The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board held its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, November 8. Provincial legislation requires regional districts to annually elect a Chair and a Vice-Chair for a one-year term at the first meeting of the Board after November 1.
Continue reading SRD Re-elects Baker Chair, Sinnot New Vice Chair
The Directors of Cortes Island (Area B), Areas A and C are opposed to the idea that their ratepayers should help finance renovations to the Strathcona Gardens facility in Campbell River. The Strathcona Regional District’s portion of financing the new aquatic and wellness centre is expected to be around $73 million. Last April the SRD Board approved a bylaw allowing them to borrow $64,670.000. This debt is currently the responsibility of property owners in the City of Campbell River and Electoral Area D, where most of the facility’s users reside. At the June 28 SRD Board meeting, Directors John Rice of Area D and Susan Sinnot of Campbell River brought forward a motion that staff look into the option that ratepayers in Areas A, B, and C pick up part of the tab.
Continue reading Rural Directors opposed to their residents paying for Strathcona Garden renovations
The Strathcona Regional District is moving forward with adoption of a regional fire administration support service that would provide assistance to the various fire departments in the Regional District.
There was little discussion and no opposing votes at the May 10th SRD Board meeting.
Continue reading SRD moving forward with Regional Fire Service
One of the biggest stories coming out of the SRD may be the way the new Electoral Areas Services Committee (EASC) seems to be working together. It has only been a little more than five months since the election, but the deep personal divisions that were so apparent in the previous EASC are not there, at least not yet. Cortes Currents asked our two local Discovery Island Directors about this.
Mark Vonesch, Regional Director of Cortes Island, said, “I wasn’t involved in the last administration, but there is a lot of teamwork between the Rural Directors. We talk a lot. We don’t agree on everything, but we have relationships where we feel comfortable sharing our ideas and our thoughts and reflecting on each other’s ideas. Generally there’s a lot of cohesiveness and support for getting things done in our own communities.”
Continue reading How the EASC Committee is working together
Will the SRD set up a transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island?
There has been friction between some of the Strathcona Regional Districts rural areas and municipalities in the past. This was thought to have ended with the new board, but there have been a couple of recent occasions when the electoral areas felt their wishes were being overridden. In both cases, this pertained to research rather than policy. Electoral Areas A and D were not allowed to withdraw from the feasibility studies for a proposed transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island. None of the Electoral Areas were interested in having their Fire Departments come under the administration of a proposed Fire Chief for the SRD.
Thus at the Board’s Feb 2 meeting, Regional Director Gerald Whalley of Area A announced, “The electoral areas have come to the unanimous conclusion that we are being unfairly treated by the Board. Therefore, I move that the Board convene an open mediated service review as soon as possible. And if I have a second for this motion, I will speak to it .”
Continue reading SRD Board: How can electoral areas opt out of services?
