Residents protest waste removal plan in double-header meetings September is the last full month of this Council term as municipal elections fall on Saturday, October 17 this year. The return to the Council table for the first time since the summer break meant a busy evening for Councillors and residents alike, with a Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting scheduled just prior to the evening's regular Council meeting. Committee of the Whole The first meeting of the evening began

First OCP event in the books: will you take part? Editor's note: Watershed reader Alison Gerlach states that Modus informed her that a paper version of the survey will be available at the office, for those who would prefer it to the digital version, which can now be found HERE. Lions Bay residents attend OCP event at Village Hall on August 22. Photo by kc dyer. Residents recently gathered to share their thoughts about a new, fully-funded reassessment of the Official Communit

Official Community Plan update awaits your say The last comprehensive update to Lions Bay's Official Community Plan (OCP) was 17 years ago in 2009. According to Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell, the OCP has had several "relatively minor" amendments since then, but much of the existing plan for the Village features priorities that are nearly two decades old. "Much of the current OCP reflects the legislative, planning, environmental, demographic, and community contex

Packed agenda for final meeting before summer break Council members gathered for the final scheduled meeting of the summer on Tuesday night were faced with a surprisingly hefty 212-page agenda. At the end of one of the first truly hot days of July, Councillors Neville Abbott, Jaime Cunliffe and Michael Broughton were present at the table with Mayor Ken Berry and Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell. Councillor Ron McLaughlin joined the meeting online. Financial Officer

Small communities need to stay engaged, experts say Small communities need to work together to manage resources in case of emergencies, according to Emergency Management consultants Dave Mitchell and Associates. Councillors attending last Tuesday's Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting heard an overview of the state of emergency management services in small communities from the consultants, who have been engaging small communities across the province over the past year. Metro

Safety, bylaws and 'eye-poppingly' high costs on July agenda The only Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting scheduled for July in Lions Bay arrived with a packed agenda addressing issues from public safety in emergencies to the high costs of future infrastructure replacements. COW meetings are discussion-focused gatherings intended to allow Councillors to take a deeper look at complex issues without making any formal decisions. All councillors were present at the table, apart

Zoning and Development Bylaw Paused In the second of two events on Tuesday last week, Council members gathered for the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. All members were present at the table except Councillor Jaime Cunliffe, who attended online. The agenda can be found HERE. Twenty residents attended in person and online. Mayor Ken Berry opened proceedings by thanking donors Victoria Rogers and Kim Mailey and the LB Arts Committee for their hard work on the new art installation at

Parking revenue, portapotties, watercraft storage approved Council members sat down to address the shortest agenda of the year so far (a mere 36 pages) at the meeting in Chambers on Tuesday night. All members of Council were present at the table, joined by Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell. Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff and Director of Operations Eric Villeneuve were present in the gallery, along with a single in-person resident, and 11 attendees on line. Former C

Hearing Addresses Amendments Public sentiment toward proposed amendments to the Village's Zoning and Development Bylaw was overwhelmingly opposed at last Tuesday's public hearing. The hearing began Tuesday night in Council Chambers at 8 p.m., after an adjournment paused the regular Council meeting. There were 13 people present in the online gallery, with five residents attending in person. The formal notice announcing the hearing stated that proposed amendments to the bylaw w

Clear-cut concerns continue All members of Council were present in person for Tuesday's Council meeting, with Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell joining the table. After a heated discussion before the meeting began regarding which items would be included in the agenda, Council moved into a closed session. When Council returned to an open session, Mayor Ken Berry announced that Council had endorsed the Lions Bay Arts Council's choice of art wrap for the Beach Park was

Some residents worried about speed, focus of changes A public hearing scheduled to address changes to the zoning bylaw that addresses lot size is being met with concern from a number of local residents. As noted by staff in the May 22 Village Update, the proposed amendments to the bylaw in question, Zoning and Development Bylaw No.520, 2017, would revise three sections of the zone governing all single-family properties in the Village in order to establish a minimum parcel are

Audit, many strategic priorities complete With all Council members present at the table, and a comparatively small gallery of 12 attendees on line and in person, the final Council meeting of May took place on Tuesday evening. Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell joined Council members at the table, and Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff was present in the gallery. The evening's agenda, which was approved with a few minor additions, can be found HERE. MNP's Cory Vanderhors

Council goes to bat: both COW and Special meetings in one night It was a night for wrapping things up on Tuesday as Council held both a Committee of the Whole (COW) and Special Council meeting in a single evening. The intent of most COW meetings is to allow for a more thorough discussion of topics of interest to Council, and Tuesday's meeting was no exception. Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell, attending online, presented no less than three reports for the informati

Parking, watercraft, budget issues make for a busy meeting Resident concerns about potential parking regulation changes and watercraft storage led the large number of issues addressed in the May 5 regular Council meeting. The first Council meeting of the month offered a 77-page agenda package which can be found HERE. Council members were all present in person, with Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell attending online. Director of Operations Eric Villeneuve and Financi

Residents express concern over clear-cutting, subdivision The evening's meeting began with all Council members present, along with Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ross Blackwell at the table and Public Works Director of Operations (DO) Eric Villeneuve in the gallery. Attendance at the meeting was high, with many of the in-person chairs filled and 26 residents watching online. After discussion of a number of changes, the evening's agenda was adopted. Resident clear-cutting

Packed agenda covered a lot of ground The April 7 Council meeting arrived with a jam-packed agenda containing more than 350 pages of reading for interested residents. Council members were all present in person, and the agenda was quickly adopted. Mayor Ken Berry, reporting from an earlier closed session, said that Council had discussed and agreed upon the costs and details of the awarding of a contract. He did not specify the nature of the agreement or whom the contract was w

Doubleheader meeting covers old ground Council members celebrated St. Paddy's Day this year without a single green beer in sight. Instead, they held two meetings open to public participation and one closed, beginning at 6 p.m. and running through until 8:30 p.m. When the open portion of the first regular meeting began, all Council members were present in person, with the exception of Councillor Michael Broughton. Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell joined members at t

Quickie agenda features trees and scholarships A brief agenda dominated by tree cutting permits and a request from the local scholarship committee meant the March 3 meeting was the shortest of the year so far. All members of Council were present at the table, and Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell attended online. The gallery was also quite small, reaching only seven attendees both in person and on line. Mayor Ken Berry began by reporting that in the closed portion

Rail ownership, bear- resistant bins and flag protocols... oh my! Discussion of possible rail development, the cost of new wildlife-resistant waste receptacles, and a first-time policy for flag protocols were just a few of the wide-ranging topics covered in the February 17 Council meeting . For the first time in more than a year, there was no in-camera component scheduled prior to the regular meeting. However upon review of the evening's agenda (found HERE ), Councillor Mich

Changes to Waste Collection Now in Effect Lions Bay Council has adopted amendments to the Garbage and Recycling Collection Bylaw with three changes made. Residents who cannot comply with curbside pick-up time slots or drop off times at the Works Yard may now use approved bear-resistant, clip-lock style garbage/food waste carts purchased from the Village to put their waste out from 7 a.m. on collection day. However, the goal is that approved time slots will continue to be the