Regional Director’s Report for January
Well things are settling down at the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) as we get more of the budget meetings out of the way.
On Jan. 24, the Parks and Open Spaces Advisory Committee (POSAC) additions were made: Nancy Crozier, Jacinthe Eastick and Megan Dickinson have been appointed to the committee. The first POSAC meeting will be on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Community Hall.
The RDN Grants-in-Aid Committee was also chosen on Jan. 24, and Jim Wilson-Storey is to be the District 68 representative. I would like to thank all the people who submitted applications.
In late January I spent three days in Parksville at an elected officials training seminar run by the Local Government Leadership Academy. We attended a total of 27 hours of lectures on everything from local governments and First Nations working together, to a legal clinic and discussion on conflict of interest. There were addresses from the Honourable Ida Chong, Linda Adams of the Islands Trust, Gerry Berry of the City of Nanaimo and Kathryn Stuart of Stewart, McDonald and Stuart to name a few.
On Feb. 3 I attended the Parks and Recreation Society meeting, a very well-run group providing much needed recreational service on Gabriola. There will be a notice of their Grants-in-Aid program coming soon. Watch for the advertisements.
The RDN water study call for proposals has closed. Staff are very happy with the proposals they have received and will be awarding the contract very soon. One of the areas the study will focus on is the Village area: knowing the limits of water there will tell the Islands Trust if they could consider increasing density there.
Lock Bay is also an area to be looked at: with two water purveyors, a proposed subdivision and a saltwater marsh that needs an outflow of fresh water to maintain a balance. It would be best to know if there are any environmental issues with water usage in that area before we move forward.
All the work that has already been done on water on Gabriola will be included, with meetings planned with local groups. This may give us a better picture of the water resources on this and the surrounding islands.
The rest of the month looks like six different meetings; I’ll try to keep you up to date. Still having fun.