The Audain Art Museum has officially been incorporated as a registered non-profit as part of efforts to establish the cultural facility in Whistler. At the same time municipal officials are working on efforts in the resort to address land-related issues
“I thought we would be successful,” Goldsmith-Jones said, on the ferry to the Sunshine Coast to thank volunteers there. “I had knocked on so many doors and had so many conversations. People went from being anti-Stephen Harper to a more constructive and positive outlook. That told me the Liberals were likely to be successful.” Goldsmith-Jones, the former mayor of West Vancouver, won her seat with 35,818 votes, beating incumbent Conservative MP John Weston’s 17,191 votes. “It’s been really, really busy,” she said about her life after Election Day. “My first obligation is to the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers we had. I’m on my way to Sechelt to our ‘thank you party.’ On Tuesday it’ll be in West Vancouver and Wednesday in Whistler. A couple days after that I go to the orientation for new members of Parliament.”
“What we’re trying to do is anticipate the long-term housing needs so that we can really understand what the implications are for the future and, therefore, what recommendations ought to be made,” she said. “We’ll also be looking at the evolution of neighbourhoods, both with market and employee-restricted housing.” The survey will be launched in the coming weeks with the task force expecting results back in May. There are no details yet on how it will be conducted, but Wilhelm-Morden said she anticipates it will be through multiple avenues like online and over the phone. Afterwards, “we want to go to the community like the transportation advisory group did to roll out what we know and what we’re recommending,” she said, referring to the transportation forum held back in January.
It s a relief, said Wilhelm-Morden when asked how she felt now that issue was finally settled. I said when they originally filed the appeal that I was disappointed it had not been concluded and that it was continuing this prolonged saga. So I m very relieved that it s finally over.
Originally owned by the Saxton family, the lands were expropriated by the RMOW in 1987 in order to make way for what is now known as Rainbow Park. At that time the muni paid the family $367,000 for the lands based on its assessment of fair market value at that time. Feeling underpaid, the family took the RMOW to court in 2009 and was awarded a further $1.3 million in 2010. In April of this year, the RMOW and the Saxtons returned to court to determine the interest and costs from the case, which was set at a further $1.4 million - $3 million short of the $4.4 million the Saxtons were seeking. With 30 days to appeal the May 4 ruling, an appeal was filed on May 31 on behalf of the family.
I love what I do and I love this community, so it wasn t an easy decision, but I m a firm believer in jumping at the opportunities that life presents, and this is one of them, Famulak said Tuesday (June 4). I was approached to consider the opportunity and once I learned more about the position I quickly realized that the background that I have and the experiences that I ve had to date, whether it s in Whistler or prior to Whistler, were a perfect fit.
Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden extended her gratitude towards Famulak s work at the helm of the WCC and as a member of numerous municipal committees.