As we near the end of another year, I feel that you deserve an update on several important issues affecting our communities:
·Budget/Town Hall meetings: We switched our town hall meetings to fall this year in order to allow for public input at the beginning of the budget process. Generally, the feedback has been positive, and we did get comments in these meetings which helped us to form the 2014 budget. The provisional 5-year plan was approved at the last Board meeting, and we will be soliciting input at regional meetings, as well as through our website and social media, prior to adoption at the end of March. The meeting for the Central Cariboo will be held March 1 in the CRD Boardroom at 1pm. The budget is increased by 1.2%, not including new or expanded services. Of particular interest to some, it includes grants for assistance to the Horsefly Volunteer Fire Department, the Horsefly Seniors and Wellness Society, and the Lexington Water Improvement District. For full details, https://caribooregionaldistrict.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=28469.
·Hospital: One of the questions we asked residents during the town halls was how they felt about pre-taxing and saving for large hospital upgrades vs. borrowing and taxing to include interest at the time the upgrades are under construction and beyond. Based on your feedback, the Board agreed to increase taxation by $8.00/$100,000 of assessed value of land and improvements, from $62 to $70, in order that we can start to save for the major improvement projects necessary for both Cariboo Memorial Hospital and GR Baker Hospital.
·Recreation/Sam Ketcham Memorial Pool: If you live in the recreation taxation area (WL fringe, 150 Mile House), this affects you.
o The provisional budget contains a (somewhat controversial) business plan goal to dedicate a staff person to support the non-profit groups struggling to maintain infrastructure, mostly outside the City, but not entirely. Some of the projects which would benefit from this position include the Esler soccer and ball fields, mountain bike trails, trails, ball fields, and outdoor rinks throughout the taxation area. I supported this position as I believe we must provide these services or risk losing our investment, and I think that by providing this support, we will improve the service to all of the communities who pay for recreation. The increase to the budget for this position is $80,000, or just over $3.00/$100,000 of assessed value of land and improvements, a 5% increase to the recreation budget. This item is still a work in progress, and the final figures may come down as we enter discussions with the City of Williams Lake to determine the process for implementation.
o There will be a referendum on November 15, 2014 to determine if residents are in favour of borrowing up to $10 million to replace the existing pool tank, add a leisure pool, and renovate the building (Total project cost $11.3 million) This is the option proposed by the pool task force, and overwhelmingly supported by the public during the feasibility process. A yes vote will see your taxes increase by about $40/$100,000, and the project will be phased so that downtime will be kept to a minimum. A no vote will mean that $2 million will need to be spent to replace the existing pool tank as it is failing, and the pool would need to be closed for at least a year. Please make sure you have all the information you need to make a decision, and take part in the information sessions we will be holding in the coming months.
· Heritage: I continued to serve as chair of the Heritage Steering Committee this year. During Heritage Week, we co-hosted a heritage speaker event with the City of Williams Lake Heritage Committee, and we launched our Heritage Driving Brochure, which proved so popular it required a second printing! During the year we added several sites to our Heritage Register, and to the provincial and federal registries, and we are working on several more. In October, we were privileged to be hosted by Tsilhqot'in community members and elders as we toured two historic sacred sites near Alexis Creek. The members of this committee are dedicated community volunteers from throughout the Regional District. For more details, visit our webpage: http://www.cariboord.bc.ca/Services/Heritage.aspx
· Residential School Commemoration/Orange Shirt Day: In May, the CRD together with our member municipalities, all 15 First Nations, SD27, the RCMP, volunteer agencies, and St. Joseph Mission survivors held a commemoration/reconciliation/reunion led by Chief Fred Robbins of Esket, a survivor himself. Chief Fred’s vision was to educate the non-First nations about the school and its effects, to honor the survivors and those who didn’t survive, and to find a way forward together in reconciliation. Two monuments were erected, one at the school site in 150 Mile House, and the other at Boitanio Park in Williams Lake. SD27 hosted a Pro-D event in April for teachers and support staff about intergenerational trauma resulting from the school, a youth video project was unveiled, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission gathered statements from survivors during the week, and local governments and guest speakers held discussions about reconciliation. The week ended with a survivors’ reunion at the Pow Wow grounds at Sugarcane. During the conference, survivor Phyllis Webstad told her story about having her pretty new orange shirt taken away on her arrival the first day of school. Her story resonated with all former students, and Orange Shirt Day (September 30th) was born out of Chief Justice Murray Sinclair’s challenge to all of us to find ways to continue the reconciliation process. I was honoured to have been assigned to the committees which organized these events. To learn more, visit http://www.sjmcommemorationevents.com/index.html
Our Board continues to seek opportunities to meet with First Nations to find ways to learn from each other, and to continue to improve our relationships.
·Union of BC Municipalities: I attended the annual convention and general meeting in Vancouver in September along with my fellow Board members. Our resolution to enlist the assistance of ranchers with weed control on Crown range was passed, meaning that the UBCM executive will now take up the cause with the province to undertake the necessary legislative changes. Our resolution to move Heritage Week from February to a time of year more conducive to heritage tourism was referred to the executive committee, and subsequently endorsed. Our Regional District, together with Esket First Nation and our member municipalities won a Community Excellence award for our SJM commemoration event.
