The Strathcona Regional District is considering a Grant in Aid policy which would funnel all applications through staff. According to Gerald Whalley, who has been a Regional Director since the SRD was formed in 2008, this is the third time the idea of a policy has come up. After an intense debate, the proposal has been forwarded to the Electoral Areas Services Committee and Municipal Services Committee for further discussion.
Continue reading Debate On proposed SRD Grant In Aid Policy continues
The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) wants a list of School District 72’s properties on Cortes Island and in Area C. As Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney pointed out, in a letter to the other rural Directors, some of them ‘may be a good fit for a housing project.’ Mawhinney proposed that the SRD ask for a list.
At the Board’s August 21 meeting, Campbell River Director Susan Sinnott made an amendment to Mawhinney’s motion:
“I’m going to say that a letter be sent to School District 72, inquiring whether or not there are lands available for either the school district to develop for housing, or over which they have an interest, that they own or have a license of occupation or right of access that they’d be interested in disposing to the Regional District.”
Continue reading SRD Wants A List Of School District Properties For Potential Housing DevelopmentRick and Cheryl Schellinck have been trying to obtain approval to subdivide their Quadra Island property, as the first step towards development, since 2011. The most recent version of the proposed Gowlland Harbour Views project consisted of twenty-two 2 hectare rural residential lots, a 5 hectare Agricultural Land Reserve parcel, and two small Regional District Parks. Quadra Island residents were given a chance to state their opinions of the project at a public meeting on June 12. Then Schellinck’s application was defeated in an electoral Directors only vote at the July 24, SRD Board meeting. It failed to make it to the third reading.
Continue reading Gowlland Harbour Views Development Voted DownThe Strathcona Regional District Board SRD is considering amending the Grant in Aid process. A proposed ‘Financial Assistance to Organizations’ policy from 2021 is being considered. Regional Directors Gerald Whalley from Area A, Robyn Mawhinney from Area C and Mark Vonesch from Area B (Cortes Island) voted in opposition, but were defeated.
The associated staff report refers to a recent grant in aid to the Cortes Island School, questions the relationship between the school and Parent Advisory Council and asks whether the funds being requested should actually have come from School District 72.
The policy brought forward in 2021 proposed that in the future:
The Strathcona Regional District is considering what could be an extremely innovative and societal changing plan. As CAO David Letich informed the Board, at their Wednesday June 26 meeting, the draft Poverty Reduction Plan is already more than 100 pages long. It was his intention to have the plam introduced through a presentation and then, hopefully, they will forward it to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion.
Continue reading First Draft of the SRD Poverty Reduction Plan
