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Council Watch Squamish is an independent, unofficial summary of publicly accessible meetings of the Squamish Council. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the District of Squamish. Brought to you by the Business Innovation Society of the Sea to Sky.

Watch the Special Business Meeting of September 29, 2026 (about 5 hours 17 minutes).

Overview

Most of this long meeting was a budget workshop on the 2027–2036 financial plan. Council heard the Squamish Public Library's budget requests, then worked through the general fund operating budget and special operating projects. Staff said the base budget (before items still awaiting endorsement) works out to a 10.4% increase in the property tax revenue requirement. Council also received an update on the Woodfibre LNG / FortisBC projects, gave three readings to a council remuneration bylaw amendment, and approved a financial plan amendment directing $415,000 toward eight affordable townhomes.

Key decisions

• Library presentation — received. The library's requests (an electric cargo van, laptops for trustees and a higher software budget) will be considered during budget deliberations.
• Community safety enhancements — sent back for consultation (carried unanimously). On a motion from Councillor Stoner, seconded by Councillor Greenlaw, staff will consult community partners (named examples included BC Housing, Squamish Helping Hands, VCH, the Downtown BIA and downtown residents) on the two proposed bylaw positions and the related special operating projects, then bring a revised approach back for the 2027 budget. An amendment adding one more group to the consultation list also carried.
• Part 2 service level changes pending endorsement — included, as amended. Councillor Andersen moved the staff recommendation. Councillor Hamilton's amendment removed two capacity-funding transition items ("infrastructure, housing and employment space," $123,000 in 2027, and "service maintenance," $58,000 in 2027). That amendment carried, with Councillor Andersen and Mayor Hurford opposed. A second amendment from Councillor Stoner carried: the pedestrian bridge operations increase will be smoothed in using the general operating reserve. The main motion, amended twice, then carried.
• Business case requested — carried. Councillor Stoner moved that staff bring back a business case, with outcomes and impacts, for keeping or reducing the two capacity-funding transition items that were removed.
• Part 1 pre-committed changes and critical service level changes — included (carried unanimously).
• Special operating projects — approved as presented (carried unanimously). These do not include an air quality monitoring program at the airport.
• Airport air quality motion — defeated. Councillor Pettingill moved that staff report on how to understand the airport's air quality impacts on nearby areas, especially reserve lands, and look at working with VCH and/or Squamish Nation on monitoring. Councillors Hamilton, Andersen, Stoner and French and Mayor Hurford voted against.
• Woodfibre LNG / FortisBC Q1–Q2 update — received.
• Housing impact metrics — carried. On a motion from Councillor Greenlaw, staff will give council any metrics the cumulative housing impact assessment committee has provided, going back as far as 2024.
• Remuneration and Expenses Bylaw amendment — first three readings (carried unanimously). The amendment sets the mayor's pay at $125,000 a year and changes councillor pay from 42.2% to 36% of the mayor's. It also makes up to $2,000 a year in legal fees an allowable council expense. The changes apply to the next council.
• 2026–2035 Financial Plan amendment — first three readings (carried unanimously). $415,000 goes from the affordable housing reserve fund to Housing Squamish to buy eight affordable townhomes at Garibaldi Springs phase two.

