14 — Wednesday, February 17, 1999 - North Shore News WV embarks on new facilities planning . Catherine Barr Contributing Writer IT’S post time in West Vancouver. They call it the “post-it note” method and, together with their newly hired consul- tants, West Vancouver's parks and recreation staff hope to develop a comprehensive, over- all approach to their Recreation Facilities Master Plan. ’ The master plan, or “Rec Plan,” is the district's latest attempt to gauge public opin- ion. Utimately Ohe sranigeal ty wants to figure out what and where to build new recreation facilities. A 10-year implemen- tation plan is included. “We're (also) asking for input on arts and culture,” said recreation superintendent Ralph Ferstay. “The final resule is to give council the tools and information to make decisions on facilities for the communi- ty.” Playing fields and other outdoor venues are included as part of the assessment. Ferstay said this approach is different from the one taken approximately one year ago. There are no proposals on the table and, according to Fersiay, it is essentially a clean start. “We're building on the past experiences,” he said. Back in February 1998, the district unveiled plans for a new $8.5 million, 30,000 sq. &., western recreation centre on Gleneagles golf course. Based on what politicians called a “wish list”, the proposed plans proved to be too publicly con- troversial and were dropped. This time, the district said it is focusing its energy on what the public needs as opposed to what it wants. “I think what everybody found out is that there are other concerns out there,” said Ferstay. And while there are no new solid plans in the offing, Ferstay emphasized that economic planning was at the top of the list. “We're linking the facilities process to a realistic financial plan for the community.” The consultations started tls past Tuesday night at Gleneagles golf course and continued on Thursday night at West Vancouver’s Seniors’ Centre. They were conducted in partnership with North Vancouver project managers and consultants David Nairne and Associates Ltd. “We've had a lot of success with this (kind) of process,” said consultant Michael Kloppenburg. “It’s very much community driven as opposed to consultant driven.” Kloppenburg said his group was acting as facilitators and the main objective was to develop viable goals. “Ar the end of the day, we don’t want options that will be thrown out.” he said. The workshops began by asking attendees to mark on a map the approximate location of their homes. After a brief’ introduction, everyone was given a yellow post-it notepad and pen. Three key questions were then asked in order: What arz the three best things (about recreation)? What are three things that need to be changed {about recreation)? Whar should be three priorities for the facilities master plan? Participants wrote down their responses and the results were then posted for discus- sion. Tabulated results will be presented in early March. Ferstay calls the workshops pat of 3 “multi-fevel approach” that involves not only the public, bur consulta- tion with several advisory com- missions and relevant stake- holders. This includes the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and the school board. Currently, West Vancouver has two recreation/community centres. The largest is located ar See Workshops page 15 doing your home work indoors & out! WE'VE GONE CUCKOO! _ Visit Time Gallery t before March 31/99 and enjoy 20% OFF (excluding repairs) Home & Garden Show - February 22 - 28 With spring just around the corner, our exhibits and displays will help you bring your home to life. 1 © Grandfather clocks from $1,800 4 . © Handcrafted German cuckoo clocks from $280 ; — Largest selection in Vancouver — Authorized Schneider dealer We are professional European clock: and watch repairmen with over 32 years experience. We also make house calls, | MACCUTRON ty sulove . One of the Great Advances in Time ” @ Handcrafted in Switzertand .. © Precision Swiss quariz movement We have oe of the lrg selections of Bulova in the west 7 > TIME GALLERY. | Clock & watch sales & repairs =i #248 - 4820 Kingsway, Metrolown Centre, Bumaby y 454-9000 Next week in your Horth Shore News www.nsnews.com In addition to reviewing the latest music and movies, This Week visits Jas Felter’s.. | Virtual Museum, travels to Portugal, and embraces Arms and the Man at the: theatre. On Sunday, Anna Marie D’Angelo reviews a different sort of book in: the Sunday Focus. The Annual Report of the North Vasscouver Provincial. . Court has been released and what's contained i in those pages may surprise JO.