Meet Your Candidate: Neville Abbott
Incumbent Councillor seeks re-election
Editor's Note: The Watershed has contacted all the current candidates running in the upcoming Municipal Election to give them the opportunity to answer a few questions. All the candidates were offered the same questions (apart from those which differ to reflect the experience of candidates who have not held office before). Responses have been edited for brevity, style and clarity.
You have held the position of Councillor before. What makes you want to take the job on again?
The short answer is unfinished business. As chair of the Climate Action (CAC) and Infrastructure (IC) Committees, when I reflect on the 11 projects and initiatives we achieved, I am reminded that many of these are underway but will require further stewardship to see a successful outcome. There are other big decisions for the Village to make in the next term and I want to bring my experience and vision to that conversation.
Should you win your seat, what is the most important challenge facing the Village in the upcoming term?
I think there are three priorities: Taking a hard look at our finances: end the trend of continuously increasing expenditure/costs. We must continue to leverage our size and rural designation to gain access to grant funding.
Although the committees have assisted in obtaining several grants, grants are an under-utilized source of funding for the Village compared to other small communities. Ensuring resilience in the face of climate change: after the Battani landslide the upcoming climate risk assessment takes on a whole new urgency and developing a plan so that we are better prepared to handle changing weather patterns and their effects on our natural hazards, water supply, infrastructure (both built and natural), coastline and human wellbeing has to be a priority. Repairing the division brought on by the ravages of social media I think will be the biggest challenge. I applaud the many community groups who have continued to collaborate on positive activities and initiatives, retaining the true spirit of the Lions Bay we love.
The most recent term of Council was divided to the point of dysfunction. Do you have any thoughts for a positive change?
Yes, this term was totally different to my first term as a Councillor. There were signs early on that there was not going to be the necessary collaboration and that a lot was going on without the knowledge of Council as a whole. Councils must work collaboratively; this is written into our oath of office and code of conduct… one doesn’t get to choose who you are elected to work with. All it takes is tolerance of other points of view. It also requires that Council’s decisions are reflected by all once the vote has taken place. My strategy in this dysfunction was to make progress by moving important Infrastructure, Climate Action, highway noise and other projects forward working with committee volunteers, and I think this approach has paid off for the Village.
In the last term, Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff introduced the reality that the Village faces at least $10 million in pending infrastructure upgrades not covered by grant money. How would you prioritize these projects?
The number presented by staff was actually $223 million which I described in the meeting as alarmist, which it is. Discussions based on farcical numbers are not constructive. In the previous council term, we engaged a consultant to review our infrastructure deficit and concluded it was $26 million as best as I recall. With the hyper-inflation the construction industry has seen since COVID this could now be $40 million or more, a large number but something we can focus on and find a way to manage by being strategic, grant focused, etc.
As chair of the IC, I can confirm we regularly review our Infrastructure Master Plan, which prioritizes the most-needed projects. We have made good progress over the last few years. Addressing leaks and being able to encourage water conservation to ensure water security was a big one. We are now in a much better place than we were when I joined Council eight years ago. Through our water metering, water infrastructure improvements and leak detection we have a clear path and plan to create a resilient water system. On this term we have already cut our water consumption in half, increased our supply by adding a backup from Alberta Creek, modernized our system controls and increased automation. Two units are now online and have already detected one significant leak in a specific zone. This is now being addressed. The metering project will finally give us the missing tool to complete our plans.
The CAC has recently succeeded in getting a grant for a Risk Assessment and Climate Adaptation Plan. I don’t want to presume what this study will conclude, but it could see our drainage and civil infrastructure as the next biggest risk. As with the water metering project, the CAC will collaborate with the IC to identify what that next project or suite of projects should be before providing recommendations to Council and direction to staff. These projects open the door to further grant funding of up to $1 million from the same source, but there are larger grants available which we could consider.
What strengths do you bring to the Council table?
I’m ready to hit the ground running and continue to work on the infrastructure and climate action projects already underway or about to begin. I understand how municipal budgets work (or don’t!) and with the right people at the table we can cut costs and manage our expenditure. My style is to research every agenda item thoroughly, because details are important for making solid decisions. Fortunately, I now have a lot of background on many projects and issues and lessons learned. This is important because most of our staff are new to Lions Bay and especially with infrastructure it’s very valuable to understand where we’re at and where we need to be. My day job is in project management and large construction, which is an expertise I bring that the Village needs. With my knowledge of the Community Charter and Roberts' Rules, I look forward to a return to procedural correctness around the table and more discussion rather than the rush to vote. I have built strong connections and collaborations with members of Council in other municipalities (for example on the highway noise monitors), ministry staff, subject matter experts and regional organizations and I bring the benefits of these to our committee initiatives.
The recent clear-cutting of a private property on Oceanview Road has prompted a petition and a public outcry. Would you support the creation of bylaws addressing tree-cutting, protection of riparian boundaries and steep slopes?
Absolutely, however, we have a bylaw as I pointed out in more than one meeting. I believe that could and should have been used to manage this situation and am appalled that the clear-cut happened the way it did in despite the bylaw. I also believe Council needs to regain oversight in such situations because we’ve seen too many things occurring that are not appropriate in Lions Bay.
Many residents along Mountain, Sunset and Bayview have expressed frustration with the vast increase in hiker vehicle parking and traffic. Suggestions have been made to offer alternate parking in the gravel pit or elsewhere on Crown land. How would you respond to resident concerns?
I live in this neighbourhood and completely understand resident frustration around the hiker parking issue. I have not given up on the idea of utilizing the gravel pit for off-street hiker parking. I have and will continue to lobby the MLA and provincial ministry. At last week’s UBCM we tried to arrange a meeting with MOTT. Each councillor was going to pitch a use of the gravel pit for the benefit of LB, mine was hiker parking.
It should be noted other areas of LB also have parking issues, the beach park being next most problematic. Encouraging visitors to use the shuttle from the gravel pit to the beach park could be helpful, but it would also create more access so will need to carefully considered how to manage the numbers of visitors.
The recent trial of public porta-potties positioned near the Village centre has produced calls of concern regarding smell and garbage from nearby home owners. This is balanced against evidence that visitors are relieving themselves on our local streets. Do you have any thoughts to share?
No more porta-potties! Fortunately, this trial run on Oceanview ends on October 1st. Lions Bay is a residential neighbourhood, not a construction site. We must find a permanent solution using our existing facilities and/or install something permanent. We are spending $52,000 per year on porta-potties. This is not what we tax residents for.
What else would you like to share with residents today? Where can they reach you? Do you have a website where voters can read your platform online?
Yes, yes & yes.
www.nevilleabbott.ca nevilleabbott@gmail.com 604-363-2667
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Neville is hands down one of the hardest working people I have had the pleasure to work with, both on council as well as on committees. He is razor focused on the issues and pays attention to the details. Details matter, as does institutional history. Neville brings so much value and we are really lucky to have him!