Sacha Peter

I would like to thank the voters of Chilliwack for the privilege of letting me serve again on the Cultus Lake Park Board.

Your support is much appreciated and never forgotten.

I look forward to working with fellow commissioners Charlotte Hall, Bob McCrea, Larry Payeur, Malcolm Shanks, Owen Skonberg and Carleton Toews this upcoming term – there is a fairly diverse range of talent among these people and this diversity will be an asset to the board.

I would also like to thank Scott Allinott and Austin Ross for tossing their hat into the ring.

TWO CAMPAIGN PLEDGES FOR CULTUS LAKE PARK

CHILLIWACK – Sacha Peter is running for re-election to the Cultus Lake Park Board on two key campaign pledges for the upcoming term. The first is financial sustainability and the second is capacity management at the park.

On the first pledge of financial sustainability, Peter stated, “When our current board came in, we had to resolve a huge deficit and a bank account approaching zero. At the end of our term, we have surpluses and have managed to build over a million dollars into our reserve account balances. Financial sustainability is foremost my concern at Cultus Lake Park and I intend to continue our positive direction.”

On the second pledge of capacity management, Peter stated, “I have personally experienced and also heard from many Chilliwack residents that traffic to and from Cultus Lake during the summer season is horrible. Not only does this cause frustration, but there is a genuine safety issue if there needs to be an emergency evacuation of the area. The root cause of this traffic is residential density combined with the lack of a second road access to the Cultus Lake / Columbia Valley area. Until such a road access is built, I will pledge to not support any increase in residential density at Cultus Lake Park beyond the existing park use plan.”

Sacha Peter is currently the chairman of the Cultus Lake Park Board. A resident of Chilliwack, he is a certified management accountant and employs himself with policy and communications work in the public sector, financial analysis, accounting and writing.

Voters residing in Chilliwack can vote for up to five park commissioner candidates, including Sacha Peter, on November 19, 2011.

The full slate of 7 commissioners were present this meeting; astute readers will note that this was the first fully attended meeting since April 13, 2011.

The following is some colour on the thoughts I had regarding select board business of the day:

1. My exact memory on this one was a little fuzzy, but after a couple rejected motions relating to the stabilization of the stairway at 216A/217 Lakeshore Drive, the board moved (5-2) to remove the existing stairway, cost out the price of a wooden stairway and rock stabilization. I ended up voting for the final motion because it did include the stabilization work, although I was not impressed that this motion was the one passing simply because the costing was performed in the geotech report and this motion will end up wasting time and effort. I do hope eventually the board (whether this one or the next one) will adopt the recommendation contained within the geotech report (section 3 of the document).

2. The board passed adoption our new Fees, Fines and Charges bylaw, passed third reading of the encroachment bylaw and passed adoption of our 2012 Budget and Five Year Financial Plan bylaw. Interestingly enough on the latter adoption, it was on a 5-2 vote with Commissioners Woodrow and Skonberg opposing. Commissioner Woodrow voted against first, second and third reading of the budget bylaw so it is understandable he opposed adoption, but because there is no discussion on adoption the reasons why Commissioner Skonberg voted against adoption (but voted for third reading) remain unclear as of present. (If he is reading this post, feel free to submit a comment below).

3. The board voted 7-0 to send the new fire truck to the Chilliwack Christmas Parade. There was a lot of discussion regarding safety coverage at Cultus Lake Park during the parade (there would be an older vehicle and some crew still at the park) and potential liability issues. My own view is that while the board must be cognizant at all times with risk and liability, sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith.

4. Commissioner Woodrow had a couple reports. There was one motion that was defeated 6-1 (Woodrow in favour) regarding 334 Balsam. The motion was of similar substance to the previous motion to rescind the decision on the rejected variance application (which occurred in 2010). The rest of the motions did not receive a seconder.

5. I gave a tribute to the four commissioners that will be departing us after the November 23rd meeting. At a minimum, Commissioner Hall and Commissioner-elect Larry Payeur will be around to hold the fort and hopefully Commissioners Skonberg and myself will be around for the next term.

6. This will be my last board meeting of the year; my family and I will be headed across the Pacific Ocean to (amongst other things) attend a wedding and while we are out there, will be touring the area for slightly over a month. As such, this will be my last update on board business for the year.

It has been a pleasure being on the board and I hope the people of Chilliwack will allow me to continue.