Councillor Chris Sedergreen
Elephants in the Room Part 2
Anmore Renewable Energy Foundation
Elephants in the Room Part 1 Daycare 20-05-10 Click Here
Excerpts from Daycare Official Documents including the Grant (20-05-10) Click Here
Reflections on a Hot Summer’s Day
Several situations have provoked a few distinct yet related thoughts about the future of our community. My musings were triggered by the effect that the current heat wave is having on our Village Hall and its staff. I suggested the installation of three ceiling fans in the council chamber - they are currently on sale at Canadian Tire for $50. Our CAO, Howard Carley, replied that much as they would like this, the Hall's electrical load capacity is already maxed out, and that he would be coming to us for a $40K spending requirement to upgrade the Hall's electrical system.
My response was that this sounds like a case of throwing good money after bad, especially when we are looking at the need to build a new Hall. Of course, unless we find a way to fast track that, they will have to put up with the old Hall for quite a few years to come.
It always comes back to our ability to raise money – as well as to our ability to agree on what should be the order of priorities for our Village. Some want road improvements, some want us to hire a bylaw enforcement Officer, some want a community centre, some want day care, some want covered bus stops, and everyone wants snow-clearing…. So it goes on.
We have a limited tax base, and although we are among the lowest taxed residents in BC some feel that taxes are far too high and that they don’t see any value for their taxes. (On this latter point, I would invite these tax-grumblers to any meeting of the Finance Committee. There you will discover how we run this Village on a shoe-string budget. I’m amazed at how our staff has managed to maximise the cost efficiency of our budgets).
I've been trying to figure out if the fact that Anmore doesn't have a wider industrial/commercial tax base isn't a part of our problem. And perhaps we are not exploiting to the fullest extent what we do already have.
Our road system is in bad repair, yet we have tens of thousands of vehicles travelling on it every week. The 1,800 parking stalls at Buntzen are usually full by 11:00 am on weekends, and during the current heat wave they are about 2/3rds full most weekdays.
If Vancouver can impose a parking stall tax, why can't Anmore? (Buntzen, by the way, falls within the Anmore municipal boundary.) A parking stall tax based on a levy of $5 per day could bring as much as $9000 per day into Village coffers. BC Hydro currently pays $66,987.00 annually to the Village in taxes. I believe that there is an argument to be made that this doesn’t effectively cover the cost to the Village over time, from the high volume of traffic that the park brings over our roads. If BC Hydro chooses, they can impose parking charges to offset a parking stall levy that the Village might make.
There may be other opportunities to improve our tax base, without additional cost to the residents. I came up with a couple of tongue-in-cheek suggestions a while back, but they may not actually be so off-the-wall as it might appear at first glance.
One idea was that we should explore the possibility of negotiating with Imperial Oil over the future development of the 150 acres of land that they want to develop in Anmore. When the idea first came to me it was triggered by the squabble in Burnaby, about where to build the new remand and correctional centre that the Province wants to build. The so-called ‘Ioco-lands’ are well removed from any existing residential development, and provision for such a facility may be acceptable to residents of Anmore. In turn this may well provide Imperial Oil with an opportunity to develop the land profitably on the one hand, while providing steady tax revenue to the Village in perpetuity on the other.
OK, so maybe a remand centre would go down like a lead balloon here. But looking at the Ioco lands as a source for future continuing revenue is still worth exploring.
My other thought was in a similar vein and has to do with the Pinnacle Ridge development. The current mortgage holders have taken a bath on that property and will be looking to cut their losses. It may be possible for them to do better than that, while at the same time providing a source of continuing tax revenue to the Village.
My idea was 'inspired' when it was pointed out to me that Coquitlam draws $1m per year from the casino on United Blvd. A high end restaurant, with or without a casino, might help the current mortgage holders recoup more of their losses and provide a continuing revenue stream to the Village.
OK, I’m philosophically opposed to gambling. As a physician I’ve seen too many lives wrecked by it. But there is the germ of an idea that may lead to something of mutual benefit to all.
I have long felt that without at least some semblance of a commercial development, we are no more than a bedroom community. In most countries of the world a ‘Village’ is anchored by a collection of shops or businesses. In the history of Europe it has typically been the ‘inn’ or pub, a small general or convenience store, and one or two other businesses.
