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[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 1
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
Leadership
I have been reflecting on the manner in which I
approach this job representing you to the
Strathcona Regional District (SRD) and how that
compares to some of my colleagues in the news. I
am more of a collaborator and enabler than a front
page podium seeker. Although one might say I have
a more modest reach, my commitment as a Cortes
politician is primarily to Cortes. The more I see of
the larger political world, the more I appreciate
Cortes. In the past couple of years, I have put good
energy into supporting the establishment of Cortes
Island Business and Tourism, the monthly
community meals and the Truth & Reconciliation
Learning Group. I have incubated the conversation
on a renewed trails effort, supported focused
attention on a transportation study, and
encouraged consideration of a Cortes land holding
group. I have taken a back seat on the ferries issue,
which I explain later on, yet have responded swiftly
to the announced closure of the Credit Union.
Although I am dedicated to my work and am
honored to serve Cortes in this way (I wouldn’t do it
for any other community) I am not consumed by it.
Although my heart is in with this service, I also take
time for family, garden, home, & spirit. This balance
has kept me sane and in deep gratitude.
Newsletter Contents:
Leadership 1
4 Year Election Term as of Nov 15 1
Parks & Trails 2
Regional Tourism / Economic Development 3
Grant-In-Aid Applications Due May 9th 4
Expanded Recycling Coming Soon 4
Campbell River Boundary Expansion 4
OCP & Zoning Bylaw 5
Coastal Community Credit Union 6
SRD Budget 6
My Perspective on BC Ferries 7
New Ferry Schedule – Insert – Separate Page
This has been a relatively slow year for Cortes at the
Regional District board. Our regional attention has
been focused instead on the Oyster Bay area,
between a review of their Official Community Plan,
water supply issues, sewerage planning and the
proposed Campbell River boundary expansion.
When staff is not busy with that, they have been
putting considerable effort into the Quathiaski Cove
sewer situation. However, a few small Cortes
projects are being moved forward, including some
key trails work and a new recycling program, both
of which I expand on below.
4 Year Election Term as of Nov 15
The Provincial government recently introduced
legislation “that will support greater transparency
and accountability in local government elections.”
Mostly the bill deals with election campaign
financing rules; not something that will have much
effect on Cortes given the very small costs of local
campaigns. What will affect us is a change from a 3
to a 4 year term of office. Assuming this legislation
passes, which it likely will with a majority
government, whoever is elected from Cortes to the
Regional District on November 15th of this year will
be elected for 4 years of service.
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 2
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
Parks & Trails
Beach Access I am turning my attention to the Cortes trail system.
The Cortes parks service at the SRD is focusing this
year on developing new beach access trails,
mapping the existing island-wide trail network, and
identifying new proposed cross-island trails. I am
grateful to the Friends of Cortes Island trails group
who has helped prioritize our efforts. There are
many roads that currently terminate at the water
(lake and ocean) and already provide public beach
access. Effort will be taken to map and sign these
sites along with the three beach access trails that
have been open for some years (Moon, Hayes &
Gnat) and the one just completed at the end of
Seascape Road. Check it out!! It features many wide
steps and a sweet ‘creek’ crossing.
Seven more beach accesses have been identified for
further. They are: Seaford Road, Arbutus Road,
Christensen Road, Noth side of Gunflint Lake, Ester
Road off of Plunger Pass Road, Sawmill Road and a
high bank picnic area at the end of Raven Road.
When further information is collected about these
sites, I will come back to the FOCI trails group for
consultation. If you would like to join this working
group, please be in
touch with FOCI. The
SRD will also consult
immediate
neighbours for their
input. Let me know
what you think.
Please let me know.
A map of all the
potential beach
access points is up
for public display in
Manson’s Hall beside
the indoor entrance
to the post office.
New Ferry Park If ever, on one of those hot summer days, when the
ferry is overloaded you would rather be anywhere
than waiting for hours, now you can sit at a seaside
picnic table under a fruit tree, in a lovingly restored
heritage homestead. Yes, beneath the blackberries
and brambles, a few dedicated volunteers have
uncovered a wee little gem! Below the Whaletown
ferry parking lot will now be a sweet little SRD park.
