Much was accomplished at the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) in 2018, according to the RMOW's annual corporate plan, but key community indicators around housing and the environment continue to fall short of their targets.
"Those were items that council had identified as their priority areas as well, so we are working on those," said RMOW chief administrative officer Mike Furey.
"I think environment and housing were two areas (that were lacking) in the community indicators, and the council priorities coming out of our retreat that informed the corporate plan raised those up as things for us to work on as a priority."
The RMOW recently hired a climate change coordinator, and has been working hard on adding more housing since 2017, Furey pointed out. (The RMOW declined to grant Pique an interview with the climate change coordinator.)
"Overall I think we're making pretty good progress," he said.
Some of the projects highlighted in the 2018 corporate plan include work on wildfire protection, housing and the alpine trail program, as well as completion of projects like the Gateway Loop, Andree Vajda Janyk Sports Field and the Emerald Water System upgrade.
The RMOW's key projects for 2019 include wrapping up the update to Whistler's Official Community Plan, completing the parks masterplan and driving education around the Multimodal Evacuation Plan, as well as taking on projects like the White Gold Water Main Replacement and the expansion of the Meadow Park Cardio Room.
Community wildfire protection and building more employee housing will also remain priorities this year.
"I would say wildfire and our evacuation plan, particularly at this time of year ... I wouldn't say they're top of the list, but they're pretty close up there," Furey said, adding that his other top priorities for 2019 include housing, the Official Community Plan, strengthening environmental protection and continuing to build relationships with local First Nations.
As in previous years, the 2018 corporate plan includes a list of key external trends that local decision makers must keep in mind, including a slowing global economic activity, currency fluctuations and a province-wide shortage of workers.
"I think in terms of the resort's growth and busyness that people talk about, I think we sort of saw a peak in some of the occupancy and visitation around winter 2017-18," Furey said.
"I don't think we're going up anymore ... That would definitely be one of the overall trends that I see happening."
While there has been a slight decline in terms of occupancy and visitation in recent months, Furey said it's important to view that decline in the context of the "super peak" years of 2016 through 2018.
While the numbers have started to fall, they're still a far cry from the slower seasons of 2012 and 2013, he reasoned.
The 2018 corporate plan also highlights a new external trend worth watching: the rise of automation through the application of big data and artificial intelligence.
"We have a technology advisory committee that meets regularly, and that's been a top conversation for that group," said Mayor Jack Crompton.
"As far as our organization is concerned, it's something that will impact us moving forward, and we'd do well to pay attention to it."
Looking at the external influences as a whole, Crompton said he's optimistic the RMOW is in a good place to address any challenges that may arise.
"We have to keep working hard, and keep addressing the very real challenges that we have," he said.
"But we are an optimistic group of people, and this is the best place in the world."
