I see John Coupar is running and he was a commissioner on back in 2014 when we first got legal kiteboarding from the Parks Board at Dog Beach. I'm not sure what his role was or his stance though.
Mellissa De Genova was also on the Parks Board at the time.
I think in five years we will have day lighted some of the culverts along the dike to encourage more juvenile fish to enter the lower estuary. I think less than 50 years from now but more than 5 years from now, we will have worked with all interested parties to realign the dike to re-unite more of the estuary, protect the port from silt and provide the windsports community with access to a spit that still connects them to the “magic triangle” of wind that is so important to the success of the sport here in Squamish. The DoS will have a proactive role to play in the evolution of the discussions with regard to the spit.
How do you envision the operation of the windsports beach at Newport?
I would hope that the developer is well and truly engaged with the SWS on the operation of the windsports beach at Newport. I think my assumption is that SWS would follow the same model as for the spit, but perhaps that is an erroneous assumption. I would like to understand SWS’s thoughts on the most effective way to operate the new beach so that we avoid conflicts with the many users in the area once the park is open. Certainly, the DoS has a role to play in ensuring all partners in the project are heard and needs are being met to the best of everyone’s ability.
Would you be in favour of the SWS being able to make structural improvements to the Squamish Spit Training Dike? While I might be open to the idea of structural improvements to the training dike in the short term, there is provincial and federal jurisdiction there that would trump any approval we had. I suspect our role is to get all the parties to the table to have a discussion of what is possible.