Squamish could soon have its own marine rescue station.
A Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station is slated to replace the pump track at on Xwu鈥檔ekw (Lot 1) on the Mamquam Blind Channel in downtown Squamish.
Council passed a motion at its July 28 meeting to authorize the decommissioning of the 麻豆社国产Off-Road Cycling Association pump track in order to place a marine search and rescue boathouse on the water at the end of Main Street and an associated office building on the land.聽
The rescue station will provide emergency response capabilities to assist in water-related rescues, according to Mike Sheehan, Squamish聽station leader for the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, Station 04.
鈥淲e want to build a home, a permanent home,鈥� said Sheehan, who added he has been working at getting the Xwu鈥檔ekw site for about a year. 鈥淚t is just the obvious next step for a growing community.鈥�
Currently the organization has two rigid-hulled inflatable boats that the 麻豆社国产Yacht Club accommodates at its dock.
鈥淲hen we get a call, we go racing down to the yacht club and get in all our gear at the trailer there,鈥� he said, adding that classroom marine rescue training is done at the 麻豆社国产RCMP station.聽
About 50 per cent of the group鈥檚 marine search and rescue training is done in class, he said.聽
鈥淪o we would love to have a place where we do it all in the same spot and have our boats in a secured boathouse covered from the weather.鈥澛�
Sheehan said many of the calls for assistance are right in the Mamquam Blind Channel, so response times won鈥檛 be affected. Some of the other calls the 18 麻豆社国产volunteer members respond to include fires 鈥� members were first on scene at the April 16 麻豆社国产Terminals dock fire 鈥� as well as broken-down vessels and missing boaters. Marine search and rescue members helped search for the man missing near Anvil Island two weekends ago, Sheehan said.聽
One of the organization鈥檚 mandates is to promote boating safety in the district; a permanent home would help with that goal, Sheehan said.聽
鈥淎 lot of it is just getting the word out鈥� in the community that we are in fact here and we do respond to emergency calls on the water and we have a group of highly trained, dedicated individuals that commit a lot of time to that end,鈥� he said.
The organization is staffed by volunteers and runs on donations. The Howe Sound Marine Rescue Society聽fundraises to support the ongoing maintenance of the rescue vessels and to upgrade equipment.
Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue will have to obtain a development permit from the district before construction of the rescue station can begin.
The 麻豆社国产Paddling Club will also have a boat storage facility on the lot north of the rescue station, according to the district. 聽
The District of 麻豆社国产acquired the two-acre Xwu鈥檔ekw waterfront site in 2013 through a sponsored crown grant.聽
It was a no-brainer for the leadership at SORCA to support the decommissioning of the pump track to make way for the rescue station, according to the organization鈥檚 president Jeff Cooke.聽
鈥淭he land is best used by people who need the water,鈥� said Cooke. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to get in the way 鈥� it鈥檚 not all about us.鈥澛�
In June 2014, SORCA built the pump track with $5,000 of district 鈥淨uick wins鈥� funds. Cooke said he hopes that eventually a world-class pump track will be built downtown that will draw riders from other areas of 麻豆社国产and beyond.聽
鈥淥ne of the things we learned through the whole experience is if you are going to do a park like that, you might as well do a really great one, otherwise it鈥檚 not going to get a lot of attraction and use,鈥� said Cooke, acknowledging the track hasn鈥檛 been well used.聽
A serious track would cost about $250,000 and would make a great amenity contribution from a developer building locally, Cooke said.