· Proposed Community Forest: The City of Williams Lake and the Williams Lake Indian Band have submitted their community forest application despite the ongoing widespread community opposition. As most of you are aware, 80% of the land base, and more than 90% of the cut would come from forest surrounding Big Lake, and adjacent to Miocene and Horsefly. I have written to the proponents offering support if they withdraw their application, and amend it to meet four conditions:
o That Board membership be increased to include representatives elected from the three impacted communities,
o That the Resource Committee membership be limited to representatives elected from the five communities impacted by the operation of the community forest as well the Band,
o That 3% of gross revenue be directed to the five impacted communities on a sliding scale based on the level of harvest relative to each community,
o And that a public annual priority-setting session be held in the impacted communities on the operation of the community forest for the coming year.
The proponents have responded that they are not willing to make any further changes, and that the application will remain as submitted. I subsequently wrote FLNRO Executive Director Gerry MacDougall, who is the decision-maker, outlining the communities’ concerns and requesting that the application be returned to the proponents in order that these conditions may be addressed. I understand that many of you have also written to express your concerns. At the time of this writing, I have heard no word of a decision, but my offer remains open, and I am still hopeful that an innovative solution can be achieved which will benefit all of our communities as well as those of the Band and the City.
·North Central Local Government Association: I represent our Board on the Board of the NCLGA, whose members are local governments from 100 Mile House to the Alaska border. I have been assigned to the Priorities and Planning committee, and we have been working hard to highlight and achieve higher senior government priority on a variety of northern issues.
· Ag Climate Action Advisory Committee: I have recently been assigned to the Cariboo Agricultural Adaptation Strategies Advisory Committee. We will be hosting a series of workshops designed for local producers to develop strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the coming years. The project is organized by the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative, and the province has allocated funding for implementation at the end of the process. We have held the first two workshops, and the response so far has been very positive.
For more information, or to discuss any issues, please feel free to contact me. Follow me on Facebook,
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joan-Sorley-Cariboo-Regional-District-Director-Area-F/146217132143025 “like” the page and receive regular updates on local and regional issues. Please pass this along to anyone you feel would be interested, and encourage them to send me their contact info so I may add them to my distribution list.
It is my privilege to represent you at the Board table, and Vince and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and the very best for a healthy and prosperous 2014!
Sincerely,
Joan Sorley
Director, Cariboo Regional District Area "F"
PO Box 147
Big Lake Ranch, BC V0L 1G0
250-243-2261
e-mail: [email protected]
·Budget/Town Hall meetings: We switched our town hall meetings to fall this year in order to allow for public input at the beginning of the budget process. Generally, the feedback has been positive, and we did get comments in these meetings which helped us to form the 2014 budget. The provisional 5-year plan was approved at the last Board meeting, and we will be soliciting input at regional meetings, as well as through our website and social media, prior to adoption at the end of March. The meeting for the Central Cariboo will be held March 1 in the CRD Boardroom at 1pm. The budget is increased by 1.2%, not including new or expanded services. Of particular interest to some, it includes grants for assistance to the Horsefly Volunteer Fire Department, the Horsefly Seniors and Wellness Society, and the Lexington Water Improvement District. For full details, https://caribooregionaldistrict.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=28469.
·Hospital: One of the questions we asked residents during the town halls was how they felt about pre-taxing and saving for large hospital upgrades vs. borrowing and taxing to include interest at the time the upgrades are under construction and beyond. Based on your feedback, the Board agreed to increase taxation by $8.00/$100,000 of assessed value of land and improvements, from $62 to $70, in order that we can start to save for the major improvement projects necessary for both Cariboo Memorial Hospital and GR Baker Hospital.
·Recreation/Sam Ketcham Memorial Pool: If you live in the recreation taxation area (WL fringe, 150 Mile House), this affects you.
o The provisional budget contains a (somewhat controversial) business plan goal to dedicate a staff person to support the non-profit groups struggling to maintain infrastructure, mostly outside the City, but not entirely. Some of the projects which would benefit from this position include the Esler soccer and ball fields, mountain bike trails, trails, ball fields, and outdoor rinks throughout the taxation area. I supported this position as I believe we must provide these services or risk losing our investment, and I think that by providing this support, we will improve the service to all of the communities who pay for recreation. The increase to the budget for this position is $80,000, or just over $3.00/$100,000 of assessed value of land and improvements, a 5% increase to the recreation budget. This item is still a work in progress, and the final figures may come down as we enter discussions with the City of Williams Lake to determine the process for implementation.
o There will be a referendum on November 15, 2014 to determine if residents are in favour of borrowing up to $10 million to replace the existing pool tank, add a leisure pool, and renovate the building (Total project cost $11.3 million) This is the option proposed by the pool task force, and overwhelmingly supported by the public during the feasibility process. A yes vote will see your taxes increase by about $40/$100,000, and the project will be phased so that downtime will be kept to a minimum. A no vote will mean that $2 million will need to be spent to replace the existing pool tank as it is failing, and the pool would need to be closed for at least a year. Please make sure you have all the information you need to make a decision, and take part in the information sessions we will be holding in the coming months.
