The following are briefs from the June 28 regular council meeting:
A goodbye
It was chief financial officer Raj Hayre’s final council meeting. Hayre joined the municipality in early 2018 and has been the face of all things financial in the years since. “It’s been a very extraordinarily busy time,” said Ander. “But he’s done a great job for us.
“Despite all the challenges, he leaves us in a very good nick, as they would say, with all of the capital projects nicely under control.
“We’ve certainly enjoyed his candor and his operation.”
Protecting a park
Bowen Island Conservancy and Bowen Island Municipality will enter into a protective covenant for the conservancy’s 32-acre property at Cape Roger Curtis. The covenant is intended to protect the land from development in perpetuity and to reduce its BC Assessment value (currently about $9.3 million).
Using public spaces
Third reading of a bylaw regulating use of public spaces passed.
The bylaw imposes a host of prohibitions and permitting requirements for municipally managed public spaces. Among the prohibitions without permit: allow one’s animals to damage vegetation; abandon possessions; create or modify pathways or trails; smoke or use a vape; place or keep possessions in public places so as to be unsightly; hold or participate in gatherings and events – formal or informal – of 20 people or more; post ads, bills or posters other than in designated areas or community notice boards; set off fireworks or pyrotechnics; or camp. (For a full list of restrictions, see council agenda.)
The bylaw, drawn up initially in response to an encampment behind the library, has grown to encompass other uses of public spaces that bylaw services encounters. It also introduces a permitting process for allowing use of municipal lands to hold activities, something there isn’t a mechanism for in existing bylaws.
Under the bylaw, people experiencing homelessness may have a temporary shelter between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. but the shelter and belongings must be removed by 9 a.m. It also cannot be “within 10 metres of any structure, wharf, building, right of way, access road, Access Area, street, sidewalk, trail, picnic area, ecologically sensitive area, beach, heritage site, signage, information kiosk, restroom, public amenity, sports field, memorial, parking, municipal playground, bike park, skateboard park, disc golf course, or playscape.”
Councillors were generally amenable to the bylaw, “I think people do expect rules in public places,” said Coun. Sue Ellen Fast, “And I think this also is an invitation – ‘you can get a permit, yes, here’s how.’”
“There are tools that we can use or not use, depending on what’s going on,” said Ander.
The exception was Coun. Rob Wynen who has consistently voted against the bylaw – “When we’re restricting use of public space, that’s a pretty high bar for me,” said Wynen. “I just need to really feel that it’s very necessary and that we don’t have overreach, and that there is really broad public understanding on what’s happening here,” he said.
The bylaw just needs to pass adoption.
Granting
Community grants were awarded to Caring Circle ($15,000); Bowen lsland Community Festival Association ($2,200); Bowen Children’s Centre ($8,500); Light Up Bowen ($2,200); Thrive Bowen ($5,000); and Bowen Island Resilient Community Housing ($8,500).
Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program (CARIP) grants were awarded to Uncharted Waters: The Young Voices of Howe Sound documentary film project ($1,500) and Thrive Bowen ($2,500).
A forum
Council agreed to host the 2021 Howe Sound Community Forum, gathering the elected officials of the communities around Howe Sound. (Bowen was supposed to host the event in 2020 but it was cancelled because of some global emergency.)
Post-COVID hybridity?
When will in-person meetings resume? Given the hopefully waning hold of the pandemic, when in-person council business may resume got some airtime. In discussion with CAO Liam Edwards, council agreed to proceed with finding a way to hold hybrid meetings in the future. There was an attempt last fall to hold in-person/Zoom hybrid meetings but the technology couldn’t support the endeavour. Staff will investigate technologies to allow hybridity and report back to council. Funding may come from either a grant or the COVID-19 relief funding the municipality received last year.
While mask restrictions could be lightening in coming months, Edwards said municipal hall will keep COVID-19 protocols until the fall at the very earliest, including masks.