In the early days of the Smurthwaite development I suggested that consideration should be given to a small ‘shopping centre’ that might include a bistro-style restaurant. I understand that there was even some interest shown by a well known and successful restaurateur, who lives in our Village.
Of course this all means a major re-thinking of the so-called Anmore Concept. Is the 1 acre concept dying? I ran for election on a platform to preserve that concept, but exposure to the ‘real world’ of Anmore is forcing me to re-examine some of my beliefs.
Not only have we already sacrificed that sacred cow in the ‘cluster development’ zoning of the past few years; we also have ‘lot averaging’ that allows a developer to divide two acres in one of 1.2 and another of 0.8. Such a development is happening as I write on Woolney Court, off East Rd.Perhaps it’s time to recognize that the ‘Emperor has no clothes’.
Our one acre properties, in many instances, front onto roads over a length that would, in the city, be fronted by as many as half a dozen. So the cost of that stretch of road is spread among up to six properties. This forces us to inevitable conclusions. Either we have to pay as much as six times more for the upkeep of the roads as compared with urban residents; or we settle for less in terms of upkeep and don’t grumble when there are pot holes. We can’t have it both ways.
And that just applies to roads. The same apportioning of municipal costs applies to all other services. Residents in Anmore are, generally speaking, financially better off than residents in, say, Port Moody. (About 30% better off according to the 2006 census). Perhaps we are willing to pay higher taxes for our services? That doesn’t seem to be the case, from what I heard when I was out canvassing for election.
Well, as I said above, we can’t have it all ways. It’s either higher taxes or fewer services or (perhaps) increased density.
I have heard that increased density doesn’t necessarily resolve the problem of municipal revenues. In fact I have heard from one person (who is probably well placed to know, since he works as a municipal finance officer), that increased density puts an additional strain on municipal facilities. In turn this is apt to result in increased taxes to offset that strain…
I won’t claim any expertise or certain knowledge here. It’s just a point which needs to be kept in mind. (If he reads this, I hope my informant will add his comments). The fact is that in contemplating the big picture, we will all have to take into consideration whether we want or can afford to cling to the one acre concept.
This leads me to my final thought. I've been thinking that we need a ‘Town Hall’ type of meeting to engage Anmore residents in a dialogue about the future direction of the Village. This idea seems to have some support on council.
I envisage a dialogue that is not intended to make decisions or resolutions, but rather to take the pulse of the community. We need to formulate a coherent plan that looks in stages over the next 15 or 20 years. I believe the starting point must be urgent consideration to the building of a new Village Hall.
Councillor Chris Sedergreen
Editors' Note: Thank you Councillor Sedergreen. Readers are also invited to send their comments to the Anmore Alternative News for the Letters to the Editors
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Councilor Sedergreen on the proposed Daycare, 13-06-09 Click Here
Proactive versus Reactive
What has the ‘Pinnacle Ridge Disaster’ got to do with the fact that Anmore doesn’t have a Development Permit process? Quite a lot as it happens.
When the creek on the Pinnacle Ridge property overflowed causing tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to adjacent private property, public property including a significant stretch of East road, and Mossom Creek (and the fish hatchery, killing large numbers of potential salmon stock), your council was told that the Village had little control over that development. We were told people “can do what they like on their own property” – as long as it doesn’t infringe an existing bylaw. The first opportunity that the Village had to impose any regulatory authority arose only after the creek showed levels of turbidity hundreds of times in excess of that permitted by the only bylaw that could be invoked.
The majority of communities in BC have something called a Development Permit process. You only have to google ‘Development Permit’ to find a number of examples of how this matter is approached around the province, or even around the country. So what is a Development Permit process?
Basically it comes down to this: a property owner may not carry out various types of construction or cause alterations to the terrain on their property, without first obtaining a permit from the municipality or from the regional district to do so. Before such a permit is given the property owner must provide full disclosure of their intended actions, and they must satisfy the authority, usually by convincing the authority’s engineering staff or consultant, that what they intend to do will not impact neighbouring properties or the environment in an adverse manner.
