Megan Grittani-Livingston/The Question

Mayor Jordan Sturdy answers a question put to him during the Village of Pemberton¹s town hall meeting on Tuesday (June 9).

The Village of Pemberton’s mayor and councillors fielded questions on everything from governance and identity to community centre costs and the Olympic transportation plan at Tuesday’s (June 9) annual town hall meeting.

The Village’s fourth town hall meeting since 2007 drew about 35 attendees. Taking place in the new community centre, the event was coupled with an open house for the Village’s update of the Official Community Plan.

One attendee asked council members about the status of the Village’s boundary expansion proposal and continuing issues of community identity divided between the Village and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District’s Electoral Area C.

Mayor Jordan Sturdy said the boundary extension application has been submitted to the province, but “everything came to a bit of a halt” in the lead-up to the recent provincial election. He said he hopes things will move forward, but added “that really is a small part of the picture.”

“The longer-term issue is one that the regional board has actually grappled with,” Sturdy said, noting that the SLRD board has made studying governance its top priority, and the Village’s council has formally agreed to be part of those discussions.

Sturdy added that a realistic timeline for the work could be approximately five years. In response, the attendee encouraged Village officials to take an independent look at the options, he said.

Questioned on finances for the new community centre, Sturdy said the facility was within six per cent of the original budget, but that other expenses arose, including the need to do a traffic study and upgrade for the intersection and to make adjustments for the water line and parking lot.

“I can’t agree with you there. We didn’t come in 54 per cent over budget… The bookkeeping on the facility here shows that we came in within six per cent of the original budget on this building. The challenge came with all the other parts to the project,” Sturdy said.

Between the Village and Electoral Area C, he said, “I think currently we need to find around $1 million… for fiscal 2010, I believe.”

Sturdy said officials are looking for opportunities to gather that money, such as a program of sponsorship and corporate naming.

“Obviously our timing isn’t very good… (but) we’re looking for those opportunities. Obviously some hard decisions are going to have to be made as to where some of those funds can come from,” he said.

Asked about the Olympic transportation planning, Sturdy said the Village officials have told B.C. Transit and Vancouver Olympic organizers the proposed service every 15 minutes for Pemberton won’t be enough at certain points, judging by traffic leaving Pemberton between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m.

Sturdy said B.C. Transit officials have said they will have 100 extra buses during the Games and “the ability to be extremely responsive.” Plans for a park-and-ride facility are also being discussed, he added.

“Our experience last summer demonstrated the need to have a good transportation plan. This is key, and it’s key for a lot of us,” he said.

Other questions touched on natural limits to growth in the area, water issues, the GEMS private school proposal, and spending on the Pemberton and Area C economic development consultant.

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