October 6 Council In Focus

5 hours ago

6 min read

Beach Park Costs: Under budget or overrun?

Tuesday's meeting came with the shortest agenda of the year at 39 pages.

Councillors Neville Abbott, Michael Broughton and Ron McLaughlin, along with Mayor Ken Berry were all present at the table,

Councillor Jaime Cunliffe and Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell joined the meeting online. Financial Officer Joe Chirkoff and Emergency Program Coordinator Mary Brown sat in the gallery, and joined the table later in the meeting. A total of 20 residents attended the meeting, both in person and online.

The agenda (HERE) was approved with the addition of several items.

Differing interpretations of Beach Park numbers

Former Councillor Marcus Reuter opened the business of the evening by expressing his disapproval of Lions Bay Beach Park costs overruns. "The approved project budget was $1,070,000," Reuter said, speaking during the opening public participation segment. "But according to today’s agenda report, the price is currently half a million dollars over budget. Some items such as kayak racks which staff chose to remove, and correcting the placement of the ramp to give kayakers water access — as was committed to and promised — have not been provided."

He added that when the project was handed over to staff by Council, "a third of the approved budget — around $320,000 — had already been spent, according to a staff report in early 2025. And ground hadn’t even been broken yet."

By contrast, when Finance Officer Chirkoff presented Council with his report (page 4) outlining grant funding and spending numbers for the Lions Bay Beach Park project, he said the project came in with a budget surplus of $19,000.

Chirkoff noted that staff had renegotiated the Translink grant up to 85 percent, leading to the savings. He said that the Village has now been fully reimbursed by the province for eligible costs, and after listing the sources of funding, he said the project is under budget.

Chirkoff also said that while the grant approval came through in 2022, the project didn't really get going until the start of summer last year. Construction began in earnest last September, and ran through May of this year. He credited staff and project manager Jurgen Franke with what he called "a quick turn-around" after a long time where nothing happened.

Addressing these conflicting views, Councillor Neville Abbott noted that Council had been required to approve several increases in the budget since the initial numbers had been set. These increases were to cover the costs of the jetty rebuild, which had been taken out of the initial scope of the project, along with the septic system and the redesign. He added the end result was that taxpayers had to pay close to $300,000 more than they initially agreed to.

Councillor Ron McLaughlin, who had made the request of staff for this report, agreed with Abbott's assessment (as well as Reuter's) that taxpayers were more out-of-pocket than had been initially stated.

Indigenous Signage Project

Emergency Program Coordinator Mary Brown addressed Council regarding a sizeable grant Emergency Social Services (ESS) has received called the Indigenous Engagement Requirement Fund.

Brown noted that the grant must be spent on reconciliation and capacity building between ESS and the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She said this is a requirement of the Emergency and Disaster Management Act, and aligns with DRIPA (Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act).

Following up on the drum-making project undertaken last year, Brown said the funds will be sufficient to have an Indigenous carver create signs in the Squamish language to indicate the original name of the Lions Mountain. This is Ch'ich'iyúy Elxwíkn, which translates to 'Twin Sisters' in English.

Brown noted that the grant money is already in place, and that the Lions Bay Arts Council has agreed to help with the process of finding a suitable carver (which they have done so successfully in the case of the recently-installed Beach Park artwork). Brown was seeking Council's permission that once carved, the signs could be properly sited and installed in Brunswick Beach and in Kelvin Grove. Council approved this request.

Memorial Garden project hits substantial roadblock

Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell brought forward a concern regarding the proposed garden at the end of Brunswick Road at the confluence of Battani and Magnesia Creeks, in memory of Barbara and David Enns. The Enns died when their home was swept away by a debris torrent in December, 2024.

Blackwell noted that while the garden was approved by a Council resolution in July, and work has begin on the site by volunteers, a complaint has been lodged with the province and the municipality by local residents. He said that for a garden of any size to go forward on Village land, a number of procedures must be followed. These include community engagement, amendment of the current land-use designation and a rezoning of the area to reflect a park, as well as allocating budget for maintenance in the long term. He said that most importantly, the Village needs to seek permission from the province to adapt this riparian (water-side) area into a public space.

McLaughlin said that he regretted that a quiet little feel-good community project has become a legal matter, and offered to rescind the original motion. After discussion, Council revisited the July resolution to create the memorial garden. A vote was taken, resulting in a tie, and therefore defeated. The future of the garden remains uncertain.

Correspondence

General correspondence (beginning on page 20) included a letter from long-time Lions Bay resident Ruth Simons, in her role as Executive Director of the Átl’ḵa7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society, thanking the outgoing Council for their support and reminding them of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the organization and the Village. Council voted in support of the MOU.

Also included was a letter from Minister of Children and Family Development Jodie Wickens, proclaiming October as Foster Family Month in British Columbia (page 28), and a letter from Metro Vancouver Board Chair Mike Hurley sharing a recently completed study on infrastructure costs in Metro Vancouver (page 30).

Resident correspondence included letters from:

Former Mayor Doug Pollock wrote expressing concern over the changes in waste collection under the new contract (page 33). McLaughlin asked that staff craft a response to this letter.
A resident —whose name was redacted — wrote of their concerns regarding what they called the systemic denial of service by HandyDART (Translink)for a person with Alzheimer's living in Lions Bay (page 35). Mayor Ken Berry said that staff had reached out to their contacts at Translink, who he said have agreed to address the problem. Several Councillors reiterated the importance of ensuring this service, to which Lions Bay residents are entitled.
It was decided that the meeting scheduled for October 20 will also address a few items of regular Council business. That meeting takes place in the week after the municipal elections have been held, but before the new Council is sworn in on November 3. It is customarily held only as a symbolic wrap-up of the current Council term.

Other Items of Note

Speaking in the public participation segment, ESS Director Roel Court asked for Council support in purchasing and installing two Starlink antennas to facilitate communication in the Village during an emergency. He noted the install cost is $1,268, with about the same amount paid annually to maintain service. Council agreed to this request. Later in her presentation, EPC Mary Brown noted that the costs should be covered by the ESS budget.
Councillor Michael Broughton gave a report (page 16) in which he reviewed a number of possible locations within the Village Hall for a piece of Michael Tickner artwork, donated to the Village by residents Bob Dickinson and Lorna Smith. Broughton recommended the artwork be placed in Chambers, and that a ceremony take place to express appreciation for the donation, with the donors, and Tickner's son Richard, to be invited.

Before the meeting adjourned, it was decided that a meeting be scheduled for October 20. This date falls after a new Council has been elected but prior to the scheduled swearing-in on November 3, and while the occasion is customarily devoted only to the wrap-up of the current Council term, is now expected to address some regular Council business.