March Council in Focus

A brief recap of Council meetings, as viewed from the gallery

Event: Lions Bay Council Meeting

Date: March 18, 2025

Time: Public meeting: 7 p.m.

Agenda: HERE

Video: Part 1, Part 2

Present at the council table were Mayor Ken Berry and Councillors Neville Abbott, and Michael Broughton, along with and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ross Blackwell. Councillor Jaime Cunliffe joined the group online. Director of Operations Karl Buhr and Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff joined the table when invited.

A single resident attended in person and 11 attended online.

The public portion of the meeting was preceded this week by a closed session from which there was no reporting out. The agenda was adopted with minor changes.

Public Participation

Long-time resident Russ Meiklejohn voiced his objections to the investigation of a second community dock, slated to be discussed as a staff report later in the evening's agenda. He pointed to the number of outstanding issues Council is already facing, and called the proposal "a solution in search of a problem."

Former Mayor Ron McLaughlin, now chair of the Lions Bay Historical Society (LBHS) echoed Meiklejohn's request that Council not approve the Emergency Access dock.

He advised the Trail Blazers and the LBHS believe the site would be perfect as a memorial park to honour the tragic loss of Barbara and David Enns, and said the initiative has the support of the Enns' children. He noted that the two volunteer groups will make a presentation April 15 seeking Council's support.

Approval of Past Meeting Minutes

Minutes from regular meeting on February 18 were adopted with minor amendments, as were minutes from the special meeting on March 4.

Business Arising

Councillor Neville Abbott asked for clarification from Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ross Blackwell regarding attendance at the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention. Abbott said that while Council agreed that two members would attend the Lower Mainland Government Association (LMGA) meetings, no such decision had been made regarding the UBCM, and asked what the basis was for the amount in the budget.

Action Items

Abbott asked about the status of staff seeking funding for small communities, (Item 321 on the Action Items Log on page 22). Blackwell said he plans to start working on it Wednesday. Mayor Ken Berry said that Metro Vancouver has passed a resolution that their staff would work with municipalities with populations under 19,000 to come up with a business case for the region to manage emergency response for small communities.

Staff Reports

Blackwell presented a report in support of a study (page 16) to determine the feasibility of constructing a dock for emergency use at the end of the road in Brunswick Beach next to Magnesia Creek.

"This infrastructure would serve as an alternate access point to the community in the event of an emergency where Highway 99 access is disrupted both north and south of the Village," said Blackwell, adding that it could significantly enhance the Village’s resilience in the event of a major highway disruption.

After discussion, Council did not support this initiative.

Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff made another attempt to bring the 2025 Budget (page 23) forward for second reading. Subsequent discussion included changing a few priorities, and Council was generally in support of funding the forklift requested by Lions Bay Fire Rescue (LBFR).

In the only reference of the evening to the recent resignation of Fire Chief Barret Germscheid, Councillor Jaime Cunliffe noted that with a new fire chief, priorities may change.

Abbott voiced his concern about depleting the reserves as much as recommended. Both Abbott and Cunliffe expressed reservations about the $140,000 allotted for dangerous tree removal. Blackwell directed any further discussion of the matter into the next closed session, but cautioned that the expenditure would be required to go forward.

After further discussion that included the high cost and importance of repairing the jetty, Council once again declined to give the budget second reading.

Blackwell reminded Council that they had hoped to get this budget approved last December, and said that Council's choice to not pass the budget has left staff with no direction to move forward. Abbott pointed out that the contentious parts of the budget need to be addressed in a closed session.

Resolutions

Blackwell presented a letter (page 43) to member municipalities of the Lower Mainland Government Association (LMGA) in support of strengthening regional emergency management capacity, which was approved for presentation at the upcoming LMGA conference by council. Council approved a resolution to draft and send the letter.

Emergency Reports

Fire Rescue Dispatch Report (included with correspondence on page 52):

In February, Lions Bay Fire Rescue (LBFR) attended nine incidents, with 12 uses of apparatus and 59 members attending. Average turn-out time for the month was 9:26, average travel time was 7:19 and the average time on scene was 32:49.

Correspondence

General letters to Council began on page 46:

• Councillor Michael Broughton replied to Khelsilem, Council Chair of the Squamish Nation, addressing Lions Bay's willingness to collaborate on the Squamish Nation’s Climate Legacy Strategy.

• Former teacher Cathy Peters wrote (page 48) to inform Lions Bay of her website on the related subjects of human sex exploitation and trafficking of both children and adults.

• Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens wrote (page 57) asking for support at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) for a resolution requesting provincial infrastructure support for municipalities who are faced with a need to increase densification.

• Maddie From of Food Cycle Science (page 58), wrote asking for support of a municipal countertop composting program.

Residential correspondence began on page 79:

• Mayor Ken Berry replied to resident Rose Dudley's letter of February 22 (page 79), in which she said that her concerns and those of other residents who express disagreement with the Mayor have been disregarded.

• Former mayor Ron McLaughlin wrote (page 80) in his capacity as Chair of the Historical Society for permission to use the Village flag or heraldry while holding a contest seeking an official Village bird. A resolution in support of this usage of Village symbols was passed.

Public Questions and Comments

Long-time resident and regular meeting attendee Deirdre Bain asked why, if the jetty was so high a priority, it was taken out of the initial Lions Bay Beach Project grant. Broughton noted that the provincial funding authority, while supportive, questioned the feasibility of doing the work required within the existing budget. He said they had originally intended just to refurbish the jetty, but it became apparent that a complete reconstruction was more likely to be needed. Bain further inquired what the cost is expected to be, and Broughton replied $180,000, although the grant allowed for only $80,000.

Council then voted to return to a closed session, and the public portion of the meeting ended.

The next meeting of council is a Committee of the Whole, scheduled for Tuesday, April 1 at 6 p.m.

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