June 16 Council In Focus
- kc dyer
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
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 Councillor weighs in on petition and zoning questions
Opening the public participation part of the evening, former Councillor Marcus Reuter addressed Council about what he called "the disenfranchisement of 61 residents by excluding them from the record of the recent Public Hearing." He said that when staff contacted some those who spoke to get their street addresses after the event, the action was "arguably improper under BC legislation."
He asked Council to ensure the voices of these residents are included in the record.
Reuter said he was also troubled that Hanna Bartholomew’s 40-plus signature petition raising concerns over the clearcut at 250 Oceanview Road, did not appear on the evening's agenda. He said that the petition addressed public concerns for the protection of public safety and infrastructure, particularly in light of the Battani Creek disaster.
He referenced a quote from the resident involved indicating that all necessary professional requirements had been met prior to the tree cutting, and asked if Council had seen and could confirm that to be true before the significant deforestation of such a steep slope.
Reuter noted that in recent meetings, Councillor Neville Abbott had repeatedly made reference to the Village's Soil and Land Alteration Bylaw, which also requires that provincial and federal laws be enforced prior to significant land alteration in the community.
"How about the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation, for instance?" he said. "Yet we haven’t heard or seen any signs that this bylaw has been applied in this instance. And if
it hasn’t, then why not? Is it surprising, so recently on the heels of the Battani disaster, that so many reasonable Lions Bay residents recognize a potential instance of increased risk of landslide when they see one?"
In response, Blackwell replied that the Council table is not the place for technical discussions, and suggested that any public concerns be brought to staff for a more detailed response. Abbott said that he'd like to see more information on the Soil Bylaw, and Mayor Ken Berry suggested he reach out to the CAO.
After further discussion, it was decided that the issues surrounding the petition and the Zoning and Development bylaw would be addressed at a future Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting.
New Indemnification Bylaw
Blackwell presented a new Indemnification Bylaw (page 5), for Council's consideration. The bylaw is intended to replace the existing Indemnification Bylaw (No. 172), which dates back to 1988. He noted that indemnification bylaws serve to ensure that individuals acting on behalf of the municipality are protected from personal financial liability arising from actions they have taken. Discussion centred around a concern voiced by Councillor Neville Abbott noting that the clause "unless the court makes a finding" makes the bylaw too difficult to enforce. Abbott's motion to return the bylaw to staff for correction passed.
Net parking revenue tops $200,000
Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff presented a summary (page 12) of bylaw revenue derived principally from parking fees (as well as dog permits and parking passes) over the past six years. In 2025, gross parking revenue topped $200,000, with fines bringing in more than an additional $175,000, and resulting in a net surplus of almost $150,000. In the discussion that followed, Chirkoff noted that office staff time for follow up had not been accounted for in the surplus.
Seasonal public facilities approved for Oceanview Road
Director of Operations (DO) Eric Villeneuve gave a report (page 15) on the feasibility of installing public toilet facilities in the centre of the Village. Existing toilet facilities include those at both Lions Bay and Kelvin Grove Beach Parks, and the Sunset trailhead. Villeneuve proposed to (seasonally) install four portapotties beside the notice board on Oceanview Road. He added that re-grading of the area is occurring anyway due to the CUBB watermain replacement project, which allows an opportunity to create a flat area to install the facilities at no additional cost. After a brief discussion, the motion passed.
Watercraft temporary storage option approved
Councillor Ron McLaughlin presented an update on the watercraft storage project (page 21) at the Beach Park. His preliminary recommendation was that watercraft belonging to participating residents be stored temporarily on site for the 2026 season at no charge, and that more permanent storage be built by Public Works in the off-season at a location to be decided upon after community input.
Discussion included the number of spaces required, input from the potential users of the storage facility (20 families responded), whether users choose to join a study group on the topic or to just weigh in on the options, and possible non-Beach Park storage locations (four were considered and assessed in an on-site visit by the CAO and DO). Residents who choose to use the temporary facilities this year will be issued a decal, and only watercraft displaying decals will be allowed to use the space.
McLaughlin's motion to allow temporary storage of participating residents' watercraft for the 2026 summer season, with a more permanent structure to be built in the off-season passed.
Emergency Services
Fire Rescue Dispatch Report (included with correspondence on page 26):
In May, Lions Bay Fire Rescue (LBFR) attended 15 incidents, with 22 uses of apparatus and 70 members attending on scene. Average turn-out time for the month was 8:50, average travel time was nine minutes and the average time on scene was 54:35.
Correspondence
The lone item of public correspondence (beginning on page 30) was a letter from Metro Vancouver Board Chair Mike Hurley looking for Council's feedback on an updated version of the municipality's Draft Solid Waste Management Plan.
Local correspondence began with a letter from Kevin Grove resident Paula McLaughlin (page 34) on her concerns about the effect of clearcutting in riparian areas, and the implementation of the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation of BC.
Others included letters from:
former Councillor Marcus Reuter (page 34) protesting the exclusion of names submitted via petition to the Public Hearing addressing a change to the Zoning and Development Bylaw. Councillor Jaime Cunliffe noted that the topic will be brought forward to a future COW meeting.
resident Charlie Bradbury (page 35), asking that Council consider creating youth-focused 'Citizen of the Year' awards. Council agreed that this should also be discussed in more depth at a future COW.
a second note from Reuter (page 36), pointing out an error in the June 10 Special Village Update, where a dated reference was made to an old Official Community Plan (OCP), rather than referencing the current OCP. Blackwell responded that the problem has since been rectified on the Village website.
New Fire Chief Announced
In a break from the usual protocol (where closed meetings are held before regular meetings), Council adjourned at the end of normal proceedings to go into a closed session. Upon returning to the public session, Mayor Berry announced the hiring of a new Fire Chief, and welcomed Lorenzo De Arcangelis and his family to the Village. Berry also said that the 2026 Citizen of the Year had been chosen and would be formally announced at the Canada Day ceremony at Lions Bay Beach Park on July 1.
Other Items of Note
Abbott brought forward the Infrastructure Committee meeting minutes from May 14 for Council's information.
Blackwell reminded Council that the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference is coming this fall, and UBCM Ministerial Meetings need to be booked in by June 24. Berry noted that he booked appointments with three Ministries (Emergency Management, Transportation and Municipal Affairs) back in May, noting that in past years, Council has usually been granted only a single meeting.
Abbott asked that Council approve the promotion of the Community Recycling Depot (CRC) by the Climate Action Committee at the Canada Day event. A lengthy discussion followed, where Blackwell emphasized the importance of utilizing committees as advisory bodies to Council only. Cunliffe said she supported bringing dated practices up to speed, but noted that volunteerism is "the Lions Bay way", and pointed out that in this case, the volunteer who has stepped forward to help has a 30-year history of volunteering in the community. "I think we're all on the same page on this," Berry said. "We all believe our policies and bylaws need to be updated. We need our governance to align with best practices, and want to try to minimize the parallel arm or shadow government, so to speak." Abbott replied that Berry's use of the term 'shadow government' was disrespectful to volunteers, and made the case for this being a volunteer effort. Council agreed to clarify the role of committee members in the future, and the CRC table was approved for Canada Day.
In the absence of any further public questions, the meeting adjourned. The next regular meeting of Council is scheduled for July 7, with the public portion of the meeting beginning at 7 p.m.
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