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Pay parking was always in the plan I am somewhat confused with the rationale behind Mayor Ken Melamed’s announcement that pay parking will be implemented for day skier Lots 1 to 3 to fund the construction of the debris barrier that is designed to pro

Pay parking was always in the plan

I am somewhat confused with the rationale behind Mayor Ken Melamed’s announcement that pay parking will be implemented for day skier Lots 1 to 3 to fund the construction of the debris barrier that is designed to protect the entire Village from potential flooding. It would appear that council has not discussed or approved this plan as councillor Erkhard Zeidler has indicated that introducing pay parking as a way of paying for the barrier project before community consultation is very problematic.

It is not sufficient to “want to hear input on the implementation”; the community should have input on the more fundamental question of why the users of Lots 1-3 should pay for something that is going to benefit the entire village. In order to have a rational discussion, the RMOW needs to provide complete factual information so that there can be an informed dialogue of the issue. For example, the number of parking stalls in each lot, including Creekside; who owns each lot; which lots are to be paved and at what cost; the logic of charging for some lots but not others; some background on the economics of the project.

Mayor Melamed has neatly tried to muddy the waters by combining two totally separate issues; pay parking and funding the cost of the debris barrier. In fact, pay parking has long been bubbling below the surface as an unresolved community issue ever since it was first introduced in the Comprehensive Transportation Strategy in 1998.

Let the debate begin.

Gary McDonnell

Whistler

 

Re: My forgotten subdivision

What a very appropriate piece you wrote last week. I don't know how many times recently I have composed a letter in my head with similar thoughts. Your footsteps must be the ones I follow down the highway each morning and I have often seen where you jump into the snow bank.

I applaud your suggestion of reducing the speed limit to 60 km/h, it might help a bit. The only saving grace is that Function is such a busy and well populated place now that the regular changing traffic light does serve to slow the traffic a bit. As only about 10 percent of the vehicles make any attempt to slow, or pull over to the middle of the road.

Mind you, half the problem is the drivers don't know where the centre yellow line or side white lines are. Why do they paint the road with washable paint, when a bit of snow and the lines disappear? In fact, when was the last time the lines were painted anyway? And hasn't anyone heard of reflective “cat's eyes” to mark the center and sides of the road?

I would suggest the muni save some of that money they plan on spending on the dreadful roof contraption for Lot 1/9 and actually fix some things around the valley that need fixing, like a safe trail to Function Junction. While sustainability might be the in thing at the moment, it is not very sustainable if the only safe way to get to Function is to drive.

And while I'm on the subject of driving, Whistler Transit really needs to do something about the bus schedule. Yes, the bus has high ridership, but look at the typical demographic of who lives in the resort — not your average single driver in a monster SUV/truck, but double-job, minimum-pay earners who need to get to their next job on time. So why, when you ask the 5 p.m. driver why the bus is always late and he answers “don't blame me I've just started my shift,” can't he start on time? We all stand there and watch the bus arrive in plenty of time to leave at 5 p.m.

Keep up the thought provoking opening remarks Andrew. Who knows, something might happen — but I won't hold my breath. I only do that walking to Function.

Rosemary Cook

Whistler

 

Buses now, excuses later

This is in response to the article, Bus complaints are up this year. Reading this article was somewhat disturbing.

So there are 20,750 people travelling on the bus each day. If 16,000 of them are paying a fare that would amount to $24,000 a day, and in a 30-day month that would equal $720,000. Say that number is only valid for the four really busy months, that would equal $2,880,000. Are you saying with that kind of revenue there are no buses that can be purchased?

Then it is quoted that the winter schedule is based on a nice afternoon in October. To me that seems a little strange, given how busy the other 11 months are. The article also says that transit cannot schedule around snow, so are we forgetting where we live, and what happens ever year in December, January, February, and March?

I think this is just a way of passing the buck. The solution is to not wait to get the new fleet of buses right before the Olympics, but to get them now for the people that are here making this place ready for the Olympics.

