Ummm ...
Myself, I don’t think I’ll put much faith in any last-ditch effort to change any of this (with due apologies to Guido, Colossus, & the others suggesting a protest of some sort).
The politicos & bureaucrats are off & running on their whole Grand Vision for SEFC. They’ve done all the “community input” they’re ever going to, have done a sh*t-load of papers & presentations to Van City Council & its committees – & it all went thru over the last several years.
I very much doubt you’re going to be able deflect them at this juncture. It’s a done deal.
The Courier story says the idea for the island was “really one of those ideas that came to be“, which seems to have been taken here to mean “just recently”.
But it is not all that new.
Y'all might want to look at the SEFC info "tour" videos linked on these two pages:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/Greaterdot_wa/index.cfm?fuseaction=GVTV.storyDet&storyid=507 (02 Nov 2005)
and
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/greaterdot_wa/index.cfm?fuseaction=GVTV.storyDet&storyId=578 (16 Oct 2006)
(BTW – seems kind of odd that the videos mention kayaking … but there’s no DBs or outriggers anywhere to be seen.)
In the 2005 tour, the presenter (the same Jody Andrews referred to above - City-of-Van SEFC project manager) talks about the new island, at about 3/4 of the way thru the video. He appears to be standing on the NE corner of the barge moored closest to the Cambie bridge, when he says "the island will be right here" (or words to that effect).
The presenter in the 2006 video (one of the project engineers, pretty dialed-in – she sure reels off the numbers & details right smartly), mentions the island, but only in passing.
From the videos, it looks to me that the island will be no more or less of an impediment to our various paddling activities than the barge now is. Excuse me sah, is this the Tsartlip Island Pub?
(can’t be sure, though, since I can’t find any detailed drawings of the island, or anything else, on the various SEFC web sites - lots of smallish artistic renderings, but nothing that gives actual dimensions & locations)
But whatever the actual size & location, yeah - I think that a "permanent barge" is a BAD idea!!
Maybe Alcan will have to go to 250 metre races, when the dust settles. Or hey … a 500 metre Guts & Glory for each race? Hah!!
Take a look at the race course photo from 2004 – then try to fit in a 9-lane, 500 metre course, plus pre-start area & finish run-out, into the water space left over if there’s a “football field” sized island plunked down where the left-most barge is sitting in this photo. Sigh …
And yeah, a "walk across the inter-tidal channel to get to it" island is a REALLY DUMB IDEA!
Let’s see here. Walk across a TIDAL channel? A 15-foot range, two Highs per day, tidal channel? 20 or 30 metres of sea bottom, sluiced two times per day each way with FC’s “interesting” water & all the flotsam & jetsam we see at every practice? I think I’d want hip-waders … at the very least …
Hello, C-of-V Engineering? Have any of you folks ever taken notice of the MANY stories out of Richmond about the "walk across to ..." island out here, Shady Island? Especially the many times someone has had to be rescued after getting stranded by a rising tide? Even a few drownings (see
http://www.richmond-news.com/issues05/072105/news/072105nn5.html).
Similar physical layout, expect it’s natural (sort of – some of the island is river dredgings). See
At low tide, there's a strip of dried-out river bottom, running from that little bit of sticking-out land just East of the #2 Road pier, over to the tip of the island. A couple of times each year, someone strolls blithely across it … despite the warning signs … then gets stranded by the rising tide, so then Daddy Evolution's gene-pool weed-whacker tries to go to work … except that we can't stand to watch ... so the silly-nauts get rescued.
Hmmm … maybe there’s a new way of team fund-raising here! “Rides back to shore in a gen-u-wine dragon boat, only $20!!!” would make a fine sign on all the Coaches’ back-sides, don’cha think?
Tell me, Mr. Andrews - have you run your nice “island dream” past any of the hard-working folks-in-blue in the Van Police Dept? No? Uhhh … don’t you think maybe they already have enough to do, protecting us against the Real Bad Dudes, without adding yet another dark corner for them to have to look after??
Ah, what the heck - druggies & squatters & such-like will make a fine bit of “authentic local ambience” for the up-scale SEFC home-steaders’ water views, come post-2010.
Save yer energy fer paddlin’, people … t’aint nuthin much else sensible … IMHO!!! Be grateful they’re not trying to pave over the whole East end of the Creek (“hey, think of all the **extra** tax revenue we’d raise!!!”).
Dan
