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Whistler’s water consumption dips

Whistler’s water consumption is down by 25 per cent per person over the last five years. Data from the municipal Water Conservation Program shows that during the long, dry summer of 1998 water consumption per person was 517 cubic metres per day.

Whistler’s water consumption is down by 25 per cent per person over the last five years.

Data from the municipal Water Conservation Program shows that during the long, dry summer of 1998 water consumption per person was 517 cubic metres per day. By the long dry summer of 2003 water consumption had decreased to 390 cubic metres for each person.

"I was very impressed with that information," said Brian Barnett, general manager of engineering and public works at the municipality.

Barnett presented council with what he called the "significant results" of the conservation program at Monday’s regular council meeting.

He said peak conditions like the summers of 1998 and 2003 are an important factor in water consumption.

Peak consumption reflects the municipality’s infrastructure requirements and if the peak demand can be decreased, the infrastructure plans can be reduced. This could result in cost savings for taxpayers, said Barnett.

The municipality has been working on its Water Conservation Program since the late 1990s. The initial goals from the outset were to tackle the low hanging fruit, like irrigation systems at golf courses and local parks.

For example, early on the municipality partnered with the Whistler Golf Course on the development of an independent irrigation well. Since that initiative there has been a significant decrease in municipal water for the operation of the golf course.

A low flow plumbing fixture bylaw was also introduced last year which required all new construction in the municipality to use low flow toilets, showerheads and other fixtures.

In the future there are plans to launch a leak detection program to examine the underground water pipes in the municipality. Barnett said there might not be a big leakage problem in the pipe system but this program will identify any problem areas and ensure they are repaired.

He is also working on a separate report to council that will investigate the possibility of water metering. Metering may provide even more opportunities for water conservation in the future.

Tamarisk, Gondola Village stratas to give input on WHA conversions

The Non-Cost Initiatives Task Force will revisit its recommendation that units in Tamarisk and Gondola Village may be bought for employee housing.

The review comes after the strata chairs of both complexes expressed serious concerns over the policy, which allows the Whistler Housing Authority to buy units, put a covenant on them and restrict the resale price.

It is a policy called off-site conversions.

In a previous council meeting Ross Ruddick, strata chair of the Gondola Village Strata Corporation, said that the policy was not fair or equitable to homeowners in the complexes.

"Employee housing is perceived as less than desirable in an existing complex," he said at a November council meeting, adding that there could be repercussions on the value of homes in those complexes.

Ruddick and his counterpoint at the Tamarisk Strata Council, Ken Harvey, expressed their concerns at the Whistler Housing Authority Board of Directors meeting in early January.

The WHA resolved to send the issue back to the task force as well as invite the strata chairs to be a part of the discussion.

Councillor Kristi Wells, who is the chair of the WHA, described it as a "healthy way of moving forward."

She wants to take the policy back to the task force for review sooner rather than later in order not to let any opportunities pass by.

"There is one opportunity right now (for an off-site conversion)," said Wells.

"They just simply will have to wait."

Council adopted the non-cost housing initiatives last year. They were aimed at finding ways to create more affordable resident-restricted housing in the valley and stem the leakage of employees to other communities.

The board of the WHA recommended that the task force meet this month with the strata chairs of Tamarisk and Gondola Village and review the off-site conversion policy.

The task force will then meet again in the fall to review all the recommendations that were a part of the non-cost housing initiatives.

Council vetoes snowmobile relay through Whistler after the fact

Council voted against a request that would allow snowmobiles to travel through Whistler as part of a cross-country relay to raise money for breast cancer.

But unbeknownst to them, the snowmobile riders had already made their way from Squamish across B.C. and were at the Alberta border at the time of the council debate on Monday night.

The request to ride through Whistler came from Deanna Whiteway, a rider in the Polaris Way Out Women Relay. The relay is an all women’s snowmobile ride across Canada and the United States to raise money for breast cancer research.

Whiteway asked that the relay riders be allowed to travel on the shoulder of Alta Lake Road on the way to Bralorne, Gold Bridge and across the rest of the province.

"I find the application quite contradictory," said Councillor Ken Melamed.

Melamed went on to explain that his mother passed away from breast cancer after fighting it for 10 years. During her fight she helped found Breast Cancer Action Montreal, an organization dedicated to getting to the root causes of breast cancer.

"(The organization) really stresses prevention and the precautionary principle as the way to deal with breast cancer," said Melamed.

The relay on the other hand he said raises money to fight cancer through medicine. In addition snowmobiling is a highly polluting form of recreation.

His mother was convinced that environmental pollutants from living in big cities her whole life were one of the reasons she had breast cancer.

"I would ask them that they not come through Whistler," he said.

Councillor Nick Davies, who has had cancer twice, supported him.

"Motorized sport is getting to be a more and more significant problem in this valley," he said.

"It is inconsistent with our values."

Councillors Marianne Wade and Kristi Wells opposed the vote that prevented the relay riders from using Alta Lake Road.

Wade said that recently her aunt and her best friend were diagnosed with breast cancer. She would not want to discourage anyone from raising money to fight the disease.

"I couldn’t not support it," she said.

As it turns out the B.C. WOW riders had already handed over the reins to the Alberta riders by the time this council discussion took place.

The WOW Relay began in Squamish on Monday, Jan. 26 bypassing Whistler on the way to Bralorne.

Gisele Remillard, ride co-ordinator with Polaris Industries said that the women did not ride their snowmobiles through Whistler because of the weather conditions. She added that the B.C. riders have already raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer research. The women as a whole are hoping to top the $175,000 that was raised last year in the cross-Canada relay.

Eighty-one women will take part this year with a handful of women riding each section of the country. The ride across Canada will end when west coast and east coast riders met in Winnipeg on Feb. 19.

Municipality explores possibilities of Parkhurst property

The Whistler Museum and Archives Board of Trustees has asked council to preserve an old part of Whistler’s history before it is sold forever.

In a letter to council, Stephen Henderson, president of the Whistler Museum and Archives Board of Trustees, asked council to explore the possibility of making part of the Parkhurst property a heritage park. The property, which is on the northeast side of Green Lake, has recently been listed for sale.

Parkhurst is one of the earliest settlements in the Whistler valley. Its human history includes a mill and logging community as well as a revolving community of squatters.

"As Whistler transforms rapidly, the Museum feels it is important to make efforts to preserve some of these historic sites, just as the Municipality has done with Rainbow Park," wrote Henderson.

"These sites then provide a link between the past and present Whistler communities, and also spread the pressure created by visitor use on various public land areas more widely."

Council asked staff to review their options.

"I think this is one of the really special places left in Whistler," said Councillor Caroline Lamont.

"It would be interesting to know what our options would be."