FRIDAY JUNE 16, 2017 VOL. 42, NO. 22
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Bowen graduates We salute you!
September Morn
The details on this infrastructure aimed at serving Bowen’s future power needs
The day of Dads
Throwing jabs and making memories
Bowen granted funding for multi-use path MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Last Thursday, in honour of World Oceans Day, Bowen Island Municipality assisted preschoolers from Bowen Island Montessori School with a beach cleanup at Sandy Beach. The toddlers braved the dreary weather to collect several buckets of debris. They learned about the difference between what’s garbage and what comes from our natural environment and why it’s important to keep our beaches clean. Bowen Island Municipality, photo
Tourism Bowen aims to extend the season MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
At Monday’s council meeting, Murray Atherton, chair of Tourism Bowen, thanked council for its continued support. He presented a report outlining the growth and development of the tourism sector on Bowen, and also stated the organization’s intention to extend the tourist season past September with the aim of helping local businesses. Atherton said the motivation for creating Tourism Bowen was the recognition that tourism and construction. Last year, he said, visits by tourists to the information cottage beside the library rose by 27% from the year before. Based
on the numbers to the booth this past Victoria Day weekend, this season’s numbers could increase again. In an interview following the council meeting, Atherton pointed to a number of initiatives aimed at getting tourists to keep coming to Bowen well past Labour Day. “There is a new company co-ordinating adventures on Bowen Island, with this and other initiatives bringing services together on Bowen, we hope to give people a reason to come here throughout the year,” he says. “And with money from a grant given by Destination BC, we hope to build another information kiosk on the Library lawn, so people have a more welcoming experience from the time they set foot on Bowen Island.”
At the beginning of the year, Municipal planner Emma Chow urged council to approve a request for funding that would fast track plans for a multi-use path connecting Snug Cove to Tunstall Bay to create a section of path around the corner at Charlie’s Lane. At Monday’s council meeting Chow announced that the $160,000 request to TransLink was approved in early June and the legal agreement outlining the use of funds is being drafted. This news came as part of an update on the Integrated Transportation Master Plan (ITMP) project, which outlines a twenty-year vision for transportation infrastructure on Bowen. The project is moving into its fifth and final stage, and according to Chow, is predicted to wrap up on-time (at the end of this summer) and so far it is within budget. The project’s fourth phase, said Chow, brought more progress including the installation of three physical bus stops on the island, the extension of evening blue bus service, the inclusion of the planned path from Snug Cove to Tunstall as a part of the regional North Shore Spirit Trail. She added that municipal staff is currently in conversation with TransLink about implementing a real-time technology for locating the bus and exploring on-demand transit service. Chow says the goal of the fifth and final phase of this project, which will be wrapped up by the end of the summer, is to draft and have council adopt the final ITMP report. The projected total budget for this project is $38,645.
Yes, the Blue Bus still stops randomly to pick people up, but it also stops at one of three new official bus stops on Bowen Island.