It would take anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 to open the municipal campground at Brennan Park to individual users, according to a staff report to council. The council will discuss the issue at a Committee of the Whole Meeting on April 11.
The Municipal Campground near Brennan Park operated until fall 2019 and opened for a short time during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, District decided to open the campground only for events, though it was used for recreation programming as well.
Opening the campground to individuals would be a tedious, time and money-consuming process, if the staff report is to be believed. To open the site ‘safely and responsibly’ from May long weekend to September would require the site to be upgraded, including providing a holding tank for sewerage.
And then there is the need for staff. The report notes that District staff assigned to the campground was not adequate and “camp host” positions would need to be contracted to provide support and security 24 hours a day. It would all add up. Here are the estimates for what it would take to reopen the campground ahead of a predictably busy summer.
Sanitary system: $300,000-$500,000
Site operation, including waste removal and grounds maintenance: $30,000
Staffing for registration: $40,000, and a minimum of $60,000 for camp hosts, a service that will be contracted out. And then there is the cost of bylaw enforcement, for which the amount varies based on call volume.
“Given the current commitments for event camping and initiation of the Fields and Lands Master Plan, opening the campground to individual users for the 2023 season would have impacts to budget, staff capacity, and organizational plans,” the report notes.
It also adds: “Staff continue to discuss with the Province the development of additional recreation sites as well as expanding existing campgrounds to accommodate higher volumes of visitors in appropriate locations near Squamish, in support of Council’s advocacy efforts in 2021 and 2022 to the Ministry of Environment and BC Parks”
Murray McCorriston says
Maybe try letting a vendor operater it . 60 campsites @$ 30.00 per night for 3 months =$ 162,000.00 .I think a vendor would take that on .
N_Dj says
NO, no non-sense anymore, please.
Either get rid of ridiculous programs catered towards small minority of beneficiaries, and use the money to benefit the people who appreciate the camp site, OR give the site to private hands and someone will find the way to operate it without District staff’s over-complicated and money thirst way of resolving the issues…
Francine says
Absolutely right all they see is how to spend ridiculously our money when all we want is for our town to make good decisions and be a good host while utilizing what we have to show that Squamish is a great place. Not end up in a Walmart parking lot not exactly the experience they were looking for.
And thank you to Walmart for being so patient they show that for a big company they are still human.
Peter Legere says
“To open the site ‘safely and responsibly’ from May long weekend to September would require the site to be upgraded, including providing a holding tank for sewerage.”
The correct word is “sewage” “sewerage” is infrastructure to handle sewage; the tank itself is “sewerage”
While I am here, “less” does not mean “fewer”
Stéphane says
Mamquam River Campground is just a kilometre from this municipal campground site. The district should just support them instead.
John Harvey says
These District figures are a little over the top. We run the Mamquam River Campground as a private, not-for-profit business. We’re on GFL-emptied outhouses without any water. The District SHOULD support us with potable drinking water. I can only imagine the consequences of us operating without potable drinking water for years and years.
Our model of operations has been successful with an onsite manager who provides presence and security. Like said above, the District should tender it out to a contractor, just like the Ministry of Forests and BC Parks do. Squamish needs more campgrounds, not less. The municipal campground needs no upgrades to function and tourism is integral in our economy.
Pierre Friele says
The Mamquam River Campground just down the way is a proven model: the rates are inexpensive, and even then there is money to hire staff (Manager, Executive Director and Student help) with spare for maintenance and capital investment. With the right initiative it pays its own way and provides a community service much needed in Squamish. Hard to understand what the difficulty is.
Donald Patrick says
It has become evident that the DOS cannot afford to maintain the infrastructure that is already in place. Too many high-priced personnel based on what standard? The resulting effect certainly is not the trend expected. If we want to be different then let’s show the difference. Using the Airport as an example, the cost to the DOS after the users pay the taxes, lease payments and other assessments is less than the expenses to maintain the airport to acceptable standards … that is a positive budget item, there are others.