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Any news on the outcome of this meeting ?? will the minutes be posted somewhere ?
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I guess I found my own answer... front page of the Coast Reporter last week.
Closure date set for Langdale float Feature Story
Shannon Bond/Staff Writer
Islanders who filled the Gambier Island community hall last Saturday received bad news regarding public access to the Langdale float.
“We want to close it before the summer,” said B.C. Ferries’ Chief Financial Officer Rob Clarke.
June 15 is the official date, according to Clarke.
Clarke told about 100 people that safety at the float is the number one reason it is being shut off from the public and that Transport Canada’s post 9/11 port security upgrades is secondary.
“B.C. Ferries is not contending that Transport Canada has said we need to close the dock,” Clarke said. “Here’s a regulation to be able to close it off … it’s the icing on the cake.”
He said the regulation requires B.C. Ferries to be able to limit access to the area for security purposes, but how they enforce that is up to the company.
“We should never have allowed public access to this private facility,” he said. “There have been many, many incidents and near misses [with reckless boaters] and that’s what we’re worried about.”
Clarke’s comments were often met with disdainful laughter and negative commentary. People in the audience challenged him and said there have never been any deaths or serious accidents with boaters using the float, but Clarke said it was better to quit before that happened.
“I just don’t want to kill anybody,” he said.
Clarke said he is willing to work with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to remedy the problem, but said the responsibility to provide float access is theirs, not B.C. Ferries.
“I’m prepared to put on the table one third, up to $25,000 into the new dock,” Clarke said suggesting that the SCRD owns land adjacent to the float that could be developed.
Several people who spoke at the meeting were frustrated with the feeling that islanders were being cut off and treated like second-class citizens. They asked why the security hazards for boaters were any different from those accessing the ferry by car. They wanted to know why decades of customary access was not considered important in a marine community and what the rush was to close the float before a solution was put in place.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons attended the meeting.
“The June 15th deadline is unreasonable and unfair,” Simons said in an interview after the meeting. “No public process has occurred and no solutions have even been explored. Privatization has taken the public out of all decisions affecting our marine highway.”
Jason Bowman of B.C. Ferries tried to assure everyone that medical emergencies would still have access to the float, but people weren’t buying his assurances. They said contact with staff at the Langdale ferry dock is already poor, partly due to poor cell phone connections, and when the float is fenced off, they will have no way to offload the sick or injured. There is no other dock access nearby for an ambulance to meet islanders coming ashore.
Some pointed out that the passenger ferry Stormaway, which has a contract with B.C. Ferries, does not offer a robust enough schedule for islanders to use it for all their needs to access the mainland. Most simply wanted a solution in place before B.C. Ferries pulls the plug on the Langdale float.
“We’re late out of the gate on this one. I do apologize for that. It’s been before the Ferry Advisory Committee for 18 months now,” Clarke said. One resident summed up the thoughts for most at the meeting.
“This is our only link for a lot of people to the outside world,” he said. “It’s been an arrangement for 50 years. Get a move on an alternative, but you can’t take away our link before that happens. Please do not terminate our access until then.”
Cal Bowles, representing the SCRD, attended the meeting, and took notes and photos of the shoreline that Clarke pointed out as a possible place for a new float. At press time Thursday afternoon, he was still researching the possibility.
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Sanity prevails... now we need to convince the SCRD of a reasonable location.
Coast Reporter - Tuesday April 7, 2009
B.C. Ferries extends access LANGDALE FLOAT
By Brent Richter/Staff Writer
Residents of Keats and Gambier islands will continue to have access to the B.C. Ferries float at Langdale — but only until Oct. 15.
B.C. Ferries has extended its cutoff date from June 15 and pledged to work with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to find an alternative location. B.C. Ferries will also be offering the SCRD $25,000 to help build a new dock or refurbish an existing one.
“We wanted to be a good corporate citizen. We understand that people have used this float for years,” said Deborah Marshall, spokesperson for B.C. Ferries. “We’ve had safety and liability concerns for years and we’re at a point where we’re just not willing to tolerate the risk anymore. We just wanted to be part of the solution.”
