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Music and dancing sought for Whistler Olympic Park's Brandywine restaurant

SLRD directors debate the value of liquor license change
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Whistler Sports Legacies Society wants to change its liquor license at Brandywine Restaurant at Whistler Olympic Park to allow for live music and a dance floor.

This would make it easier for weddings and other large-scale parties to take place, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District was told at its monthly meeting on Aug. 27. It was asked to endorse the bid to change the license at the provincial level.

But Area D director Maurice Freitag told his colleagues he would vote against the request because of concerns about access to the facility in the Callaghan valley. Buses don't go there, he said, and taxis may not come out, making users dependent on their own vehicles.

"I'm going to vote against this... I don't feel comfortable about this proposal because one incident coming out of there and I think it will come back to us," he said.

Director Patricia Heinztman observed that the request was "simply to allow people to dance" or karaoke, but B.C.'s liquor laws make these steps necessary.

Director Doug Race noted that this would help the Whistler Olympic Park be "sustainable" financially.

"The major issue is sustainability. It's a small step to help that sustainability. I think it is going to have difficulty over the years making itself (sustainable)," he said.

The motion passed, with Freitag opposed.

SLRD staff wants to streamline interjurisdiction work

As an observation coming out of the two local and one provincial governments involved in determining the approval of the Sea to Sky Gondola project, SLRD staff want to be able to strike a working group of their peers in other regional jurisdictions whenever a land use project is presented.

This would allow municipal and First Nations governments, along with their provincial counterpart, to have a blueprint in working together and streamlining the process, said SLRD chief administration officer Lynda Flynn, who explained to directors that such a working group could not be forced, should any one jurisdiction not want to take part.

SLRD directors sent the recommendation back to staff for the creation of a proposed policy.

Flooding issues in Mount Currie, SLRD addressed

Ryan Wainwright, the SLRD's emergency program manager, reported to the board that the standing water problems at Grandmother Slough, just outside Pemberton and running into the Mount Currie Reserve were being mitigated.

The Lil'wat Nation, he said, had built an access road which is now doubling as a dike and the SLRD was "clearing out channels on SLRD properties" to allow the water to draw away from fields at times of flooding.

They hit a snag, however, when the Ministry of Transportation backed away from being financially involved with the work. The cost of the work, he told directors, will cost $3,000 to $7,000.

The aim is to clear out the channels to the point of their being 5 ½ feet in depth, Wainwright said.

"The work will do a lot to lessen the problem. At the moment, the channels are so full that the water has nowhere to go (several months after the original flooding)," he said.