The final paperwork is still pending but I have every
confidence that by the time the ferry is overloaded
again mid-day and the sun is high, there will be a
sweet spot to be. Thanks to BC Ferries and the
Ministry of Highways for their total support this far,
and many thanks to Rick and Deb Peters and Ryan
Harvey who have put so much effort into this soon-
to-be-charming spot and to the FOCI trails group for
their coordination. There will be a few small
bridges, another table, some new fruit trees, and a
fancy trail up to Byers Road to make a short walking
loop. A site sketch below gives an idea of what may
be. Next time you have a few minutes waiting for
the ferry, take a look.
Here is a simple sketch of the site. The ferry dock is
just off the page to the bottom right.
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 3
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
Reef Point Park The ‘Crown’ piece of land that is the very
southernmost tip of the island, identified as one of
the three future parks interests in the Cortes Official
Community Plan, is now getting some attention. I
have begun looking into how to formalize a trail
network on that land, much like Kw’as Park.
Members of the FOCI trails group are writing a
backgrounder on this park interest to present to the
Province and other interested parties.
Regional Tourism / Economic
Development
The Regional District board has identified ‘Tourism’
as an area of regional interest worth investigation.
Although this was not a priority I had identified for
Cortes I respected the regional strategic planning
process and I called together Cortes tourism
operators to ask if there was any interest in more
formal regional tourism collaboration and if they
saw a role for local government. From that meeting
was born Cortes Island Business and Tourism
(CIBAT), now a committee of the Discovery Islands
Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to the Cortes
executive in this first foundational year.
In 2013, the SRD hired a consultant to investigate
the value, viability and costs associated with
forming a regional SRD tourism tax service. At a
very high level, they also explored the various forms
that this service could take and how it might be
delivered. To see the first, very beginnings of the
consultants work, visit the link at the bottom of this
article. Last month, the board asked the consultant
to further investigate an option that would include
providing some of the service in house and some
contracted out. We are now awaiting that final
report. Although my three rural colleagues have
been very clear from the outset that they have no
interest in participating in a regional service, I have
maintained an open and curious mind, although I
still struggle to see the solid advantages to Cortes in
this kind of regional approach. I have consulted with
Cortes Island Business & Tourism, and they have
also expressed curiosity for more information and
see some value in regional collaboration. However,
they too have reservations and questions.
Hornby & Denman Island’s Community Economic Enhancement Model Late last year, a CIBAT member and I participated in
an economic development conference focused on
gulf islands. Of all the various economic
development models, that of Hornby & Denman
strikes me as a good potential fit for Cortes Island.
The Comox-Valley Regional District has an economic
development tax service that, through a 5 year
contract, supports the work of the Hornby Island
Community Economic Enhancement Corporation
and the Denman WORKS! Economic Enhancement
Society. A few words about Hornby from their
website: “HICEEC is a non-profit corporation
established in 1996 to foster a healthy, sustainable
and diversified economy on Hornby Island. HICEEC
administers its own programs and works with
partners towards achieving this goal. The mission of
the HICEEC is to take leadership in developing and
implementing solutions to social and economic
issues facing the citizens of Hornby Island. Our
vision is a healthy, sustainable, resilient and
diversified economy on the island. Securing funding
has allowed us to implement an ongoing cycle of
fund disbursement and establish a physical office.”
I would like to host an economic development
forum here on Cortes later this year to explore
options for a more coordinated community
economic development approach in these sustained
difficult economic times. I see CIBAT as the
beginning of this wide-vision community approach.
http://srdws.strathconard.ca/Agenda_minutes/SRD
Board/BRD/12-Mar-14/20140303-Tourism-
Feasibility-Study---Confirmation-of-Preferred-
Service-Model-COMBINED.PDF
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 4
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
Grants-In-Aid Application Due May 9th
Every year in the Regional District budget, we set
aside Cortes Grant-In-Aid funds to assist with local
non-profit work. This year please submit
applications to me by Friday, May 9th using the SRD
Grant-In-Aid form that accompanies this newsletter
electronically, and send applications directly to me.
I encourage applicants with any out-of-the ordinary
project ideas to contact me first to discuss your
concept. Each year I set aside 1/3 of the
approximate $25,000 for a significant community
priority project. Past priorities have included youth,
non-profit fundraising, and business & tourism
assistance. What is our collective priority this year?