Intrinsic to the issuance of the Development Permit is the ability of the municipality or regional district to enter that private property, so as to supervise and ensure that the proposed development activities are being carried out as specified and promised.
I would guess that to most Anmore residents the need for this kind of protection of neighbouring properties and the environment would appear obvious. Yet for reasons that you and I can only speculate, we are not offered such elemental protection.
This must change, and I have asked the Village Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to have a motion placed on the agenda for the next council meeting, that will begin the process of remedying the oversight. I will be asking that your council shall vote to instruct the CAO to instruct in turn the Village lawyer to draw up a new bylaw for the purpose of creating a Development Permit process.
Councillor Chris Sedergreen.
20-03-09
09-02-09. Councillor Sedergreen's Draft Letter to the new Minister of Community Development discussed at the Anmore Council Meeting Feb. 10, 2009. Click Here
Dollars and Sense (posted 27-01-09)
Councillor Chris Sedergreen
One of the first tasks brought before your new council was to begin the process of hammering out the 2009 budget for the Village. We were presented with a proposed list of 26 items at an estimated potential cost of over $350,000.
These items varied in cost from $500.00 to $50,000.00. Some would fall under the category of unavoidable costs, while others might be categorized as ‘nice to have if we can find the money’.
An example of ‘unavoidable’ is an estimated $45,000 dollars needed to hire a new Financial Clerk. Legislation that was passed by the provincial government requires all municipalities to create and maintain a database of their assets and their changing values. Failure to do so within specified time limits results in penalties to the Village. Your council staff are already working beyond their capacity, and so we have to hire a qualified person to get the work done.
On the other hand, there was a request for $11,000 for Plexi Pave Coating for the new tennis courts. For this councillor the decision was a ‘no brainer’: there are other more pressing needs for that money.
In between these are quite a few items that fall into a greyer area. Can we/should we afford the $50,000 needed to hire a Bylaw Enforcement Officer? There have been increasing complaints from residents about bylaw infractions, but this is quite a big ticket item for the budget, and the pot of money is small.
On the other side from the expense column is the revenue column. The majority of revenue comes from taxation, and we all know how everyone feels about that. My own campaign for council was conducted on a promise to resist tax increases, and I intend to keep that promise. Your council was rather surprised to learn recently about the process for budget determination in the preceding two years by the foregoing council. Apparently they started with the premise in each of those years that they would raise taxes by a whopping 9%; and then they would determine how to spend the money!
The Vancouver Consumer Price Index has risen each year since the year 2000 by an average of 2%. This is an approximation for the rate of inflation. I find it hard to understand how an increase of 18% over the past two years could have been justified.
Last week we were presented with a much more comprehensive draft operating budget comprising 164 line items. The bottom line is that there is likely to be a deficit of income over spending, no matter how thoroughly we try to pare back ‘unnecessary’ spending. The size of the deficit will have to be offset by some form of tax increase, as well as increases to other forms of revenue such as licenses and fees. We were presented with options of tax increases from zero to 12%, with correspondingly larger or smaller deficits. We will almost certainly have to make some budgetary decisions (cut-backs) that will be unpopular.
At the same time we are faced with the reality that your Village Hall will need to be replaced. I have been told that the current structure cannot be extended any further to accommodate needed extra staff and equipment. At the same time there are concerns about the safety of parts of it; and rodents have resisted several attempts to remove them. A number of ideas have been floated to resolve this problem. Residents should expect to hear more about this from Council in the near future.
I encourage residents to become informed about the Village finances and how their taxes are spent. I would also welcome feedback from you on this (and any) topic.
Councillor Chris Sedergreen.
27-01-09.
January 14 2009 Councillor’s Report
Chris Sedergreen
Well, your new council has certainly been thrown in at the deep end, with the emergence of many issues from the day we were inaugurated in early December. Your new councillors have already developed strong working relationships, and I am confident that we will work as a team to serve your needs.
At the December 9 2008 meeting council was notified that Imperial Oil has approached the Village, regarding the development of their land within the Anmore boundaries. My understanding is that the company owns approximately 150 acres within the Village boundaries and twice as much within Port Moody. I’m told that the land situated within Anmore has already undergone remediation from industrial pollutants.
