'MAKE SURE MEDICAL GROWOPS FOLLOW RULES'

They'll be talking about medical marijuana grows, booze pricing and
even musty old clauses in land sales agreements that hurt a city's
growth plans.

And it's hoped other cities will see Maple Ridge's point of view and
adopt the resolutions and push the provincial government into action
at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this week in Whistler.

Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Daykin is confident the resolutions will at
least see the light of day.

"I'm sure we'll get support on the medical marijuana grow thing
because it is a challenge in a number of municipalities."

Surrey proposed the resolution last year, but it didn't get any
support.

Since then, the TAGS Medical Cannabis dispensary opened in Maple Ridge
on 224th Street, south of Lougheed Highway.

Maple Ridge then wrote a letter to Health Canada expressing the same
concerns about medical marijuana growops as an earlier resolution
proposed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

The resolution at Whistler will ask for the same thing - that the
federal government figure out a way to ensure medicinal marijuana
growops are following all the rules.

The resolution cites the risks of growing medicinal marijuana, which
resemble the illegal operations - such as grow rips, health hazards to
kids living in homes where marijuana is grown intensively, and the
greater risk of fires and chemical spills.

Daykin said Kelowna, Langley and Parksville are facing the same issue
as Maple Ridge, with dispensaries opening.

The current situation turns municipalities into the "default
regulator," he said.

"We don't have the manpower to go around monitoring
growops."

The issue cropped up last year when Surrey asked that Health Canada to
require medicinal marijuana grow operations to follow all electrical,
health, fire and safety regulations.

That prompted a response from Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq,
explaining that her department does not verify compliance by medicinal
marijuana users. Those responsibilities are stated when the person
gets the licence, she said.

"I think the feds have put in a system that has no checks and
balances," Daykin said.

So far, though, he knows of only two medical growops in Maple Ridge
not following their licence requirements.

Daykin added he had no problem with sick people using marijuana to
ease their suffering. But give it a drug identification number and
sell it from a pharmacy, he suggested.

Coun. Cheryl Ashlie is particularly concerned about alcohol pricing in
bars and stores that seems targeted at kids. Often, low-alcohol drinks
are more expensive and the strong stuff and it should be the other way
around.

She and the rest of Maple Ridge council want the provincial government
to enact policies suggested by the Centre for Addictions Research of
B.C.

She doesn't want the government to do another study - which could
delay things another decade.

Another resolution asks the province to change the Land Titles Act so
that cities and towns can remove clauses that prohibit a particular
use when a property is sold.

Often those covenants are put in place to prevent a retail competitor
from later using the same property. However, the clauses can last for
years and hurt municipal goals for development.

"That will be interesting to see how many other communities have that
problem," said Daykin.

He's also confident Maple Ridge's resolution to ban the
over-the-counter retail sale of pesticides gets passed.

"It's one of those issues that have to be dealt with
province-wide."

The district has banned the use of cosmetic pesticides in suburbs, but
not their sale, because it doesn't have the power to do so. Anyone who
wants to use the chemicals must first get a permit from the district.

But the resolution says pesticides are "widely available with few
restrictions . at a time when most communities have cosmetic pesticide
bans in place."

The district also wants the government to spend more money to reduce
ambulance response times. Currently, the B.C. Ambulance Service is
only getting to half the calls in major areas under nine minutes, when
its target is to make that time 90 per cent of the time.

The costs of policing are also on the agenda, as wages and technology
costs climb.

Formation of a regional police force could be discussed, but Daykin
likes the current system.

"I'm still not convinced that in the long-run that it is more cost
effective."

He said recent events in the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment area, a
rape and murder, would have occupied the local detachment completely
if there were no regional integrated specialized teams.

The range of resolutions is as varied as the cities within B.C. Maple
Ridge also wants incentives to encourage accessible housing, while
Pitt Meadows wants more secure mail boxes.

Vernon has come up with two ideas to make cycling a bit safer. It
wants both senior governments to look at building trails right beside
railway tracks, taking advantage of the right of way that's already
there so there are more paths for people to either walk or cycle.

It also wants the width of shoulders on highways increased to two
metres, with a rumble strip separating the highway, to give more room
for cyclists.

The convention whose theme is Forging Gold Medal Standards, wraps up
Friday.