What was discussed

• [00:08:09] Squamish Public Library staff present their 2027 requests: about $100,000 to buy and fit out an electric cargo van for the new Brennan Park holds locker and for outreach, $20,000 for trustee laptops to meet records-management and IT security requirements, and an increase in the software budget from $15,500 to $20,000. They report about 30% more visitors since the library's open hours were expanded.
• [00:18:27] Councillor Stoner asks about possible library service in Area D / Britannia Beach and about the laptops, noting that elected officials sit on many boards. The District's IT director says the security consultants recommended laptops for this board specifically. Councillor Pettingill asks whether a records policy (such as copying all emails to a District address) was considered as an alternative.
• [00:25:06] The Mayor asks why a vehicle that size is needed. Library staff say it could double as a pop-up library and that the cost includes the fit-out; charging is already available at municipal hall. A councillor asks whether the purchase could wait for cheaper models expected in 2027, and staff say the timing is flexible.
• [00:33:21] The CFO opens the budget workshop. The schedule: capital plan on October 6, a "tying it all together" workshop on November 10, a public information night in November, and adoption in December, after the new council takes office.
• [00:50:10] Part 1: the base tax revenue requirement rises 10.4%. That breaks down as 6.6% in pre-committed costs (salaries, RCMP, transit, the Cheekye debris flow barrier, debt servicing for the new public works facility), 1.3% for endorsed or critical service level changes (including two firefighters), 0.1% for critical tax-funded projects and 2.4% for reserve contributions.
• [00:56:49] Councillors Pettingill and Stoner ask about transit expansions the province did not fund. Staff say the money goes into a transit provision and is reallocated in later years.
• [01:01:59] Pedestrian bridge operations: the bridge hasn't opened yet, so staff ask to bring the 2027 budget back up to about $275,000 to meet Transport Canada requirements. Unspent amounts from earlier years went into the general operating reserve. Councillor Greenlaw asks whether monitoring could begin before the bridge opens.
• [01:08:27] Part 2: service level changes pending endorsement total $927,000 (a 1.7% tax revenue increase). They include a labour relations advisor, an apprentice mechanic, more porta-potties and a labourer to service 30 new waste bins, and items transitioning off capacity funding from FortisBC, Woodfibre LNG and the CMHC Housing Accelerator Fund.
• [01:10:35] Staff propose community safety enhancements of about $580,000: two bylaw/community liaison positions, BC Housing HEART program support and a $200,000 multi-year community safety plan. Staff cite rising street disorder, encampments and homelessness.
• [01:15:00] The 10-year forecast shows tax increases of 12.7% in 2028, 7.9% in 2029 and about 5.2% a year from 2030 to 2036. These figures exclude items still pending endorsement.
• [01:17:55] Councillor Pettingill asks what problem the two bylaw positions would solve and whether social-service funding might work better. The Director of Public Safety describes the roles as a mix of enforcement and liaison. Councillor Stoner asks which community partners were consulted.
• [01:24:26] Councillors Stoner and Hamilton question the $200,000 cost of the community safety plan. Councillor Hamilton raises concern that a one-time external consultant plan may not build in-house expertise to keep it current. Staff say the consultant would develop the plan and staff would maintain it.
• [01:50:13] After a recess, staff explain that encampment response has taken up most of the bylaw team's capacity. They say liaison officers need different skills and usually work in pairs, and suggest the funding could be run as a pilot.
• [02:02:11] Councillor Greenlaw raises concern that the positions could become a step toward criminalizing homelessness, and that encampment residents, vehicle residents and neighbours had not been consulted. She suggests defining the role explicitly as community liaison.
• [02:04:16] Cleanup: $30,000 is budgeted for encampment cleanup, the same total as last year, and spending is on track to reach it in 2026. Public works says routine sharps and debris cleanup comes out of general operating budgets.
• [02:12:27] Councillor Stoner moves to consult community partners and bring back a revised approach. Speaking to it, councillors and the Mayor discuss the partner engagement already done and the short time before the November workshop. The motion carries unanimously.
• [02:24:34] Questions on the waste bin labourer (based on 30 new bins), on whether annex office space is still needed without the capacity-funding positions (staff say yes) and on how 2028 costs are built in.
• [02:30:25] Councillor Hamilton asks why the external review of development permit processes he requested in April isn't in the budget. Staff apologize for the miss and give estimates from $60,000 for a simple review up to $200,000–$250,000 for a fuller one.
• [02:38:04] Councillor Hamilton moves to remove the two capacity-funding transition items, saying it isn't yet clear they produce the efficiencies sought. Councillor French supports the amendment, calling it a tough budget. Councillor Andersen and the Mayor say staff's rationale is sufficient.
• [02:44:56] The bridge amendment, the main motion and the business case motion carry.
• [02:48:44] Council returns to Part 1 and approves the pre-committed and critical changes unanimously. Councillor Andersen speaks to the importance of the asset management reserve strategy.