The decision came after a fiery meeting held between B.C. Ferries and island residents on Gambier Island March 15 where residents said the original June 15 cutoff date did not leave them enough time to find an alternative.
Rob Clarke, B.C. Ferries’ chief financial officer, took the residents’ concerns to the B.C. Ferries board.
“What [Clarke] and the other B.C. Ferries folks who attended that meeting heard loud and clear from the folks was that wasn’t enough time, so what we wanted to do was make sure people had enough time to have another dock built or refurbished,” said Marshall.
Cal Bowles, manager of transit and ports for the SCRD, said his department met with representatives from B.C. Ferries on March 27 to discuss potential locations. Bowles mentioned the float at Hopkins Landing in SCRD jurisdiction as a potential location.
Bowles was set to present a report on the docks issue from his department to the SCRD infrastructure services committee yesterday (Thursday) for directors to discuss.
He said B.C. Ferries offer of $25,000 was appreciated, but it would likely not cover much of the total costs of building or refurbishing a dock. A single piling for a new dock can cost up to $8,000, Bowles said, not to mention the cost of doing a feasibility study.
Bowles said it was too early to know what the full cost of a replacement will be as the SCRD has several options to review before moving ahead. He added he was confident that at least an interim solution would be found by the Oct. 15 deadline.
Joyce Clegg, ferry advisory committee member for Gambier Island, said the extension to October is well timed.
“Traditionally summer is the busiest time for private boats going in and out of Langdale, what with people on holidays and people visiting and the camps and whatnot,” she said. “In two months’ time, there was no chance that a location could be found or operational.”
Clegg said B.C. Ferries’ decision to offer funding was a welcomed gesture to stave off hard feelings for the company.
“It shows, perhaps, that they are aware they have created the problem,” she said.
Clegg said she has been informed by B.C. Ferries that if any safety infractions occur with private boaters at the Langdale float between now and October, the float will be closed to private use immediately.
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Additional detail from the Coast Reporter - May 4, 2009 - the saga continues.
Islanders consider float options Feature Story
Shannon Bond/Staff Writer
The mood inside Gambier Island’s community hall on April 25 was much lighter than the last time residents met with officials about the closure of the Langdale float.
Instead of B.C. Ferries’ representatives, islanders met with Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) members to try to resolve the closure issue.
“The reason was to get feedback from the public as to the options we had and any issues we hadn’t focused on,” said Brian Sagman, manager of transportation and facilities.
B.C. Ferries recently announced it would close public boat access to the float at Langdale on June 15. They cited injury on the float, dangerous driving around the ferries and Transport Canada MARSEC (marine security) upgrades as reasons to shut down public access.
Following a heated meeting with residents on March 14, the corporation amended the closure date to Oct. 15 to allow the SCRD time to come up with an alternative.
In Coast Reporter’s April 3 edition, Deborah Marshall, spokesperson for B.C. Ferries, said they extended the date because, “… what we wanted to do was make sure people had enough time to have another dock built or refurbished.”
Last Saturday, roughly 60 people gathered for a presentation by Sagman and Cal Bowles, manager of transit and ports. Both suggested three options to the problem, but said they have had trouble getting a firm idea from B.C. Ferries on what the biggest concern about the float is. “It’s kind of like trying to pin Jell-O to the walls to find out what the issue is,” Sagman said.
Option one was to fight to keep the status quo or to build a float beside the existing float. Option two was to build a float north of Langdale somewhere and three was to refurbish the Hopkins Landing float.
“There are other docks in close proximity to B.C. Ferries’ vessels that do just fine,” Sagman said, but acknowledged the difference is those floats are not owned by B.C. Ferries as is the case at Langdale. He said Fulford Harbour on Salt Spring Island and Gabriola Island have similar set ups.
The crowd was adamant they wanted option one and were not willing to consider options two and three. Potential sites for floats north of Langdale and Hopkins posed issues of difficult walking distances to transit and the ferry, lack of parking and imposing on private residences or children’s camps.
Bowles, able-bodied and fortunate to have long legs, tested alternate options, taking measurements and timing as he walked. One route was “15 hard minutes and steep” and as to safety, “Any time you’re on the side of the highway it’s not good.”
