter was referred back to staff.