Expanded Recycling Coming Soon
Next month, you will all be receiving detailed
information about a new expanded recycling
program (Multi-Materials BC) coming to you!
The program will enable you to recycle new
categories of packaging that are not commonly
included in current recycling programs such as:
Film plastics - plastic bags
Gabletop containers - milk cartons
Aerosol containers
Plant pots
Aluminum foil containers
Asceptic containers - soy milk, soup containers
Plastic clamshell containers - from bakeries & delis
Paper packaging coated with wax or plastic
Hot and cold drink cups
This is a program that the Regional District decided
to adopt and run, so that we could continue to
deliver the great local recycling pick-up service and
recycling centre. I have been saying for years,
‘people should be able to take everything they don’t
want to one place!’ We are moving ever closer to
that goal. Thanks to Dova for all your years at the
Cortes Recycling Centre and welcome Brian! Thanks
also to Henry and his team for the ‘end-of-driveway’
collection service. The pride you all show is truly
admirable!
Campbell River Boundary Expansion
Anyone reading the Campbell River newspapers the
last many months will be aware that the City of
Campbell River has a boundary expansion proposal
that would include a good portion of the residential
area of the Regional District to their south. A
referendum will be conducted to poll those
residents that would be immediately affected. They
get to choose. We recently received a report at the
SRD board that indicated that there would be a
financial impact on taxpayers throughout the SRD
and few identifiable cost savings. It says that the
SRD is relatively small and has limited scalability,
meaning most present roles and functions are
required in order for the organization to function.
Therefore, reduction in service as a primary means
of addressing this shortfall would be a challenge.
Increasing tax levels or other rationalizations would
likely be required to address the shortfall. If this
boundary expansion was to be successful, it is
anticipated that Cortes would need to pay an extra
approximate $8,500 to make up the shortfall in
planning and admin services, which would mean an
extra $10 per year for the average Cortes property
owner. For the full report see:
http://srdws.strathconard.ca/Agenda_minutes/SR
DBoard/BRD/09-Apr-14/20140402-Hotsenpiller-
Campbell-River-Boundary-Adjustment-Service-
Impact-Review.pdf
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 5
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
OCP & Zoning Bylaw
The Cortes Official Community Plan (OCP) was
completed a year ago, yet it is important that all
that good work is kept alive. I will give 3 bound
copies of the OCP to the Cortes library for
circulation, and I have a number of paper copies to
distribute to those of you who would like one for
your reference. Electronically, it can be found at
http://strathconard.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?P
ageID=71 . This document is part of my job
description and marching orders. Here are the
‘Actions & Plans’ outlined at the OCP’s end. These
are items that together we need to make happen!
Cortes OCP Actions & Plans 1. To maintain and revisit the Rural Road Standard Letter of Agreement between the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the Regional District to develop an ongoing consultative process in order to ensure a rural road standard is maintained for Cortes Island, and further, to update road classifications as required;
2. To support local food production and processing through:
i. development of a community garden; ii. creation of a “local food growers” cooperative.
3. Develop a comprehensive Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Strategy and a comprehensive long term implementation plan;
4. To establish a Cortes Island Forest Carbon Reserve fund, along with associated community forest land and protection areas, in order to develop an international monetary carbon offsets mechanism;
5. To undertake a comprehensive hydrology study for Cortes Island;
6. To develop a system to dispose of hazardous waste;
7. Development of a Cortes Island evacuation plan;
8. Support the creation of a plan to address liquid waste management issues within the Manson’s Landing area; 9. That a comprehensive planning process be undertaken for Manson’s Landing to address
matters of density, land use, public space and transportation;
10. Development of a groundwater protection plan for Manson’s Landing and the inhabited areas of Hague Lake;
11. That the Regional District apply for map reserve status for Gorge Harbour;
12. That the Cortes Zoning bylaw be updated, including a review of aquaculture definitions and zoning provisions;
13. That a regulatory bylaw to address matters of nuisance and enjoyment of property be developed and adopted;
14. The preparation of performance benchmarks in order to monitor the successful implementation of plan policies and climate change policies;
15. Consultation be initiated the with Ministry of Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations regarding aquaculture lease locations and consistency with OCP plan policies;
