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Letters to the Editor

Where’s our speed bump? Dear Mr.

Where’s our speed bump?

Dear Mr. Mayor and Council:

On September 28, 2001, I submitted on behalf of myself and virtually all of the owners and residents of Nancy Greene Drive, a letter to Council stating the need for ‘speed bumps’ along Nancy Greene Drive in White Gold Estates. This letter was submitted in accordance to the ‘Traffic Calming Policy’ guidelines. A short while later I received a phone call from Municipal engineering department and was told that the speed bumps were tied to the development of a piece of property not adjacent to, or connecting to, Nancy Greene Drive. "We will be passing the cost of the speed bumps to the developer of that parcel of land."

In other words, the safety of the residents of Nancy Greene Drive was to be in the hands of someone who would have to bare the cost of the speed bumps, yet had no direct concerns for our neighbourhood safety. Needless to say the idea did not fly. No Speed Bumps.

I next received a letter from Municipal hall dated February 13, 2002, stating that a traffic volume and speed study on Nancy Greene Drive would be carried out. A study of White Gold was done in the late spring of 2002, right in the height of the shoulder season. We, the residents of White Gold received no feed back as to the results of this study.

It is now July of 2003 and I have just finished a phone conversation with the municipal traffic technologist. Once again I was told that there is a priority list regarding the placement of speed bumps and that a couple of speed bumps plus signage costs in the region of $5000.00. I was told that another neighbourhood is next in line and Nancy Greene Drive did not seem to be on the immediate horizon. Let me state now that I am not upset that another neighbourhood is receiving the benefits of the Traffic Calming Policy before White Gold does.

However, once again let me make the case for the need for speed bumps on Nancy Greene Drive.

White Gold has the highest concentration of B&B's, Pensions and Lodges of any of Whistlers residential neighbourhoods, and as a result there is a constant traffic flow. Multitudes of tourist drivers unfamiliar with speed limits or the number of residential children, are often only fixated with getting to and from the mountains or village severely compromise safety on this road.

High volumes of commercial traffic also push the safety limits to maximize the time they can save on their trips along this straight section of road. Residents sometimes are also complacent when in a hurry.

Mr. Mayor and Council, it would seem that our priorities are somewhat askew if we are willing to prioritize the safety of neighbourhoods and their children.

All areas should be made safer now with respect to neighbourhood traffic safety. This process should not be made to reflect the Olympic bidding process – there should be no losing neighbourhoods.

Please look to find ways to relocate some tax dollars. There must be some projects that child and neighbourhood safety take precedent over.

Tom Thomson

Whistler

Some thoughts on helmet safety

As the distributor of Leedom ski and snowboard helmets in Canada, and one of the very few Snell RS-98 certified helmets on the market in North America, I was very interested in the article written by Andrew Mitchell in the June 20th issue of Pique magazine.

Although neither Mr. Mitchell, the writer, nor Mr. Kinar, the advocate in the article for helmet use, touched on existing winter helmet standards, I would like to point out that the Snell Memorial Foundation not only writes the highest standards in the world for winter helmets, it actually tests and certifies that the submitted helmets actually meet their standard and then continues to do this for the life of the helmet model - by purchasing product at retail and re-testing. ASTM 2040 (USA) and CE-1077 (Europe) on the other hand are voluntary standards that require no proof of actual compliance by the manufacturer.

Interestingly, the British Columbia Workman's Compensation Board views the Snell RS-98 standard so highly that they have allowed a variance to their regulations, allowing on-hill professionals in Whistler to wear Snell RS-98 certified helmets both on ski/snowboard equipment and or their snowmachines, and still be covered under the act. This of course only applies while they are on the job.

Presuming performance in helmets is measured by their level of safety - this is one category of product in the ski/snowboard business where brand provides no guarantee of anything - consumers should review carefully the standards stickers on the helmets that they are about to purchase.

Colin Sanders

VP Sales

MorSport Inc.

Heads up hitch hikers

To the guy who nearly got run over by me while trying to hail me down for a ride on the 99 just after Meadow Park.

If you’re gonna hitch, do it where someone can see you, like at the lights in Alpine, or the lights that turn off to Spruce Grove. Also walking along the highway dressed in black probably isn't a good idea also. Common sense man! I got no problems giving somebody a ride but with the rain we had last week I could have killed you.

Nick Sullivan.

Whistler

Yodel off path for RMOW

To further clarify my thoughts in my letter last week to the editor:

"Put the Muni out of business," which seemed unfortunately titled, I think the Muni is doing a superb job of functioning in its role of fostering Whistler as the finest place to live in Canada.

