The Hollyburn Sailing Club: More Grosvenorization of West Vancouver? Fairness, my worst fault, makes me reflective.
Agent Y6xE9j reports that the club may be sailing away into the sunset - next year put on a month-to-month lease, almost always the precursor to redevelopment. Club commodore Roy Morford's response:
"No gossip or rumours, just the facts. Last year we celebrated our 50th anniversary. ... The club's first premises consisted of an old garden shed located at Dundarave Beach. ... Change being the only constant, I fully expect more changes, particularly with West Vancouver's plans for Ambleside.
"Regardless of our location, our lease or other factors, I am confident we shall continue to be a fixture on the West Vancouver waterfront for many years to come. Indeed, our mayor has said so on more than one occasion."
Notice - nowhere does Morford, a witty chap, deny the rumour.
Now this admirably crisp reaction from Michael Ward, senior vice-president and general manager of Grosvenor Americas:
"Grosvenor continues to support the Hollyburn Sailing Club in its current location but respects the opinion of the district and the community should they think otherwise."
So Grosvenor supports the club's location. Could it be that town hall is busting an intestinal tract to anticipate whims that Grosvenor doesn't have, or does it have its own dream of commercialization of Ambleside Beach?
Ward also explains the conflict between the dates for West Van's Ambleside police station to vacate and the glossy Grosvenor project to begin: "Grosvenor Ambleside will be built in two phases. Construction of the first phase (westerly side of the block) is expected to begin at the end of 2014 or early 2015. Construction of the second phase. .. where the police station is currently located will commence only after the district has constructed the new Public Safety Building and has relocated the police to this location."
Then why this? All four small businesses cheekby-jowl with the station - near the block's east end - have been given notice to vacate at the end of next month. Long before the police depart, sod-turning on the new building not even close. Maybe the modest businesses don't fit nicely with the Grosvenor showroom being built beside them?
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West Van council heard the pitch for the proposed Woodfibre natural gas operation Monday. As Agent 6Tcu03 implies, the current environmental assessment and opposition by the Squamish band may kill it without painful political decisions.
John Weston, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky, politely writes about a recent item here: "You are wrong in surmising the prime minister or his office had anything to do with my opinion concerning West Van council's motion on the proposed (Howe Sound liquefied natural gas) plant. The opinion is my own."
I gladly stand corrected, but gently ask: Would an MP, of any party, knowingly do something the party leader wouldn't like?
Meanwhile Weston is aggressively campaigning for re-election in November next year - not May, as recently stated here, though some Liberals expect or perhaps want the federal vote earlier.
Figures quoted here about the Howe Sound LNG project have been vigorously challenged. The opponents' claim: "If approved, Woodfibre LNG says it will discharge 17,000 tonnes ... of chlorinated, desalinated water, 10 degrees hotter than at intake, into Howe Sound every hour of every day for the next 25-plus years. The effect of this on the marine food chain in the Sound. .. could be devastating."
Responding, Fred Bowyer, West Vancouver retired engineer grad who declares neither professional nor financial interest in the project (and his origins at "the other end of the social scale" from the admiral whose name adorns Bowyer Island), writes:
"Woodfibre LNG will discharge what amounts to tepid tap water (chlorinated/desalinated) into Howe Sound. Natural drainage flow into the Sound averages about 1,656,000 cubic metres of water per hour. 17,000 tonnes/hour from the plant equals ... one per cent of the average fresh water drainage into the Sound.
"The Sound, east of Gambier and Bowen Islands, has an area of about 175 square kilometres and a depth of about 200 metres. That's 35 cubic kms or 35 billion cubic metres of water. A year of LNG discharge is 149 million cubic metres, or 0.4 per cent of that.
"Oh, did I mention the twice/day water changes due to tidal flows? 'The effect of this on the marine food chain. .. could be devastating.' Or not."
And Victor Morgan writes: "17,000 tonnes per hour? Surely you jest. That works out to approximately 1,000 gallons every second. I wouldn't think so ... the rest of that article certainly makes one think. But those figures?" Search me. I'm just the messenger. Can't figure out my hydro bill.
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How would Christy Clark, CKNW talk show host, be judging the teachers' strike handling by Christy Clark, premier?
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West Vancouver's Elizabeth Smily, an outstanding painter with international exposure, died Sunday, aged 96. She deserves more space than this hasty late addition allows. Funeral Monday at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, West Vancouver.
