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Financial pressures may delay building of Fitzsimmons landslip barrier

Municipality gets day-skier parking lots in return for building barrier against landslide
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No Slouch An overhead view of the Fitzsimmons Creek slump, which experts say could dislodge and flood the daylots.

A Squamish engineer who has studied the Fitzsimmons landslip is very concerned that the building of a barrier to save lives in the event of a catastrophic slide may be put off for years due to financial pressures.

“I would be very concerned if there was any delay,” said Frank Baumann this week, following an announcement that the municipality would take over responsibility for construction of a debris barrier for the land slump in return for the province turning over ownership of the day skier parking lots.

“It absolutely should be built this summer and to have this loom over our heads during the Olympics would be really bad news. Just imagine if an event happened, even a small event during the Olympics. That would be disastrous.

“The Fitzsimmons Slump is an unacceptable public hazard, and must be dealt with immediately. Whistler’s very use of the upper parking lot and bus loop should be contingent on them starting construction of the protective works.”

Baumann pointed to a fatal landslide in North Vancouver in January 2005 as an example of what can happen.

“If there is one thing that we learned from the North Vancouver landslide disaster is that municipalities must address public safety concerns that may affect their citizens,” he said.

The deal with the province is based on an understanding that the debris barrier would be built before the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

But it also contains an understanding that if the project is too expensive then the municipality does not have to move forward with it until such a time as it makes sense financially.

“Whistler is not expected to bankrupt itself to complete on this deal,” said Mayor Ken Melamed following the Tuesday announcement, which was attended by other dignitaries including Pat Bell, provincial minister of Agriculture and Lands.

Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden pointed to the hot construction market as one reason why the project may be delayed.

“At some point we will have to build the barrier but we just won’t have to do it before 2010 and, of course, that is what the concern is, that we are in a heated construction climate,” she said

“We haven’t seen any kind of detailed designs. We have an obligation to tender and if it is too expensive we just won’t do it.

“So it will get built at some point, but if it is too expensive to do it for November 2009 it won’t get done.”

Council has seen some preliminary designs and cost estimates for the barrier and associated catchment basin to deal with gravel issues. It has also seen some preliminary numbers for parking revenues. Neither estimates can be shared with the public.

At this time it is not known how much the barrier project will cost, or how much money will be made off pay parking. Nor is there a business plan in place.

A similar but smaller basin was built at Charles Creek on the Sea to Sky Highway in 1985 and it cost $2.4 million then.

The 2007 five-year financial plan has $6 million from municipal reserve funds put aside for the barrier project.

It also budgets $4.35 million for the day skier lot upgrades, 40 per cent of which is to come from external grants. Council is currently working on a draft of the 2008 financial plan, which must be approved by the spring. It is struggling to balance the budget.

Melamed also explained that the money to fund the debris barrier would come from pay parking introduced on the newly acquired lots, which would be paved and landscaped in the future.

“That is the current concept…that the pay parking will pay for the barrier,” he said at the announcement.

“We will be undertaking dialogue with the community to determine an implementation agreement on how we are going to manage those parking lots.

“The management of the parking lots (would) help fund the construction of the debris catchment basin and after it is paid off it will help fund transit for the community.”

Other major ski resorts offer both free and pay parking, depending on the location of the lots. At Jackson Hole you pay up to $10 at the base or you can park for free at a satellite lot and take a shuttle. Breckenridge’s parking costs up to $15 while Deer Valley has free parking at the base and parking for up to $20 mid-mountain.

Councillor Eckhard Zeidler is concerned about the barrier- for-parking-lots deal.

“At this point in time we have not even seen a budget,” he said.

“We have seen very preliminary estimates for a debris barrier. As a councillor I need to see an accurate budget before I will even consider whether we are going to move the debris barrier (project) forward, when we are going to do it, and how we are going to pay for it.”

Asked if he felt it was a good financial deal for the community he said: “I believe we have entered into a deal where we have taken on risk to cost escalation where it didn’t exist before and I regret that.”

Zeidler is also concerned that the issue of introducing pay parking as a way of paying for the barrier project before community consultation has taken place could be problematic.

“That was not an announcement (on pay parking) because the decision hasn’t been made yet, he said.

“There is nothing in (the contract with the province) that forces us to build the debris barrier if we can’t afford it. Does that mean that we get to keep the parking lots? That remains to be seen.

“I think it is time to slow the whole machine down. We are in a period of unprecedented capital expenditure and my own view is that I wouldn’t hesitate to revisit some things that appear to be irreversible.”

Whistler-Blackcomb is involved in the discussions on the future of the day skier lots.

“All of our customers are going to come onto nice pavement and they won’t have to worry about losing their wheel in a pothole, and getting rocks and dents, so ultimately I think it is going to be a win-win for everybody,” said Whistler-Blackcomb’s Dave Brownlie.

“We are going to be part of the discussion on charges and obviously we want to keep the charges as reasonable as we can.”

The Resort also has an agreement with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games that the day skier parking lots will be re-surfaced before the event.

The deal with the province is part of an earlier agreement with the Squamish and Lil’Wat First Nations for the transfer of 300 acres in return for their co-operation with the 2010 Games. The two Nations support the transfer of the day skier lots as part of that deal.