Councils past and present and Municipal staff have made Whistler a great place to enjoy life and be an entrepreneur. The environment here has spawned many great businesses that are not even tourism-related.

That is why I and many others I had talked to feel strongly about the Muni diverging from its current path of creating environmental excellence and venturing into things like wireless internet access or any other private sector function.

Bruce MacDonald

Whistler

Nita Lake too big

The earlier approved Nita Lake Lodge, is too massive in size for both the parcel of land it will eventually and the area in general is too small for the required servicing for the two proposed structures,

The present approval process makes me acutely aware that money will go a long way in this town, if spread in the right directions.

It is sad to see, that with all we have to lose if this project goes ahead as proposed now, we have elected only one councillor who has the foresight to be able to look ahead and see the intrusion to the environment this (Boutique?) hotel will create.

Who in their right frame of mind gives away lakefront to private development in this day and age? What is Council thinking of?

On the bed unit swap councillor Melamed has his arithmetic right on – again one councillor only?

Then last, but not least, a private rail station?

Now that we have been awarded the Olympic Games for 2010 it would be prudent for council to give this matter more in-depth consideration. Think in the long term, and the consequences of privatising such a facility

I am fully aware of all the studies that have been conducted and their results, and it is true passenger service at this time is not viable, but giving away access to a rail link may put us in a position where we may have to buy the Railway Station back in the future, from private hands. A costly proposition to be sure.

While the Creekside area is due for upgrading, a generally accepted fact, the relative small opposition the size of the project can be attributed to the largely transient population base in the area.

The community at large is fully aware of that facts.

In closing may I remind Council that you are the stewards of this Community for a short time only. The decisions you make today have a long term effect on us all, so use your power responsibly and wisely.

Trudy Greutzke

Whistler

Stand by your ump

As a slo-pitch umpire in Whistler, I would like to present my support to Doug Ryan in his position of Umpire in Chief.

Doug has proven to be supportive of his umpires and has shown leadership. I have received a lot of support from him and he has helped me to improve my skills. He is organized and professional and takes pride in his role.

I believe that the loss of Doug as an umpire in chief would not only affect umpires but it would affect the players throughout the season.

Melinda Cart

Whistler

For the record

A letter that was inserted into copies the July 11 issue of Pique Newsmagazine was done so by the author, Shane Bennett, without our permission. His views do not reflect the views of our paper.

The letter was originally submitted to our Letters to the Editor section, and was far too long and had too many errors for us to publish.

The maximum recommended length for letters is 250 words, although exceptions will be made when we feel it is warranted. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution.

Letters can be submitted in four ways: Regular mail can be sent to #202-1390 Alpha Lake Road, Whistler BC, V0N1B1. Faxed letters can be sent to 604-938-0201. Emails can be sent to edit@piquenewsmagazine. You can also submit letters online through our Web site at www.piquenewsmagazine.com.

In all cases, please indicate that it is a letter to the editor, and include a phone number, your full name, and place of residence.

Micro hydro in the Whistler area

There are two ingredients necessary for good white-water kayaking and that is steep vertical and lots of water . Something our area has in abundance.

Within a 50km radius there are so many runs with so many levels of difficulty that it would take you weeks to paddle them all. The boating here is truly awesome and as many tourist paddlers I’ve talked to have said, it’s somewhat undiscovered. Not undiscovered by micro hydro proponents, however, who have staked claims on almost every creek in this area.

Herein lies the choice; Do you divert every last creek, and therefore eliminate forever any tourism revenues and any usage that citizens of this country might enjoy, or don’t you?

To answer that question there is a good precedent that has been set in this country by the creation of parks and reserves. These areas are the foundation of our tourism industry and almost all visitors to this province come here to experience what has been lost for the most part in their countries.

This province in its wisdom didn’t allow the cutting down of every last tree and should not allow the damming of every last creek and river. Waterways, once diverted, will never be paddled again. This is quite unlike logged areas that can be utilised relatively soon after harvesting as a new forest grows.

Then there is the complete lack of long term studies on environmental impact. This micro hydro is a very new concept in B.C. with little understanding of long term effects, yet almost 60 applications with completion dates only 5 years down the road are now in the approval pipeline for this area alone.

This timeline is much too short to make decisions that will affect rivers and creeks for centuries and I urge the provincial and local governments to slow this approval process until more economic and environmental studies can be done.

Lyall Fetherstonhaugh

President Whistler Kayak Club