West Vancouver raised the $1 million fee months ago but it took until last week to come to terms with the Vancouver Organizing Committee on the terms of a venue city agreement.

The deal was reached last week and lays out what the district is and is not responsible for when it comes to hosting the Games.

Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones said council's goal is to avoid using public funds to pay for the Olympics and the agreement carries out that intent.

"We wanted to make sure the agreement made sense on our terms, not just Vanoc's" said Goldsmith-Jones. "You're going to see the West Vancouver name (in Olympic marketing) now that we've actually signed the agreement."

The agreement allows the district to use the Olympic logo, will bring the torch relay to West Vancouver and includes some Olympic-funding for cultural events.

Although details about transportation, snow removal and garbage pickup have yet to be ironed out, Goldsmith-Jones said the district won't be offering up its buses as TransLink has done.

Goldsmith-Jones said council will continue to look for alternate ways to fund the cultural celebrations surrounding the Games. She said the group that raised the $1 million venue city money is pursuing more fundraising opportunities.

"We've been clear all along, we don't want to raise our property taxes to fund 2010," she said.

Another aspect the district will be planning with Vanoc is for the possibility that West Van will be busier than organizers expect. With little accommodation and the events taking place some distance from the town centre, Goldsmith-Jones said West Vancouver wasn't expected to get a huge influx of visitors.

However, Olympic organizations have already inquired about places to stay and Goldsmith-Jones said council has asked staff to prepare a report on setting up temporary options such as bed and breakfast-style accommodations.

Goldsmith-Jones said that Whistler's distance from the venues in downtown Vancouver, may mean that more visitors will flock to West Vancouver. Park Royal Shopping Centre has been a big supporter of the World Cup events at Cypress and they could play a role in how many visitors decide turn off the highway in West Van.

"It could mean that we're busier here than was originally anticipated," she said. "We're still in early days so we really don't know how many people will be visiting."

There are many more planning issues to come as international media begin to make their way to the North Shore to prepare for covering the Games. Goldsmith-Jones said this next year will go by quickly but she hopes council will continue to make decisions with the best interests of the community in mind.

"We've been so focused on getting an agreement signed," she said. "We don't want us to be in a position where we're making expectations too high or committing to something we can't do."

Despite a request for information Vanoc did not offer any comments on the agreement.