· Heritage: I continued to serve as chair of the Heritage Steering Committee this year. During Heritage Week, we co-hosted a heritage speaker event with the City of Williams Lake Heritage Committee, and we launched our Heritage Driving Brochure, which proved so popular it required a second printing! During the year we added several sites to our Heritage Register, and to the provincial and federal registries, and we are working on several more. In October, we were privileged to be hosted by Tsilhqot'in community members and elders as we toured two historic sacred sites near Alexis Creek. The members of this committee are dedicated community volunteers from throughout the Regional District. For more details, visit our webpage: http://www.cariboord.bc.ca/Services/Heritage.aspx
· Residential School Commemoration/Orange Shirt Day: In May, the CRD together with our member municipalities, all 15 First Nations, SD27, the RCMP, volunteer agencies, and St. Joseph Mission survivors held a commemoration/reconciliation/reunion led by Chief Fred Robbins of Esket, a survivor himself. Chief Fred’s vision was to educate the non-First nations about the school and its effects, to honor the survivors and those who didn’t survive, and to find a way forward together in reconciliation. Two monuments were erected, one at the school site in 150 Mile House, and the other at Boitanio Park in Williams Lake. SD27 hosted a Pro-D event in April for teachers and support staff about intergenerational trauma resulting from the school, a youth video project was unveiled, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission gathered statements from survivors during the week, and local governments and guest speakers held discussions about reconciliation. The week ended with a survivors’ reunion at the Pow Wow grounds at Sugarcane. During the conference, survivor Phyllis Webstad told her story about having her pretty new orange shirt taken away on her arrival the first day of school. Her story resonated with all former students, and Orange Shirt Day (September 30th) was born out of Chief Justice Murray Sinclair’s challenge to all of us to find ways to continue the reconciliation process. I was honoured to have been assigned to the committees which organized these events. To learn more, visit http://www.sjmcommemorationevents.com/index.html
Our Board continues to seek opportunities to meet with First Nations to find ways to learn from each other, and to continue to improve our relationships.
·Union of BC Municipalities: I attended the annual convention and general meeting in Vancouver in September along with my fellow Board members. Our resolution to enlist the assistance of ranchers with weed control on Crown range was passed, meaning that the UBCM executive will now take up the cause with the province to undertake the necessary legislative changes. Our resolution to move Heritage Week from February to a time of year more conducive to heritage tourism was referred to the executive committee, and subsequently endorsed. Our Regional District, together with Esket First Nation and our member municipalities won a Community Excellence award for our SJM commemoration event.
· Proposed Community Forest: The City of Williams Lake and the Williams Lake Indian Band have submitted their community forest application despite the ongoing widespread community opposition. As most of you are aware, 80% of the land base, and more than 90% of the cut would come from forest surrounding Big Lake, and adjacent to Miocene and Horsefly. I have written to the proponents offering support if they withdraw their application, and amend it to meet four conditions:
o That Board membership be increased to include representatives elected from the three impacted communities,
o That the Resource Committee membership be limited to representatives elected from the five communities impacted by the operation of the community forest as well the Band,
o That 3% of gross revenue be directed to the five impacted communities on a sliding scale based on the level of harvest relative to each community,
o And that a public annual priority-setting session be held in the impacted communities on the operation of the community forest for the coming year.
The proponents have responded that they are not willing to make any further changes, and that the application will remain as submitted. I subsequently wrote FLNRO Executive Director Gerry MacDougall, who is the decision-maker, outlining the communities’ concerns and requesting that the application be returned to the proponents in order that these conditions may be addressed. I understand that many of you have also written to express your concerns. At the time of this writing, I have heard no word of a decision, but my offer remains open, and I am still hopeful that an innovative solution can be achieved which will benefit all of our communities as well as those of the Band and the City.
·North Central Local Government Association: I represent our Board on the Board of the NCLGA, whose members are local governments from 100 Mile House to the Alaska border. I have been assigned to the Priorities and Planning committee, and we have been working hard to highlight and achieve higher senior government priority on a variety of northern issues.
· Ag Climate Action Advisory Committee: I have recently been assigned to the Cariboo Agricultural Adaptation Strategies Advisory Committee. We will be hosting a series of workshops designed for local producers to develop strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the coming years. The project is organized by the BC Agriculture and Food Climate Action Initiative, and the province has allocated funding for implementation at the end of the process. We have held the first two workshops, and the response so far has been very positive.
For more information, or to discuss any issues, please feel free to contact me. Follow me on Facebook,
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joan-Sorley-Cariboo-Regional-District-Director-Area-F/146217132143025 “like” the page and receive regular updates on local and regional issues. Please pass this along to anyone you feel would be interested, and encourage them to send me their contact info so I may add them to my distribution list.
It is my privilege to represent you at the Board table, and Vince and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and the very best for a healthy and prosperous 2014!
Sincerely,
Joan Sorley
Director, Cariboo Regional District Area "F"
PO Box 147
Big Lake Ranch, BC V0L 1G0
250-243-2261
e-mail: [email protected]