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The siren calls of the vocal minority Decisions in the community of Pemberton are being made by the vocal minority.

The siren calls of the vocal minority

Decisions in the community of Pemberton are being made by the vocal minority. The people who pressured the Pemberton council to not to approve Silverthorne are not necessarily representative of the entire community.

There have been two successive Official Community Plans in which the now Silverthorne site has been earmarked for single-family or multi-family development. The OCPs have been created with the input of hundreds of community members, village staff, village councillors, special interest groups and planners. The land use for this property was contemplated by the village Advisory Land Use Committee and was endorsed for this type of development. The SLRD planning staff through the referral process supported the project with conditions that have been met. The Agricultural Land Commission is not opposed and has been involved in the planning process.

This project is good land use for everyone but the immediate neighbourhood. Some of the Meadows Lane townhome owners have been using the land as their own for many years. Their backyards have encroached, grass has been planted, fences have been installed, trails have been made and a large clearing with a picnic table and fire pit was created on someone else’s land, which has created this sense of entitlement. All of this within the alleged wetland they hold so dear.

This is not a wetland as indicated by the opponents to this project. The property is scrub brush, it consists of hard hack, willow and cottonwood trees, just as Meadows Lane and their encroaching backyards were before their development occurred. The mother bear and two cubs, as reported, is not a safe scenario given the number of children in the area. The fire hazard that existed on this site would definitely not work with the fire smart objectives of our community.

Meadows Lane residents have complained about potential traffic increase. Maybe if they eliminate the 16-20 illegal suites or businesses from within their strata and the flood plane, the traffic would be mitigated enough to allow for a legal and planned neighbourhood. The flood plane issues in Silverthorne have been addressed and the homes would have to conform to the Ministry of Environment Flood Construction Level, unlike the suites and businesses that are in the flood plane at Meadows Lane. The Hydrology study confirms the impact of this development is negligible.

This property does not affect Pemberton’s water supply. It is far downstream and on the other side of the benchlands ridge from the Pemberton well. It is virtually out of the Pemberton Creek Alluvial fan.

Storm water is to be managed fully on site through open ditching and infiltration trenches. The salmon are safe.

Silverthorne is zoned single family residential and can be grassed in, tennis courts installed, fences to the perimeter to accompany a large home. This is the right of the property owner. Why not get more benefit from this site?

The project as presented conforms to all of the smart growth criteria and had far reaching benefits to a community in need of a boost.

I stand by the Silverthorne project as it is the best land use as determined by the silent majority over the last 12 years. All issues were dealt with other than the loss of backyards.

The hardest part for me is that Pemberton needed to make the decision to develop this property years ago, as it is sound decision making. I take no pride in the wedge created within the immediate community. I do not thumb my nose at the community and council. I firmly believe this was the easiest project to approve if the costs and benefits were weighed based on fact and not pure emotion. BC Rail contracted the clearing and I do not hide behind BC Rail; I have played a major role in the recent events.

I urge families that would like to see the development of recreation facilities such as an arena, pool, trails and parks to pay attention to the finances and planning in our community. I also urge our struggling business community and residents to take note of the tax situation as the lack of development, static tax base and the increasing operating costs of the village will lead to increased taxes and nothing to show for it.

I know that this project is the right thing at the right time for our development company, Pemberton planning, the Pemberton business community and for Pemberton on the whole.

I wish that the future of my endeavours in Pemberton are understood with fact and knowledge and the context in which they can be a tool for the community to achieve its goals.

Cam McIvor

Pemberton

Power in the name of power

The provincial government flexes its power to give our power to its friends. It is the second time in three years they use laws against the population.

The province introduced legislation, Bill 30, allowing it to overrule municipal zoning on Crown land for any kind of private power development.

Local governments have been stripped of their ability to control or influence proposed run-of-the-river, windmill, gas burners or coal-fired facilities – whether or not they have negative environmental or social impacts and whether or not local communities derive any benefits from them.

There isn’t enough room in this letter to list facts but the public is being seriously misled while rivers are irretrievably licensed into private hands. They are enormously valuable fresh water assets. Here are just a few of the brain numbing facts on the Ashlu where Ledcor, a large financial supporter of the Liberal government, was denied zoning for a private powerhouse on the Ashlu River in January 2005.

A river water licence (perpetual ownership of the our endless resource) and control of all of the land from the back of the reservoir behind the dam to the spillway from the powerhouse (7 km) costs $10,000. There is a fee of a few hundred dollars a year to keep the licence active. The project licence when active is instantly worth tens of millions. Are you seeing what Bill 30 is about? The public would receive virtually none (<3 per cent) of the cash flow estimated to exceed, in the case of the Ashlu, a billion dollars. It is just one of dozens of water licences Ledcor has in different names. The public issues a purchase order which ends at the stroke of a pen but which gives the developer all of the money necessary to build and then own outright, the facility, that will produce endless cash without the public having any real compensation.

There are more than 500 B.C. river applications active. Of the dozen already built most have been re-sold at least twice and people other than British Columbians own all. This is stupid but in your defense the provincial government is investing your tax money heavily in your ignorance.

Myra Farrell

Brackendale

Help and good thoughts

Every year we lose lives on the hill and attend memorials and funerals to raise money and awareness and remember those who left us far too soon. Unfortunately this year I'd like to add to the list of fundraisers in the name of one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met in my life, Bob McLeese.

Monday, April 24, 2006 Bob was skiing to lunch (he works on the hill for Whistler Kids) and he never made it. He has been in a coma ever since, and although he is beginning to wake up and responding to stimuli, he is still a long way from his usual happy, healthy self.

I'm not looking to lay blame or find reasons why this has happened, I'm looking for solutions and improvements so that this isn't another in a long line of mountain tragedies.