• [03:09:21] Special operating projects: $14.1 million over 10 years if all are endorsed, $5.5 million of it in 2027. Critical projects include the integrated flood hazard management plan update, the asset management plan update and the DCC bylaw update.
• [03:12:13] Staff report that the province's CRI program no longer funds fuel management, so a funding and work plan is being developed for the 2028 budget. On air quality, staff estimate airport lead monitoring at $110,000–$140,000 a year, note it is not municipal jurisdiction and do not recommend it.
• [03:19:46] The $400,000 flood hazard plan update would use a multidisciplinary consultant team, inform the next OCP review and be submitted for a grant due in November. Staff clarify that each DCC update costs about $50,000–$75,000 every two years.
• [03:26:42] Councillor Andersen asks why an employment and industrial lands inventory update isn't planned before the OCP review. Staff say none is scheduled; the marine employment lands study is awaiting federal (PacifiCan) funding, and the Cheekye hazard land policy RFP is expected this fall, with completion around Q2 2027.
• [03:37:22] Questions on the scope of the parks and recreation master plan (a scoping session with the new council is set for December 8), transportation safety screening with ICBC, and evacuation route planning. Staff say the evacuation work will update the 2019 multimodal evacuation plan, and a councillor suggests working with Woodfibre on marine evacuation.
• [03:48:16] Speaking to the special operating projects motion, Councillor Andersen says about two dozen local companies are looking for industrial land. He also suggests fuel treatment programs could employ underemployed forestry workers. The motion carries unanimously.
• [03:53:18] Councillor Pettingill's airport air quality motion is debated. Councillor Greenlaw supports it, noting the reserve under the flight path. Councillor Andersen points to the corridor air quality management plan and wood-stove smoke. The Mayor and Councillor Hamilton say they share the concern but don't see this motion as a practical route. The motion is defeated.
• [04:16:26] Woodfibre LNG / FortisBC update: staff say the Finch Drive "urban works" section of the pipeline reached substantial completion last week. Staff also say the District's noise bylaw isn't designed for large construction projects approved by other regulators.
• [04:22:13] Councillor Hamilton asks how pipeline activity at 1044 Finch Drive fits with its rural residential zoning. Staff explain that work inside the approved project corridor is authorized, unlike the Valleycliffe laydown yard, which needed a temporary use permit.
• [04:26:29] Staff say one noise complaint was traced directly to the laydown yard and that most were linked to pipeline work behind Raven's Plateau. Councillor Stoner asks what enforcement tools exist; staff describe a progressive approach of mitigation, fines and possible work stoppage.
• [04:28:09] Councillor Greenlaw asks for historical data from the cumulative housing impact assessment committee. She says sexual assaults in 2025 were 46.1% above the previous four years, adds that correlation is not causation, and says data is needed to track impacts.
• [04:42:52] Speaking to receipt of the report, Councillor Pettingill says the District should be more proactive if disturbances continue. Councillor French describes visiting Finch Drive. Councillor Hamilton apologizes to Raven's Plateau and Finch Drive residents for not understanding the limits on District bylaws earlier, and lists a noise bylaw update as a priority for the next strategic plan.
• [04:54:23] The remuneration bylaw comes forward. A consultant review found Squamish council pay slightly below the average of 11 comparable municipalities. Councillors explain the $2,000 legal expense allowance as covering proactive legal advice, without adding to the budget.
• [05:05:00] Councillors give their reasons. Councillor Hamilton says the councillor role is part-time and its pay should stay where it is. Councillor Andersen supports the change with reluctance and would like councillors to do more committee work. Mayor Hurford says he supports the mayor's increase but not the lower councillor ratio, citing access to the role for more people. The bylaw passes three readings unanimously.
• [05:13:25] The financial plan amendment for the Housing Squamish townhome purchase leaves about $290,000 unallocated in the affordable housing reserve. It carries unanimously, and council moves to a closed meeting.

Public input

There were no public delegations or public hearing speakers at this meeting. The Squamish Public Library presented its budget requests.

What's next

• October 6: Capital plan workshop (including utility capital projects). Staff said adoption of the remuneration bylaw could also come forward at the October 6 meeting.
• October 7: The Squamish Public Library's 70th anniversary community open house.
• November: The next Woodfibre LNG / FortisBC quarterly update, the budget public information night, and a council resolution for the flood hazard plan grant application.
• November 10: The "tying it all together" budget workshop. Expected items include the revised community safety approach, the business case for the capacity-funding transition items and the development review cost estimates.
• December: Readings and adoption of the 2027–2036 financial plan and utility fees bylaws, by the newly elected council. A parks and recreation master plan scoping session with the new council is set for December 8.

This summary was generated by AI from an automatic transcript and may contain errors. Watch the linked video for the official record.

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