Where Has the CAO Been?

I find myself again apologizing for my lack of posts recently. Between some vacation time, a Local Government Administration program at Capilano University and Union of BC Municipalities Convention, September has flown by. I have certainly had a fair share of comments about my Blog delinquency. So now time catch up on a number of initiatives that may be of interest:

CN Rail Ties - As of this past weekend, the contractor was doing some very final clean-up with all of the chips removed. Finally! In a meeting with CN Rail last week, they admitted to the error in choosing this site as a grinding and storage facility in the core of our City. The future of the site is in the hands of the owner, BC Properties. With respect to contaminated soils, this falls under the Environmental Management Act which requires a Site Profile and possible Site Investigation should the owner transfer the property or apply for a rezoning, development or development variance permit or change in use. Given the site's past history as a rail works and storage yard, there will undoubtedly be some degree of contamination.

Road Paving Program - Thanks to a suggestion and support of Community and Rural Development Minister Ben Stewart and MLA Donna Barnett late this summer, the City applied to the Federal/Provincial Infrastructure Program to utilize the surplus funds from our Mackenzie Avenue grant for other paving priorities in the City. After a rather lengthy approval process, we received approval Monday last week which has resulted in the rather hasty implementation of the expanded paving program this week. At the end of the day, the City will benefit from approximately $1 million in paving at a cost of approximately $300,000 to City taxpayers. Pretty good value. The City utilized our recently developed 'Pavement Management Plan' to priortize the streets to be paved.

Infrastructure Improvements at the Complex - Regualr users of the Complex may have noticed a number of improvements that have been completed in recent months. Some are more obvious than others, including new sidewalks, lighting in the pool, informational video monitors in the lobbies, arena washrooms, etc. Behind the scenes, the pool has a renewed de-humidification system and new high efficiency boilers. Still to be completed is a new entrance for the arenas with automated doors similar to the main entry. Not only will these improvements contriubute to increased energy efficiency in the building but will make the building more user friendly and modern.

2010 Union of BC Municipalities Convention - I joined a majority of Council in Whsitler at the UBCM Convention last week. As usual, it was a very busy week with many meetings with Ministers and other agencies and numerous education and information sessions. Highlights include obtaining approval from CN Rail to use their road between the rail line and the lake east of RC Cotton for the KidSport Classic in 2011, consideration by the RCMP for a Urban First Nations policing unit, pledge of $1 million per year for three years for the CC Beetle Action Coalition by the Premier and recognition for the City's FCM Sustainibility Award. Although a significant committment of time, I always leave UBCM with a sense of confidence in what we are doing as a community and new information we can use to make our community and administration even better.