Birken Society looking to scoop Gates Lake Park from Pemberton

With a low budget and small population to program for, the Birken Recreation and Cultural Society (BRCS) has its work cut out for it.

In recent years, Gates Lake Community Park has become a go-to spot for BRCS events. The park—a 30-minute drive up the Pemberton Portage Road from Pemberton—has hosted some of the Society’s favourite events, from summer markets and Easter-egg hunts to singing and putting up lights at Christmastime.

But there’s a catch.

“In order to go down and do those things, we have to call the Village of Pemberton—their recreation department—and ask for permission, which we thought was really odd,” said Patti Rodger Kirkpatrick, chair of the BRCS.

“It was just this piece of extra red tape with a bunch of paperwork that had to be filled out.”

Parks funding in the SLRD

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) purchased the 1.2-hectare park in 2013 with the goal of "developing a community park to enhance recreation and leisure opportunities for residents living in the Mount Currie to D’Arcy corridor." 

Under a 1997 bylaw, the SLRD uses tax revenue collected from residents of Pemberton and SLRD Electoral Area C to fund recreation services, which are then distributed to a regional body like the Village of Pemberton. That regional body uses the funding to help manage recreational services like Gates Lake Community Park.

During COVID, Rodger Kirkpatrick pitched the rest of the board on an unprecedented move for the BRCS: assuming management and funding of Gates Lake Community Park. The BRCS would receive the SLRD funding that the VOP gets, with additional expenditures based on the hiring of a new executive director and insurance upgrades. BRCS’ proposed operating budget is $25,084.

A shift in park management wouldn’t be unheard of for the SLRD.

In 1998, the SLRD shifted responsibility for overseeing day-to-day operations to the Village of Pemberton. The Village then passed that responsibility to the Resort Municipality of Whistler in 2000. In 2007, the SLRD once again assumed management, before a service delivery agreement shifted it back to the Village of Pemberton in 2019.

But a VOP staff report from March suggested looking for new managers for the facility.

“[I]t has been agreed that it does not necessarily make sense for the Village to oversee operations of Gates Lake Park,” the report read. “As such, SLRD staff will be exploring options for the future park management."

Enter the BRCS.

Delegation to the SLRD

On Dec. 5, Rodger Kirkpatrick took her idea to the SLRD’s Pemberton Valley Utilities & Services committee. It was met with enthusiasm from board members.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Russell Mack, Electoral Area C Director at the SLRD. “Because you folks are really engaged, I think it would be, if nothing else, a really good test to see how this would work because maybe it would work somewhere else ... I’m fully supportive of this."

Area C’s alternate director, Jan Kennett, was also supportive.

“I’m all for it,” Kennett said. "I think it reduces the layer of work that has to be done from the Village. As far as I’m concerned, I think it’s wonderful.”

Mayor Mike Richman echoed the general support from the board and the village on the issue.

The VOP staff report from March suggested extending the current contract, which places the Village of Pemberton in control of the park until Dec. 31, 2025. Any changes in ownership would have to occur after that.

“We have to work within the contracts that we currently have and see those through," said Richman. "But I think that gives us time to work through the process and figure out what that looks like.”

Staff are currently looking at the issue, but Richman said stakeholders have a clear “runway” to look at how to put things together and hammer out an agreement.

Rodger Kirkpatrick said the year gives the BRCS time to review the legality and liabilities associated with the changeover.

Next steps

Rodger Kirkpatrick is excited for what unfettered access to the park could mean for the BRCS.

“I think we could start organizing kids programming for the summer months,” she said. “Or, you know, maybe have a canteen down there where you sell [food], and hire a local kid on the weekends to manage it.”

She’s also excited about the prospect of hiring local for a new executive director position that will oversee management and funding of Gates Lake Community Park. BRCS’ proposal includes $14,000 for a salaried employee who would oversee the park on a day-to-day basis.

“It gives us the opportunity to hire somebody to help, gives us an opportunity to hire local people in the park,” Rodger Kirkpatrick said.