The city of Coquitlam will no longer have a specific committee to advise council on issues related to the Riverview Hospital lands.
The 15-member board designed to provide local perspectives on the future of the former hospital site has fulfilled its mandate and will not be re-constituted next year, said Coquitlam's legislative services manager, Sean O'Melinn.
"The next steps with respect to the lands are to be determined by the province," he said in an email. "As such, the work of the committee is not being transferred to another committee. Council has the ability to re-establish the committee or a task force to address the Riverview lands related business should the need arise."
The Riverview lands advisory committee was established to provide council with direction on everything from land use and planning to the environment and mental health for the 244-acre property.
Coun. Teri Towner chaired the meetings in 2019, with Coun. Steve Kim acting as co-chair, and they included representatives from Burke Mountain Naturalists, Coquitlam Heritage Society, New View Society, Riverview Horticultural Centre Society along with nine citizen reps. It most recently met last month.
Monday, council voted unanimously in favour of its appointments for all of the city's 2020 advisory and statutory boards. Most councillors will keep the committee assignments they had in 2019, although some of the roles have changed. For example, Coun. Chris Wilson was co-chair of economic development committee in 2019, with Coun. Brent Asmundson serving as vice-chair. In 2020, the two will trade places.
Other committee appointments for next year include (2019 appointments in parenthesis):
• Culture services — chair: Kim; vice-chair: Coun. Craig Hodge (Kim/Hodge)
• Multiculturalism — chair: Coun. Trish Mandewo; vice-chair: Towner (Towner/Mandewo)
• Sports — chair: Coun. Bonita Zarrillo; vice-chair: Coun. Dennis Marsden (Marsden/Zarrillo)
• Sustainability and environmental — chair: Asmundson; vice-chair: Hodge (Hodge/Asmundson)
• Universal access-ability — chair: Mandewo; vice-chair: Wilson (Wilson/Mandewo)
• Library Board — council representative: Wilson.
