Vancouver's newly elected Park Board faces its first critical test at its inaugural meeting on Monday night, November 2, when it will have one window to act on the Vancouver Aquatic Centre before a court injunction expires, according to a press release issued November 1 by the Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre Society and reported by CityHallWatch.
The board meets at 7 p.m. on November 2. Just 17 hours later, at noon on November 3, a BC Court of Appeal "tools down" injunction on the Aquatic Centre expires. The society is urging the incoming board to pass an emergency motion during "other business" to pause demolition, preserve more than 60 trees, avoid an estimated $100 million or more in costs, and review engineering and environmental reports it says were previously withheld from elected officials.
The new board holds a COPE majority of four commissioners, alongside three Greens, giving the full seven-member board the power to take action. The society argues the board has the opportunity to save more than $100 million, prevent toxic petrochemicals leaching into False Creek, save more than sixty trees, and decrease the carbon footprint of the current proposal.
Residents are calling on the incoming commissioners to pass a motion extending the tools-down order until they have had time to review the withheld evidence, most notably engineers' reports which the society says never stated any imminent danger of the existing facility. The retrofit option is back on the table after the society was granted the rare injunction.