Bob doesn't wear a helmet and his job on the hill doesn't require him to. Well I don't think that it should be a choice; hard hats and steel toe boots are part of a construction worker's uniform, why aren't helmets part of the mountain?

June 8th I will be turning 29 and would like to know that this will be the last year our hill staff go to work unprotected. So what I’d like help with is a Porn Funk Fundraiser to raise money for Bob McLeese and his parents, Dan and Kathy, and to petition the mountain to make helmets mandatory for employees who ride on the mountain. What we need is a venue, preferably one that would accommodate a lube slip and slide and/or a lube wrestling pool... GLC, Dusty's, Longhorn, Edgewater? Also, if I beg enough maybe Slow Nerve Action could get together for the night and give us something to groove to. Pique Newsmagazine has my contact details, please help. If nothing else, think good thoughts for Bob.

Dena Caspick

Whistler

Know your place on wheels

When I go to the skatepark to skateboard and I'm out numbered by mountain bikers, who must have missed the "No Mountain Bikes" signs, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm not trying to start or continue the rift between mountain bikers and skaters, I'm merely standing up and defending what is rightfully ours. The "No Mountain Bikes" signs are not enough. Trying to politely explain there's only one skatepark isn't enough. What are we to do?

That park was cemented there for the skateboard culture in Whistler, not the mountain bike community. Let’s do some math here: 1 massive mountain bike park on, wait for it, the mountain (go figure), dirt jumps and wooden obstacles beside the skatepark and about 50,000 trails in the surrounding area. Those trails have been cut by dedicated mountain bikers, who would probably be insulted at the sight of fellow bikers riding pavement.

My point: there is one skatepark. This isn't a matter of sharing, it is about respect.

The park is an amazing feature to this town and if people want to enjoy it that's great, grab a skate or a BMX and giv'er.

If the fact that there is so much more out there for bikers isn't enough, how about the fact that bike tires are too big for the transitions, or how the tires distribute rocks and dirt all over the skatepark? Might I remind everyone how dangerous rocks and gravel are to a skater’s health.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that the sport is called mountain biking and yet these people (not all) are in a skatepark. Maybe I'm missing something here? Please save the reasoning, I have heard it all, my personal favourite being "it's the natural progression of the sport." I'm pretty sure mountain biking is regressing if it's back to the asphalt. There are guys and girls out there pushing the sport forward, dropping huge cliffs, straight lining narrow trails, riding logs over waterfalls, crazy stuff. These people couldn't be bothered confining themselves to a skatepark because they know what their sport is about. They are more concerned with capturing the images of the obtacles in nature. They know their place, on the mountain.

Vanessa Conley

Whistler

Good people, good times

I just wanted to publicly thank a few of the managers and supervisors I have come across during my employment for Whistler-Blackcomb. So often I hear negative comments about the way Intrawest is run and how we as employees have been given a raw deal. I had the opportunity to work in three different departments throughout the season (Finance, Ski School and Cleaning) and in all I found that I was treated as an appreciated individual. Each job was enjoyable, rewarding and at all times the management were encouraging and supportive.

In particular I would like to thank and acknowledge Flora Ferraro, Finance Director, her assistant and my supervisor for the season Jo McCarl, the supervisors at Blackcomb Mini’s Ski School, Brian Good, House Manager and all the wonderful people I worked with.

I found the above mentioned to be dedicated, hard working people and it has been a pleasure to work for them this season. I have enjoyed my time in Whistler more than I thought was possible and believe that much of this should be attributed to my employment. It is definitely a place I will be recommending to friends and family in the future.

Rachel Woodman

Australia

Olympian effort appreciated

We would like to thank Dominique Vallee and the entire Canadian Snowboard Olympic Team for taking time out of their busy training schedules to sign an authentic Canadian Olympic Snowboard Jacket that our organization raffled off and in doing so raised over $1,500 towards the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.

In addition we would also like to thank Sabre Rentals, Nesters Market, The Grocery Store and Whistler Resort Management. All thanks to you our group at RBC was able to put together an impressive fund raising campaign and bring our community together to support this worthy cause.

All the staff at RBC Royal Bank

Whistler

Partied OUT

SkiOUT.com would like to thank the many businesses and volunteers that donated their time to create Whistler’s first monthly fundraiser and social event for the local and visiting gay and lesbian community.

This year, skiOUT, decided to organize and host six social "gay" nights known simply as "WHOOSSH". During this season our small social function raised an incredible $6,295 for six great charities, including the Whistler S.A.F.E clinic. Whenever we asked, businesses were incredibly supportive. Thank you to the Pan Pacific Village Mountainside, Pan Pacific Village Suites, Whistler Westin Spa and Resort, Whistler Hilton Resort, Mountain Side Lodge, Scott at Rocky Mountain Audio and Lighting (Wow, you set the mood!), VIP Limousine, Inspired Group, Trattoria Restaurant, Pender Copy Ltd (all they kept saying was "No charge!") North Shore Mercedes Benz, ROOT Source Inc, Skyy Vodka, GAYWhistler, TWSSF, Rae Leigh at the Love Nest (you rock!), The Daily Planet, Aimee at Pique Newsmagazine, Dave & Les from South Side Diner (you were amazing to us), Brent, Carson, David, DJ Speedee Pete, Kent, Jamie, Lee, Les, Mark, Robert, Russel, Scott, Ms. Willie, and lastly Dean, you took my crazy idea over a bottle of wine, added your incredible flare and raised the bar. Together we created six fabulous and successful gay and lesbian (straight friendly) parties that were so badly needed, in a town known for its parties!

Thank you for your support Whistler!

Peter Diniz, Director

SkiOUT.com

Whistler