This isn’t the first time that Imperial Oil has approached the Village, so we should exercise caution in our expectations. However, if and when it does come to pass, the implications for the Village will be significant (see below).
We looked at the budget estimates for the coming year, which at this stage must be considered preliminary and subject to change according to emergent circumstances. We learned of the impact of recent provincial legislation requiring all municipalities to establish and maintain a listing of all ‘assets’ and their value. This will require the Village to hire (and find working space for) another employee to work on this matter alone.
On January 6 council met in an unofficial capacity with residents who had been involved with the planning of the Community Centre and Day Care projects. The following is a summary of the notes that I made:
- There was much comment about the way in which the referendum was worded, and some persons felt that it failed simply on that account.
- There was concern that the Village may be asked to repay the nearly $500K grant from the provincial government if we didn’t show signs of using it imminently. (I have since learned that there may not be as much urgency as had been suggested).
- There were questions about building the Day Care as a separate entity from the Community Centre. There was even a question about building the basement and adding the rest later by stages!
- One resident expressed the opinion that it was incumbent upon us to find out what residents actually want. He noted that the referendum had failed by the significantly wide margin of 2:1, and suggested that there should be a survey to try to understand why people voted the way they did. He gave the opinion that any other explanation offered was merely “speculation”.
- Another suggestion was that the land currently intended to be the site of the day care, (2 ½ acres) could be sold as half acre lots, from which the revenue could be used to build elsewhere.
- One person suggested that the current $500K (almost) might be used in constructing a day care in association with the new Middle School (see below). (It was subsequently confirmed by a SD 43 representative that such a proposal may well be received favourably).
- One of the councillors stated that they had received 10 ‘phone calls immediately prior to the referendum, each of them expressing opposition for a variety of reasons.
- The Village hall is in a seriously dilapidated and even hazardous state. Despite the attempts of pest control specialists it is infested with rodents, such that I saw mouse faeces in the cutlery drawer. Employees are working in cramped conditions already, and when the Imperial Oil lands come on stream (see above) the situation will become unworkable. There is a clear need for a new municipal building.
The experience of my colleague on council (above) reflected my own as I went door to door campaigning for my own election to council. There was a number of quite different reasons why residents opposed the referendum, and they didn’t all have to do with the additional tax burden.
There was agreement that our subjective impressions were just that. None of us in the room had a clear understanding of the will of the residents. For this reason I endorsed the proposal for a survey. How this will be carried out has yet to be determined.
The second part of the meeting on January 6 was an ‘Information Session’ pertaining to the proposal for a new Heritage Mountain Middle School and the necessary re-zoning application. Materials available for discussion included a letter from school district 43 to the Village, dated December 17, 2008; and a flyer advertising an information session at Anmore elementary school gym, to be held on Monday January the 12th 2009.
Present at the meeting with Mayor and council were MLA, The Right Honourable Iain Black; Frank Giampa, assistant secretary treasurer, facilities and planning services for school district 43; Lorcan O'Mellin, secretary treasurer school district 43. Also present were residents in the immediate neighbourhood of the proposed development.
The main concerns arising were those of congestion on the nearby streets, the possibility of intrusion into private property in the immediate neighbourhood, and issues surrounding the failing septic field serving the Anmore Green Estates (and the possibility of a connection to the GVRD sewage system via Port Moody).
MLA Iain Black gave a comprehensive description of his role. He described the process of planning and then of obtaining funding. He described his role of liaison with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, as well as with the citizens in the school district and electoral district. While he was not in a position to provide any guarantee that the project would obtain the necessary funding from the government, he was very confident that the process was very close to that goal. He noted that it is essential that the zoning approval is given before a final decision is made by the government to provide funding.
Not surprisingly the first half of the January 13 council meeting was taken up with matters arising from the mud, rock and water slide from the Pinnacle Ridge development site a few days earlier. In a moment of dramatic flair council was presented by someone associated with the Mossom Creek Hatchery with a magnum sized champagne bottle, containing dirty water and sediment from the creek. Council received several written communications expressing concern about the vulnerability of the creek and the hatchery.
