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The drought continues

“This is not so much a question as a plea to the council for some kind of outreach to make this our Olympics.” That was the last public comment at the Olympic town hall meeting on Jan. 12.

“This is not so much a question as a plea to the council for some kind of outreach to make this our Olympics.”

That was the last public comment at the Olympic town hall meeting on Jan. 12. It came from Jennifer Erickson, who was dismayed by the “level of un-involvement” by the community in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

On Monday, Whistler’s 2010 office presented an update to council on preparations for the Games. According to the 23-page report, in the three months since the Olympic town hall meeting in January Whistler’s preparations for the Games have gone from concept planning at 10,000 metres, metaphorically, to detailed planning at 1,000 metres.

It’s tempting to suggest that’s a 10-fold reduction in altitude and perspective, but the comments and questions from council tell the story.

Sharon Fugman, manager of 2010 Games Services, prefaced her presentation to council by saying the report was not comprehensive on action, but gives some ideas of what Whistler is doing to prepare for the Olympics. Version 2 of the master plan will be released at the end of May and will include information on street modifications and traffic impacts, sponsor activation, celebration sites development, venue parking areas, broadcast locations, permanent utilities, information kiosks, pedestrian linkages, arts programs and the neighbourhood of nations. The master plan will go through five more iterations or updates prior to February 2010.

Councillor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden opened the questioning: “From the January meeting it was clear there’s a thirst for details. When is it going to be rolled out?”

Fugman replied that some of the master plan was available at the January meeting and more of it will be available at the end of May when Version 2 is available.

Wilhelm-Morden said that was fine, but put the information on the municipal webesite. “I, for one, want to know about street modifications.”

“We won’t know it all by then. We’re still in the planning process,” Fugman replied.

There is a thirst for details, Wilhelm-Morden repeated, about the Olympic overlay, the broadcast centre…

Some of that information is sensitive, Fugman said. The Olympic overlay is not public.

How many people from Whistler have signed up to be volunteers, Wilhelm-Morden asked.

About 2,000 people — from throughout the corridor, was the response.

Councillor Eckhard Zeidler then had a go. He noted there wasn’t anything in the report about the 2 per cent hotel tax being spent on Olympic preparations. “I think it may be time to report to the community what these Games are costing us,” said Zeidler. He then announced a notice of motion: that council report to the community on what Olympic spending and costs are to date.

Councillor Tim Wake was next to try and draw water from the arid update. He referred to Whistler’s promise to engage the community and create ownership of and passion for the 2010 Olympics. He noted that the municipality hired people more than a year ago to start work on that. “Have I missed it?” he asked.

The update reports that more than 45 commercial spaces have registered with the Commercial Matching Program coordinated by whistler.com and Tourism Whistler. But as of March 31 not one commercial space has been matched with a corporation or organization coming to Whistler for the 2010 Games. “Is everyone doing it privately?” Wake asked.

Fugman replied that there likely will be “an increase” after the Beijing Games.

Wake suggested there should be a thermometer at the Olympic information centre showing the number of Whistler volunteers signed up. And in perhaps the most telling comment he referred to the “real sense of camaraderie at Whistler Olympic Park” and how the people of Squamish have embraced the opportunity presented by the Nordic centre.

That finally prompted a response from the man in charge of Whistler’s 2010 preparations, Jim Godfrey. Godfrey said a plan has been presented to council in private and is in the process of being implemented. A presentation of the plan will be made to council in a public meeting, he promised.

And so Whistler’s Olympic preparations continue, while Whistlerites remain thirsty. The update reports how presentations regarding Whistler’s Celebration Sites (formerly Live Sites) have been made to a VANOC sponsor workshop, to CTV/Rogers, to a workshop of federal, provincial and territories representatives, to a 2010 business summit, to the IOC coordinating commission and to the Integrated Security and Public Safety group.

Next week, VANOC will be hosting a government partners conference, “to facilitate interaction between VANOC and the government partners by creating a forum for dialogue and idea exchange.”

The municipality is planning an “all staff event” for May 12, “to inform and increase understanding about the Games.”

The update is full of committees, organizations and acronyms but is eerily devoid of actual people, particularly the people of Whistler. In fact, the only names in the entire report are those of the speakers at chamber of commerce luncheons, VANOC CEO John Furlong, Mayors Sam Sullivan and Ken Melamed and two senior municipal staff who are members of a new Olympic and Paralympic Transportation Team.

For thirsty Whistlerites, preparations for 2010 are beginning to resemble a march through the desert.