Paul Rowe

Whistler

 

It’s worse than you think

I am offended by Scott Burley’s apology in last weeks Pique. He sates that “the schedule is built for a nice afternoon in October. We can’t schedule for snow.” I think every bus rider and vehicle owner in this town knows that when it snows there will be traffic delays. The fact is buses don’t show up or are consistently 10 to 20 minutes late. There are far more than 200 people complaining about this service they just haven’t voiced their option yet.

It was a beautiful morning on Friday (Jan. 25) and my friend was trying to take the 5:27 a.m. Emerald bus to the Village that never showed up. Was this due to cold? He was obviously late for work. The next day the same bus was 15 minutes late. My friend was standing next to the same guy from the day before hoping the bus was going to show.

I think bus riders and employers deserve an explanation every time a bus is late, as they are faced with the panic of being late to work almost every morning. Even when they try to take the bus that will get them there half an hour before they start work they still are late.

I live in Creekside and I think service is consistently worse than north of the village. People are sick and tired of this service. It has been horrible for at least three or four years. I’m glad people are finally complaining, now hopefully something will get done.

Stephen Baumberg

Whistler

 

Re: New and much more sophisticated credit card fraud.

Most of us in the nightly accommodation market have been exposed to requests from a supposed travel agent representing a group that wants to rent one's property. These emails seem to always originate in the U.K. and are sent by someone who didn’t excel in grammar. This is often transparently a fraud, when the group is supposedly coming for a religious conference and has hired a third party to supply "cars and drivers including security personnel" (Gee, I didn't know the pope skied!)

The guests will supply a credit card number and ask that you charge an amount much greater than the cost of the accommodation.

After the charge has been accepted by the credit card provider and an authorization number issued, they request you wire a specified amount to the "third party" as this company does not have a merchant credit card account. Some time after, the amount of the credit card that you deposited in your account is reversed.

And now, the new one:

We received an enquiry from a travel agency in Bali, Indonesia representing a client in Singapore. The email was very well written and included a request for information on rental accommodation, on hiring a tour guide, and asking if we were in a position to pay a commission to the travel agency. (This a normal request, and if the stay exceeds our minimum nights we offer 10 per cent).

The email includes the mailing address of the agency and their website. The site was very legitimate and professional looking.

Negotiations continued over a few days and were concluded for a 10-night stay in early April.

The agent passed on the information to the client in Singapore and asked that we arrange payment through the credit card that he would provide. The client e-mailed a signed credit card form authorization that included his mailing address and a request to split the charge between two credit cards.

He included all the pertinent information needed for an authorization — Visa card number, expiry date and his name as it would appear on the card. He also included the three digit security code that only appears on the back of the card (this is the first time anyone has voluntarily provided this).

In addition to the amount for the accommodation, he also requested I include $500 for a personal gratuity for the travel agent and $300 for "our personal gratuity for you".

The charges were accepted by Visa on both credit cards and I was issued the authorization numbers.

I was puzzled why the renter would give me a $300 tip and was concerned about my obligation to wire an additional $500 to the travel agency.

I again contacted Visa to enquire as to what bank issued the cards. On checking, the cards originated from the Chase Manhattan bank in New Jersey and Vermont. I was given the bank's number and on checking with them found out the cards were not stolen but that the name on the cards did not correspond to the name given to me.

I plan to reverse the two charges during the bank's business hours, if this has not already been done by the card issuer.

What can you do to protect yourself:

• Check the origin of the card by giving the first four digits to the credit card rep, as these numbers designate the issuing bank and their location. If you have been given the information on a card from a party in Mexico that was issued by a bank in Toronto, then red flags should go up!

• When requesting a telephone authorization, talk to an agent and request the toll free telephone number of the issuing bank. One call will ensure that the name on the card corresponds with the party you are dealing with.

• Keep in mind, that the only time a bank will back the merchant is if a) the hard copy has been signed by the card holder and the expiry date verified and b) the merchant asks to see a photo ID and confirm that the picture is of the party presenting the credit card and that the names match.