16. The provision of an annual report on the status of the Official Community Plan;
17. That a formal review of the official community plan be undertaken in ten years.
Zoning Bylaw Review Bylaw No. 2455, being the Electoral Area ‘I’ (Cortes Island) Zoning Bylaw, 2002, regulates land use on Cortes Island. The zoning bylaw will require amendments in order to reflect policies that have been developed through the adoption of the Official Community Plan. Due to our small staff at the SRD and the many large regional projects indentified in the intro if this newsletter, the update to the Cortes Zoning Bylaw is now planned to be undertaken in the early part of 2014. Two major issues that will need to be addressed in that review are aquaculture zoning and numbers of permitted dwellings on un-subdivided lots.
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 6
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
Coastal Community Credit Union
On April 1st, and not as an April Fools joke, the
board of the Coastal Community Credit Union made
the decision to close its three branches and remove
ATMs in Alert Bay, Sointula and on Cortes Island
effective July 5th. I immediately reached out to
leaders in the other two affected communities and
wrote our joint letter that was delivered three
business days after the public announcement. It
was a very strong letter outlining our utter dismay
at their lack of member and community
consultation and requesting information to explain
their decision. The letter can be found at
http://www.cortesisland.com/tideline/show6720a5
s/Letter_to_CCCU_Board__CEO_from_Cortes_Soint
ula__Alert_Bay
Four days later, leaders from Alert Bay, ‘Namgis
First Nation, Sointula and I met in Parksville on
Saturday April 12th with the CEO and Board chair of
the Coastal Community Credit Union. Although they
shared very little concrete information we did get
the clear message, however belatedly, that they do
want to work with us to find ways of continuing to
serve their members and wanted our assistance to
that end. We heard that the Credit Union will take
our concerns back to the board and consider
extending the closure deadline for all three
branches so that they can engage community
leaders and their members to find a solution that
will reduce the level of subsidization while providing
needed service in our communities. We as leaders
committed to working with the Credit Union to find
alternative solutions that are mutually acceptable.
The board chair has told us that the closure of the
credit union branches has been added to the Credit
Union AGM agenda April 16th. We have assurance
from the board chair that we will be contacted in
the very near future for further discussions. We also
informed them that there is a members’ special
resolution petition being circulated among the
communities which will be presented at the AGM
asking for a special meeting on this matter. Please
send me your feedback about how this branch
closure will affect you, what your core service needs
are and any creative work-around thoughts you
might have. I am doing my best to put to the side
my disgust with how this decision was made, and
move into a proactive mode.
SRD Budget
I have made a concerted effort since taking office at
keeping property taxation very stable. The table
below demonstrates this. The 2008 budget was the
last one of Jenny Hiebert’s term. Since that time, I
have increased the grant-in-aid budget which
supports local non-profits, kept stable funding for
planning, fire & emergency services, while
increasing our work in parks without increasing the
tax associated with them. Although the tax rate has
increased, the dollar amount collected has been
very stable to support stable programs.
This is of course the smallest snapshot. I am very
happy to explore in more detail the budget with
anyone that has interest. Please let me know.
Year Total SRD Taxation
from Cortes (not
including library tax)
Tax rate per $1,000
assessed property value
(not including fire &
garbage collection)
2008 $530,527 0.87
2009 $543,156 0.89
2010 $565,904 0.93
2011 $527,996 0.91
2012 $528,613 1.00
2013 $532,110 1.04
2014 $547,996 1.07
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 7
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
My Perspective on BC Ferries
The reasons that I have been quiet about the whole
BC Ferry issue while active efforts are being made
by elected bodies and coalitions are threefold.
Firstly, people much more passionate about this
issue than I have been empowered to represent us.
Jim Abram is the appointed rep from the Strathcona
Regional District to the Special Committee on BC
Ferries and does a fervent job there on our behalf.
Secondly, I cannot wholeheartedly throw my
support behind an effort to maintain the status quo
in a transportation system that is so car-centric.
Rather than speak out as a minority, I have left this
issue to those who are fighting. Thirdly, I have little
faith that the current Provincial government has
any interest in listening to the public on this matter.
