Forest Closure. Thank you to the Vancouver Coastal Fire Centre for their support in assisting in our temporary closure of our watershed during a serious dry spell in August. During this time there were 100 new fires daily in British Columbia. The last closure of our forests was 2003, which was also also caused by extreme hazadarous conditions.

Emergency Planning. Subsequent to this dry spell the Emergency Planning Committee met in August to discuss Evacuation Planning.. This is an integrated team representing Ambulance, Block Watch, Emergency Social Services, Lions Bay Fire Rescue, Lions Bay Search and Rescue, and Village of Lions Bay Council. We have been meeting regularly, working on our Emergency and Evacuation Plan for Lions Bay.

Kiewit/Miller Capilano Passover and Sound Walls. The Highway Advisory Group has been meeting monthly this year, in addition to holding frequent meetings on-site and topic specific meetings. Kiewit will transfer the Sea to Sky Project over to Miller Capilano to proceed with Highway Operations Friday, September 25th, 2009. This does not include the Sound Walls. Kiewit has been awarded a separate contract for Sound Walls. Kiewit is currently reviewing the project with potential sub-contractors.

2010 Olympic Torch Relay Task Force. We applied for and received a 2010 Torch Relay Grant of $8,000. These funds are to be used for the February 4th Torch Relay Event in Lions Bay. Thank you to Brigitta Shore for working with me on the grant application. Brigitta Shore is the Torch Relay Event Day Chair. The vision that she and her team have developed for February 4th, is phenomenal. Thank you, Brigitta and Committee Members.

Torch Relay dates to remember: September 19th climbing the Lions with the Lions Bay Flag, November 21st Wine Fundraiser for the Torch Relay and Thursday, February 4th at 4pm, the Lions Bay Torch Relay. Residents Carolyn Ann Wray and John Phillips have been selected as Torch Bearers ! Their Torch Community has yet to be determined.

Cedar Carving. Under carving master Darrel Loppe, 10 Lions Bay volunteer carvers have continued throughout the summer at Sue and Albert Forshaw’s residence. Their round carving, 4’ in diameter, is based on Lions Bay Artist, Michael Tickner’s “Pride of the Lions”. Carvers will select its name and when completed, it will be placed near the Village Office. This is really an exciting project !

Planter Boxes. Rose Dudley had mentioned to Grant Prior that the planter box project had yet to be completed. Grant not only offered to design the boxes, but obtained a grant for the materials to complete them.. After being on the drawing board for a long period, Grant said that he would be involved. Blink ! and it was done. Thank you very much Grant and Rose !

Fall Project Update:

Highways ~ Kiewit is contractually responsible to complete its work by September 30th, 2009
Sound Wall projected completion date is the end of October, 2009.

Landscaping. Lions Bay owes a great debt of gratitude to the Landscaping Sub-Committee of the Highway Advisory Group. The plantings look absolutely amazing ! Thank you to Lisa Turpin (Leader), Rose Dudley, Rich Mossakowski, Gordon Taylor and Marleis Torrance !

Plant Replacement. The dead or dying plants will be replaced by September 30th.
Irrigation. The centre median, planters, and berms are each irrigated. MoT provided us with $5,000 of funding in August to complete the berm irrigation systems, which were the responsibility of Lions Bay.

Village Feel. This is an exciting time to see things coming together…in 2002, while Mayor, I walked the Highway Corridor with Tom Tanaka, the first Project Designer and discussed the importance of the highway having a ‘Dundarave’ type of feeling to ‘tie our Village together’, rather than be ‘cut’ by the highway, emphasizing the importance of plantings down the middle of the highway, Village style lamp standards and the importance of rebuilding of the Tidewater trail, once the highway was completed. Seven years later ~ the Highway Advisory Group has worked diligently on sound mitigation ~ sound walls, silent pavement, split highway; a context sensitive Village Style design to assist in controlling speeding ~ curving road design, with a focus on landscaping, lamp standards; and trail building, the Centennial Trail, not yet complete, and re-building the Tidewater Trail, which is now complete.

Centennial Trail:
Permits.
a. The Lions Bay Works Crew has carved the southern trailhead for the Centennial Trail. This resulted in MoT ~ Ministry of Transportation Operations, (we have been working with MoT Projects), asking us to submit plans for permits. This has resulted in a redesign of the fencing and continued discussions with MoT to complete the requirements for the permits. The fencing required is galvanized steel. We could perhaps place a wood façade on the fencing afterwards.

b. Alberta Creek Pedestrian Bridge began work in August ! Thank you to MoT.

c. Northern Trailhead. Kiewit has begun, and has likely completed by press time, the Brunswick Pit trail portion. Asphalt grindings will be placed on this portion of the trail to ensure that grasses do not grow and easy trail access persists. Thank you to Kiewit !

d. Wooden Bridge. The Lions Bay Works Crew built a beautiful wooden bridge for this trailway ! Thank you to the Works crew for this work and their work on the entry berm at Lions Bay Avenue.

The Magnesia and Harvey Creek Ultra Violet Reactor Water Intake Upgrade for multi-barrier water filtration. This project began in July and will be completed by December, 2009, which includes Works staff training. It came in $1M under budget. Council’s goal is to use the excess funds to complete necessary rock scaling that was in the original grant application.

Septic Mini-Treatment Plant. The Village Municipal Building septic system requires replacement, which is in our 2009 budget. This project will be completed this fall.

Berm Official Opening Sunday, October 18th at 1pm.
The Berm planting project also required a permit for MoT Operations. This has been granted, but has held up the project. Through the Trees For Tomorrow Grant funding we have purchased trees and shrubs for the Lions Bay Avenue northbound exit berm on the east side. Planting will occur in the beginning of October. Public Works will complete the rock work on the berm by September 20th.

Painting the Municipal Community Hall and Dale Klatt Emergency Building. The painting was completed by a contractor September 8th. The Kiosk and Bus Shelter will be painted by Public Works.

Permitting Required for Banner Poles. We require permitting on the MoT property, thus the banners on MoT property will need to be relocated to the lamp standards on MoT property. We are moving ahead on this change.

Recreation Hub Task Force will hold three community-wide planning meetings beginning Wednesday, October 21st. The second and third meetings are scheduled for November 25th and January 20th. Please plan to attend to provide your input. Community involvement is very important.

Lower Lions Bay Water Pipe Line Replacement. Lions Bay was awarded an $875,000 Building Canada Grant to complete the Lower Lions Bay Water Pipe Line Replacement. We will review the possibility of underground wiring at the same time, prior to moving ahead on this project. Underground wiring is a goal within the OCP. We will apply for a Hydro Beautification Grant as part of the planning process.

Boundary Expansion. The first very preliminary discussions will begin with Metro Vancouver Planning Staff meeting with residents of Strachan Point, who have asked if it would be possible to restructure with Lions Bay. As well, Metro will discuss this with Ocean Pointe residents. The Metro Vancouver Electoral A Committee has put some funds forward for Metro staff time.

As we head into the Fall and planning for 2010, Council looks forward to both meeting with you, and hearing from you in order to gain input on many of the important decisions coming up in 2010.

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