The public questioned the validity of B.C. Ferries’ safety claims. Sagman said it was better to focus on “common operating practices everywhere instead of focusing on an accident that hasn’t happened.”
Sagman said they can show “every small community that B.C. Ferries services has marine activity around it” and therefore the closure is not necessary. He said something like a “save-harmless agreement” might protect the corporation from lawsuits.
He suggested SCRD could lobby the B.C. government and consult with Transport Canada about how important the rules are for local boating and determine if the closure is even legal.
Some islanders have formed the West Howe Sound Langdale Access Working Group (LAWG) to research the legality surrounding the dock and water access to it and are keeping others informed through email.
Lee Turnbull, SCRD director for West Howe Sound, told the audience if the SCRD were to build and operate a float for them, “it would have to be a new service area and would be islanders, not mainlanders [who paid for it].” She said she would start looking for funding that could offset costs for the construction. B.C. Ferries has offered up to $25,000 toward the new float.
News about the float closure has drawn attention and support for the islanders from both MLA Nicholas Simons and MP John Weston who recently toured the site with residents.
Sagman and Bowles will write a report based on the three options and the public’s feedback for the May 4 SCRD infrastructure meeting.
Recommendations from that meeting will go to the May 14 board meeting and then staff will be given direction.
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almost half a century without an accident involving a boater and ferry at the Langdale docking facility and BC Ferries wants to implement this draconian measure?
I think there is more to this story than meets the eye......
by the way, the SCRD is now involved and has taken the side of the islanders.
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Coastreporter
SCRD fights to preserve access for islanders
Brent Richter/Staff Writer
posted: May 22, 2009
Sechelt – The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) has voted to pursue a “status quo” option for Keats and Gambier islanders accessing the mainland at the B.C. Ferries float in Langdale.
The board is hoping it can now negotiate with B.C. Ferries to change its decision on access to the dock or allow for a second smaller float for access to the Langdale parking lot.
The infrastructure services committee voted May 7 to work with B.C. Ferries to preserve access to the float after hearing a report from Brian Sagman, manager of transportation and infrastructure services.
Sagman’s report outlined the options the SCRD could pursue and what the benefits and weaknesses were with each option.
Options two and three in Sagman’s report involved constructing a new permanent float somewhere to the north of the current B.C. Ferries dock or switching access to already constructed docks such as Hopkins Landing or Gibsons Marina.
SCRD board chair Donna Shugar said it was too early to know how B.C. Ferries would respond, but said the company should recognize the difficult situation it puts island residents in.
“I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t predict the future, but I think, in fairness to the islanders, we must go down this path because nothing else is a solution,” Shugar said in a later interview.
B.C. Ferries announced it would be closing public access to its Langdale float in June citing safety and liability concerns with private boats being around B.C. Ferries’ ships and using its float, as well as new marine security regulations handed down by Transport Canada.
After public meetings with island residents, B.C. Ferries extended the deadline to Oct. 15 and offered to help pay up to $25,000 to fund a new or refurbished dock.
But SCRD staff and directors question the practicality of a new dock north of the terminal.
“Our conclusions are that establishing a new dock of any kind would be prohibitively expensive, would involve a long environmental process and would not really provide you with any advantage over Hopkins and Gibsons,” Sagman said.
There is no firm price on the cost of a new dock, but SCRD estimates go as high as $800,000.
Other issues with building a dock north of the current one are the steep hills and far walking distance to the B.C. Ferries parking lot, which islanders need access to.
Sagman said the Gibsons and Hopkins docks each have drawbacks including lack of parking, current use of the docks for other purposes and difficult access to the Langdale terminal.
Shugar said she hopes B.C. Ferries will be willing to come to the table in the interest of helping the island residents.
“Really, the only option is to have access to that parking lot and to have access to the parking lot on foot is absurd. I really don’t understand how they could not enter into negotiations about this possibility,” she said.
Shugar also noted that B.C. Ferries currently uses docks fully owned and maintained by the SCRD at Keats and Gambier islands.
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