THE District of West Vancouver will come up with as much as $23,333 to replace the sound barrier at Gleneagles elementary, following a unanimous council vote Monday.
The rest of the money for the $70,000 concrete sound barrier would be shared equally by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the West Vancouver school district.
A previous sound barrier was judged to be failing and replaced with a chain link fence by the school district. Many parents have argued the fence provides no respite from nearby ferry traffic.
The new 35-metre barrier would extend along Marine Drive between the Keith Road roundabout and the corner of the kindergarten classroom at Gleneagles.
While the vote was unanimous, Coun. Nora Gambioli declined to raise her arm to vote for the motion in an act of symbolic objection.
Her objection was with the MOTI, whom she said had "screwed us all over" by downloading costs on the district. "The Ministry of Transportation . . . is the problem, has always been the problem, and is still the problem and is getting away with a lot here," she said.
Gambioli cited the ministry's efforts to install toll booths near the school a decade ago, an action that was initially met with protests over increased noise and pollution.
"Let's face the truth, the truth is that MOTI wanted to build it, was going to build it, and threw some money at the board of education, and therefore the residents, to shut them up."
The ministry built the sound barrier and the school board used the money to install double-glazed windows, according to Gambioli.
After a recent failure to conduct a noise study at the district's request, Gambioli said the ministry has played the situation artfully.
"They've found a tiny bit of money, $23,000, in their end of the year budget, and they're throwing it at us again to say, 'Well, we'll do it so long as we don't ever have to deal with it again. You, municipality, take over the maintenance for ever and ever and we're going to wash our hands of it.'"
District staff could not confirm whether or not the school district would be able to pay their share for the barrier. The item is on the school board's agenda on Tuesday evening.