For years, through all the diplomatic channels
available to citizens and local governments, we
have been making the case for stabilization of the
ferry system, yet to no avail. I dearly hope that I am
wrong and that my colleague’s efforts bear fruit.
The present BC Ferries crisis has been decades in
the making due to short-term thinking and chronic
underfunding from the Provincial government.
Today, while the average life expectancy of a BC
Ferry is 40 years, the average age of a ferry is 37.
We have a massive fleet replacement issue that is
not being addressed. What are we going to replace
a 40 year-old fleet with? We cannot possibly
assume that the same kind if boats we use today
will be the best fit 40 years from now.
There is no question that fares have reached a
tipping point and MUST be addressed. BC ferry
users directly pay 100% of all ferry operating costs. I
challenge anyone to find another public
transportation system where its users cover all
operating costs. It doesn’t happen. The remaining
capital costs must be paid by the Province through a
stable funding formula. The government says that it
cannot continue to ‘subsidize’ BC Ferries to the
same extent. Yet they do not use that language for
highways or schools or hospitals. For those services
they say ‘fund’ rather than ‘subsidize.’ My question
is, what will users and the Province be paying for?
What will our ferries and transportation system
look like in the future? What will best serve our
communities in this time of rapid world-wide
economic and ecological change?
In the face of having services we rely on taken from
us without real engagement, even the most
progressive and ecologically minded people become
reactive. It is so much harder to engage people in
creative future thinking when we are in a reactive
mode. This big-picture conversation is not one that
most of my colleagues are prepared to have at this
time given the fight path that communities are on.
This IS the conversation, however, that I have
energy for!
I do not see the current version of our ferry system
[email protected] 250-935-0320 Box 394, Whaletown, BC, V0P 1Z0 Page 8
Happy Spring Cortes! From your Regional Director – Noba Anderson April 14 2014
as sustainable in any way. It would be politically
astute for me to say otherwise, but it is not my
truth. Today, the Cortes ferry is estimated to
contribute about 10% of our community’s green
house gas emissions on top of the estimated 37%
that is land transportation, and 25% that is
imported goods. This is according to 2009 Cortes
Greenhouse Gas Inventory which does not including
airline travel. Our single-occupancy car dominant
culture has got to change! It is killing life as we
know it on the planet and economically is crushing
us under the infrastructure cost required to support
it – roads, highways, bridges, and yes ferries!
First of all, we need to move people and stuff
around a lot less! We need to stay put more and
source our goods closer to home. However, when
we do need to transport people and stuff, we must
do so in an affordable manner; affordable to the
user, affordable to the government (still our money)
and with less ecological impact. Our current
behemoth ferry system is not the model future
transit system, neither diverse nor resilient.
We need integrated long-term transportation
planning that meets community needs, keeps costs
down and actively supports less car-dependent
transportation methods. This is not an undertaking
that BC Ferries or this Liberal government seems at
all interested in doing. I expect that it will need to
be an initiative at the local government level to
undertake this kind of transportation planning. I
have more energy for this proactive work than for
protesting idiocy by a government that has no
interest in listening to its people.
What I envision within my lifetime, if I dare, is a very
different system. For those of us that are inheriting
the ferries from the generation that built them, and
has left us with the associated global catastrophe, I
envision something new. I anticipate moving people
and goods but fewer cars! I see a transit system that
includes more passenger ferries. I see car sharing
and mini buses. In many cases, people would be
happy to leave their cars at home if they could get
to town easily by foot and get around by transit. For
the times when we need to bring bulky things
home, we would elect to take vehicles, or leave
bulky items to be brought to us by a freight system.
I see a fleet of electric vehicles, electric assist
bicycles, and shared trucks.
I have shared this vision at every opportunity with
BC Ferries and through the Province’s ‘engagement’
processes. When we are ready to have this broad-
minded conversation that includes both BC transit
and BC Ferries at the highest level, with a
progressive Provincial government that has the guts
and vision to be truly creative, I will be there with
all my heart. In the meantime, I expect that
solutions oriented long-term transportation
planning will come from local-government, non-
profit societies and community leaders.
Thank-you for the honor of this office.
In Gratitude, Noba Anderson