John Richmond

Whistler

 

Mixing cats and weasels

I've been out of town for over a year, and what a difference a year makes in Whistler, with the Olympic building frenzy in high gear. Of particular interest to me is the on-mountain improvements as I have, like many locals, an intimate relationship with the ski hill.

What’s even more noticeable is the huge fleet of brand new Piston Bully 600 snowcats, half of which are winch cats. I love snowcats, especially new winchcats!

Why in the world though, does VANOC need so many? It’s two years before the hoopla and there's already 16 parked at the Orange Chair and Timing Flats. Apparently there's another dozen showing up in the coming years. That's a fleet equivalent to that of both Whistler and Blackcomb combined for two race courses and one training run!

I have been involved in course prep for many World Cup races in the last 20 years from being a Weasel Worker, snowmaker and groomer. It's an enormous task, but we always managed to construct a beautiful FIS standard course with the resources we had.

Now I wonder if "too many cooks can spoil this broth". I'm a little disappointed that the usual crew is being replaced by an army of imported operators. Realistically, once the course is built, an experienced winch operator and one free cat can groom the entire run, under good conditions. Usually if it snows, it’s best to keep machines off and have Weasel Workers side slip any fresh snow.

Now I know what's at stake here and we can't afford to cancel this race because of too much snow like so many previous World Cups, but Mother nature calls the shots and she doesn't care if there's $10 million worth of iron out there.

I hope I'm not going to be chastised for barking up the wrong tree. We appreciate the help in the grooming department. When I ask why they need so many cats I'm told VANOC requires a winch cat for every 1,000 metres of course and an extra cat for every cat just in case. The free cats are for the detail work.

Like I said, I love snowcats but I'm well aware of the massive amounts of fuel, maintenace and skilled operators required. If VANOC claims to be prudent with their budget and wants us to believe these are going to be the greenest games yet I need a better rationale than that.

Mike Roger

Whistler/Birken

 

Olympic trifecta

This past weekend my girlfriend Angela and I decided to check out the new Olympic venues. We started out on Saturday afternoon with the Whistler Sliding Centre walk. What a piece of engineering — the fastest track in the world! We then headed into the Callaghan on Sunday to see the Whistler Olympic Park, an awesome facility. If you haven’t been up there you have to go check it out. The ski jumps are there in all their glory and the setting is classic Canadiana. We spent some time skate skiing on the perfectly groomed trails, then came across some of our young biathlon athletes practicing rifle shooting at the range. After a few laps around the penalty area we carried on and came across the spot where the Olympic stadium will be. They were busy giving out medals for the B.C. Cup race that was held that morning.

We couldn’t resist racing around the oval given you can clearly see where the Olympic start and finish lines will be. (Ang beat me fair and square — damn!).

We then drove back to Whistler and loaded the gondy at Creekside to complete our triathlon of Olympic venues with a race down the Dave Murray, where four World Cup races will be held in three weeks. (I lost again, but I think I won the aprés session at Dusty’s).

The Olympics are not just coming, they are here already. Let’s get into it! Check out www.bcsliding.com and www.whistlerolympicpark.ca to get involved.

Ben Thomas

Whistler

 

What’s for dinner?

So, I packed all my stuff this fall and made the move to Pemby. I guess it’s inevitable if I plan to settle down in this corridor and actually own a home. After the first few snow storms I had defiantly decided I was moving back to Whistler but now, in the crisp January sun, I think I’m falling in love.

I am writing to find out why the Pemberton Valley Market does not sell Pemberton Valley meat. Don’t get me wrong here, the meat is packed very well and it looks clean and fresh but why no Pemberton Valley meat? Minimal organic meat selection? Tuna? Game? This upscale market should be all for this type of food. I know the people who live in this town are!. Is there a reason they don’t sell it? Is there something I don’t know? I see all the little strollers riding by and it makes me wonder… Is everyone feeding their kids these mass produced meat products with God knows what inside?

Joanne Van Engelsdorp

Pemberton