We heard the distress of a number of residents whose properties had been damaged by the slide. One of them had had their entire septic field washed out. While they can still use their domestic facilities, they have to exercise great caution not to exceed the capacity of the holding tank, which has to be pumped out regularly until a new field can be built. This creates difficulties and limitations for everyday activities such as using the shower and doing laundry. Advice had been given to them to contact their insurers, some of whom did, but that was a futile exercise since flood damage insurance is simply not available. It seems that these unfortunate people have little recourse except through litigation.
We learned that the Pinnacle Ridge project had been experiencing financial difficulties. Indeed, Tim Nye the Pinnacle Ridge Project Manager had not been paid for his work since October, and attended on behalf of the developer only after he received a belated cheque. We were told that a contractor has quit because of unpaid bills and that there are other substantial debts outstanding.
Of course this raises questions of restitution and liability. Your councillors were surprised to learn that a developer can begin substantial modifications of a tract of land intended for development, without seeking development approval from the municipality. Once a development proposal has been made to council, then the municipality has a greater degree of control over what takes place.
In this case no development permit had been requested or given. This means that the Village has only minimal control over what the developer does. Apparently as this is deemed to be ‘private property’, the owners of that property have a pretty free hand in what they can do, without controls from the Village. As a new councillor I’m still having a hard time coming to terms with this information. Residents deserve to be protected from the negative consequences of the conduct of their neighbours.
To use a metaphor appropriate to the situation, the regulatory waters seem to be quite muddied. We must clear these up soon and make sure provisions are in place to prevent any future recurrence of this disaster. I invite residents to send council their suggestions as to specific steps you would like to see us consider.
Your council has reached agreement on the distribution of committee duties (amongst themselves) and residents may expect to hear more about that in the near future. There will be calls for residents to serve as volunteers on committees and we look forward to a strong response from you.
Next week we go off to ‘councillor school’ for 2 ½ days, where we learn some of the intricacies and nuances of the tasks we have taken on. We will be sharing this experience with new councillors from all over the province.
I’d like to finish by extending my appreciation to the works crew who have worked so hard to keep our roads clear, during this unprecedented snowfall that we have experienced. Most residents won’t realise the incredible number of hours that these guys put in to keep our roads (once again) the best snow-cleared roads in the lower mainland. Even on New Year’s Eve I looked out of my window at midnight to see the snow plough driving by. One of the many reasons why Anmore is the best place to live in the lower mainland.
Link to Councillor Sedergreen's article and photos on the Pinnacle Ridge Washout 07-01-09. Click Here
Dr. Chris Sedergreen standing giving inaugural presentation below
COUNCILLOR SEDERGREEN’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS
No matter what one’s prior hopes and expectations may have been, it must have come to most of us as a sobering moment to discover that we have earned the trust of enough voters to be elected to serve them. For it is by no means a light burden of responsibility.
In political terms I tend to subscribe to a belief in Populism, although this term may have a number of definitions. For myself, this term has absolutely no connotations of left wing, right wing or centrist political dogma. Rather, I see populism as a system that empowers ordinary people to be architects and agents of their lives, shapers of their communities and the larger world, and collaborators with others from diverse backgrounds on common challenges. Such empowerment implies a process of horizontal interactions for the sake of public problem solving among equals who are different, rather than one of top-down government.
Populism is not an alternative to democracy; rather it is an enhancement of democracy. It implies engagement of the people to the greatest reasonable extent. But for people to be engaged effectively there are two essential prerequisites: 1) all relevant information needed for participation must be provided in a timley and transparent manner; 2) they have to be able to understand all the information presented to them.
We have all been disappointed by the low voter turnout in this the latest Anmore civic election, which has brought us into these offices. We may speculate on the reasons for this, but the bottom line is that about one third of the potential voters weren’t sufficiently engaged to come out and express their preferences.
Today, I am making a personal commitment to attempt to engage the residents of Anmore as widely as possible. I will strive to ensure that they are kept informed, not merely on the facts of all matters, but on how diverse matters may affect them at a personal level. At the same time I am making a commitment to be open and to listen to the residents of Anmore and to bring their relevant issues and concerns to the attention to Council. I invite all residents of Anmore to hold me to account whenever they feel I have neglected my commitments.
