October 20 Council In Focus

4 hours ago

3 min read

Tumultuous term comes to an end

In a meeting that can only be described as 'short and sweet', staff joined members of Council to mark the end of this often-tumultuous term.

Mayor Ken Berry called the meeting to order, with all members of the out-going Council present at the table, including Councillors Neville Abbott, Michael Broughton, Jaime Cunliffe and Ron McLaughlin.

Joining them was Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell. Other members of staff including Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff, Fire Chief Lorenzo Di Arcangelis and Director of Operations Eric Villeneuve observed from the gallery.

At the October 6 meeting, members of Council had expressed an interest in wrapping up a number of issues on October 20, however the evening's meeting proceeded without an agenda, so all outstanding issues now become the responsibility of the incoming Council.

Each Councillor was given a few moments to share their thoughts.

Outgoing Councillor Michael Broughton said he found the term "a real challenge, but very rewarding." He went on to recognize members of the Works Department and the office staff, and to mark a number of highlights of the term.

The other councillors did much the same, acknowledging the hard work put in by Village staff and volunteers, heralding completion of the Beach Park and praising the contributions of Lions Bay Fire Rescue, Lions Bay Search and Rescue and Emergency Support Services.

It was noted that in this Council term, local emergency services had to handle not only the Battani Creek disaster, but two wildfires and the loss of two homes to fire, along with multiple mountain rescues and highway accidents.

Outgoing Councillor (and Mayor-elect) Ron McLaughlin lauded the advent of the new full-time Fire Chief Di Arcangelis, and Emergency Support Services Manager Roel Court. He noted that new Emergency Program Coordinator Mary Brown has brought in the long-awaited Community Evacuation Plan, and overseen the development of local neighbourhood emergency pods, among other accomplishments.

Councillor Neville Abbott made a special point of thanking the members of the Scholarship, Climate Action and Infrastructure committees, as well as the volunteers with the many other local community groups. He also echoed earlier thanks to what he called "the engine room of the organization" — Andrew, Aidan, Garth and Alberto of the Works Department, as well as the hard-working staff in the Village Office.

Outgoing Mayor Ken Berry thanked staff and community for allowing Council to serve for four years, calling the experience a pleasure and an honour. He said that the actions taken by Council over the term "came from a good place in our hearts and all of us were doing the best we could during that time."

He said that the natural beauty of Lions Bay may have drawn him to the Village, but he's been most impressed by the quality of the people who live here in the past and present. "There's not too many communities as small as ours that have produced seven Olympians, a leading environmental champion, Resource Centre Hall of Fame inductees, a leading Canadian philanthropist, an eight-time Juno award winner, a recipient of the Order of British Columbia and a leading Canadian broadcaster, just to name a few."

CAO Ross Blackwell thanked the members of Council for their work over the term, noting that the time they devoted to the business of the Village meant time away from families, employment and other activities.

He handed each member of Council a box containing a glass plaque acknowledging their contributions, and noted they "stepped forward, served, and that their service to Lions Bay was appreciated."

With that, the meeting adjourned.

Newly elected Mayor Ron McLaughlin, and Councillors Neville Abbott, Ehsan Monfared, Leslie Nolin and Adam Solheim will be sworn in on Tuesday November 3 at 6 p.m.