Quarter-Million Milestone

To the Editor,

129 Bowen households have so far pledged almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars towards the construction of Snug Cove House $248,655 in just five weeks

As we reported last week, the project’s major financier was impressed enough by the show of community support that it extended the deadline for raising all necessary funds, so we now have until June 15 to make Snug Cove House a reality.

But don’t delay in making your pledge the more island households that promise a contribution, the more likely it is that we can attract the support of the foundations and big donors Two and a half years ago, islanders sent in 178 individual letters of support for the idea of a residence that would look after the most vulnerable of our seniors That was enough, together with our sound business plan, to convince our major financier to believe in us and put up a loan of $11.6 million. We believe major donors will now step up for the final $2.1 million when they see how much the community cares

So please fill in the form on the back page of this newspaper and make a pledge of as much as you can spare Literally every single household counts,

Thank you,

- The board of directors of Snug Cove House Society

Martine Sampath, Pernille Nielsen, Cindy Macleod, Graham Ritchie, Susan Munro, Rev Lorraine Ashdown, Holly Mackintosh, Andy Powell-Williams, Sheilagh Sparks

In 2005, Bowen Island Municipality purchased 6 lots in the Snug Cove and Snug Cove Periphery area from GVRD (predecessor to Metro Vancouver) for $2 million. These lands had been declared surplus to GVRD Parks need on Bowen Island and would have been sold in the public market if the Municipality had not held a Referendum April 30, 2005 (Bylaw No 141, 2005), cited as “Bowen Island Municipality GVRD NonParks Land Acquisition, Loan Authorization Bylaw No 11, 2005” , authorizing Bowen Island Municipality to borrow a sum not exceeding $2,035,623 to purchase approximately 38 acres of Non-Park Lands from the Greater Vancouver Regional District”

882 electors voted Yes, with 140 opposed. Accordingly, on May 9, 2005, Council adopted Bylaw No 141, 2005 and directed staff to complete the land transfer Bowen Taxpayers paid Metro Vancouver market value assessed price for the Surplus lands that later became known as Community Lands And that early debt has lingered and been added to the ongoing property tax burden.

The municipal park lands at Cape Roger Curtis were hard won by citizens advocating for a fair share of the subdivision that became the 60 lot Cape on Bowen. Parking areas and a pit washroom have been added through local taxation. These parklands and improvements represent part of our accumulated Municipal worth, and provide three important public access areas to the ocean and natural beach

A fair assessment of the monetary value of these lands could be gained from an independent assessor or gauged by the extrapolated value of the offer of purchase and sale for the remaining lots at Cape Roger Curtis

In my view we should be treasuring our park land for local park and waterfront access and not seeking to give any of it away. Given the record with GVRD/Metro Vancouver charging Bowen Island ratepayers full market value for all of the “surplus lands” , if any transaction is contemplated it should make sense ensuring local parks access and value for dollars received by Bowen Island Municipality. And, any proposed land transaction should be debated in a public forum, fully accountable and transparent

“Transparency is of paramount importance moving forward, both for the informed engagement by our residents and for trust in Council as stewards of Bowen’s interests” Mayor Leonard, March 7, 2022 News Release

Thank you.

Yours truly,

- Bill Granger