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Village of Pemberton Council preview for Tuesday, Jan. 28

First Look: Signage move; vaping products resolution; fourth quarter results; student-built home project
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Photo by Clare Ogilvie

Here's a quick look at what you can expect at the Tuesday, Jan. 28 Village of Pemberton (VOP) regular council meeting.

The meeting kicks off at 9:00 a.m. at Council Chambers (7400 Prospect Street).

MOVING SIGNAGE

The "Welcome to Pemberton" sign that lies between Whistler and Pemberton may be moving—closer to Pemberton

VOP staff is seeking council's support for an application to apply for a Crown land lease to relocate the sign to a proposed location that's near the top of One Mile Lake Park hill, about one kilometre north of the Nairn Falls Provincial Park entrance.

"Although the [current] location of the sign is at the municipal boundary, it could be better situated to signify entering the population center of Pemberton," reads a staff report. "At the current location, the gateway sign can offer a false sense of arrival as you are still 13 kilometres south of Pemberton."

Ownership of the signs was transferred from the Pemberton and District Chamber of Commerce in October 2019.

VAPING PRODUCTS RESOLUTION

With teen vaping an issue in Pemberton (as it appears to be throughout the country), council will consider putting forward a motion at this year's Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA) meeting in May to ask the province to increase the legal age limit for purchasing vaping products.

In their report to council, staff notes that local government does not have the jurisdiction to regulate or ban the sale of vaping products or control how they are advertised, and that this lies within the jurisdiction of the provincial and federal government.

Staff is therefore recommending that council develop a resolution to the LMLGA Annual General Meeting calling upon the province to consider raising the age limit to purchase vaping products from 19 to 21, or higher.

VOP staff was asked to develop ideas to address the vaping issue in December, after a motion to do so was put forward by Councillor Ted Craddock.

FOURTH QUARTER RESULTS

Council will also receive quarterly updates from several VOP departments during the meeting.

The purpose of the reports is to update council on fourth quarter activity (Oct. 1 to Dec. 31).

Development services issued a total of 19 building permits in the fourth quarter, with the total amount of construction valued at $5,625,385.37.

In 2019, the department processed a total of 83 building permits, permitting $34,732,988.42 in construction. That's up from 78 such permits issued in 2018, for a total of $25,054,114 in construction.

The VOP's operations department was mainly focused on winter snow and ice removal in the fourth quarter.

A major component the department's work involved addressing issues that resulted from the new downtown core configuration.

Staff communicated the requirements for business owns to "refrain from using salt on new concrete sidewalks," and built awareness around appropriate snow dumping areas, said a staff report from Tom Csima, manager of operations and projects.

Recreation services is reporting an increase in program registrations, with 944 total registrations (representing a gross revenue of $58,135) from September to December 31, 2019.

The VOP Fire Rescue again reported a busy quarter. For the fourth quarter, it responded to 100 incidents, an increase of seven calls over the same period in 2018.

For the year ending in 2019, it responded to a total of 459 incidents. This represents an overall increase of seventy incidents compared to 2018.

STUDENT-BUILT HOME PROJECT

VOP Council will also give fourth and final readings to two amendments that will enable Sea to Sky School District 48 to move forward with a plan to build a single-family home on a small section of Pemberton Secondary School property, located on the corner of Poplar and Aster streets.

"The amendments together would enable the applicant to apply for subdivision which would result in the creation of a new single-family residential lot on Poplar Street that Sea to Sky School District No. 48 would develop," reads the staff report to council.

The school district is seeking to use the construction of the home—which will either be used as a teacherage or sold on the market—as an educational opportunity for students.

Students will be given the opportunity to gain hands-on learning experience in multiple trades such as design, construction and landscaping, prior to being involved in the sale, marketing and staging of the new home.

For more information about the project see: piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler/council-supports-school-boards-plan-to-subdivide-pemberton-secondary-school-lot-despite-reservations/Content?oid=14777074