| Home | Contact Bruce | Calendar | Shawnigan All Basin Symposium | Village Development Council | South Cowichan Advisory Planning Council | Shawnigan Lake Watershed | Director Report Minutes |
|---|
Vision
Leadership
Experience
Area Director’s Report to May 7th MeetingStated Objectives and Progress to April 30, 2012
The roundtable has been convened. A launch group met in January, met for a second time on March 3rd and held a State of the Basin workshop on March 31st, with minutes of both meetings posted on the Director’s website (fraserforshawnigan.ca). The Cowichan Water Board, that has pioneered the whole basin approach next door, is supporting the Roundtable along with CVRD staff and representatives of government agencies and forest companies. A working group has also been formed to carry the initiative forward, with their first meeting being an April 21st site visit to the Elkington Forest development in the Shawnigan Creek headwaters and discussion of the state of the basin with EF staff. The Roundtable has overlapping membership with the Advisory Planning Commission and is working closely with the Shawnigan Residents Association and CVRD staff on lake water quality issues. Further meetings are being planned and progress reports are given regularly at the monthly Director’s meetings
The Village Development Council has been convened. A launch group met in January and February to scope out what might be addressed in the way of village developments. Subsequently the group has focused on the potential of the Elsie Miles property as a village gathering location. The site is being sought by the CVRD for a long-term lease from the School District with the objective of both community centre and parkland developments. Ideas for a village centre have been discussed with representatives of the SLBA, SRA, Parks, Community Centre, Museum and Inspire. Site development visits have been conducted with and advice sought from Gordon Macdonald of Macdonald and Lawrence timber Framers and Victoria Architect Christine Lintott about developing a visionary master plan that could govern long -term development and stimulate funding. A group meeting with the architect was held on March 26th. Ongoing efforts are being made to engage stakeholder groups in the Shawnigan area.
An Area Director’s office has been established in the Purple Building above the Chippery on Dundas Street in the Village, in cooperation with the Inspire Gallery location. Office hours have been set at 11am to 1pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with others by appointment, working around the gallery schedule. The objective is to increase access to CVRD staff and services for people residing in Area B.
Planning and fund seeking for the Symposium is happening, but the first edition is likely to be scheduled, either for the fall of 2012 or the Spring of 2013.
The Ecodepot proposal for the Cameron-Taggart Road site was officially cancelled at the December meeting of the Regional Board. A report on the whole process of decision making, public engagement and funding arrangements will be published soon.
Discussions are ongoing about the prospect of incorporation among the South Cowichan Electoral Areas. The SRA is promoting an early Phase 2 incorporation study that would clearly establish the cost/benefit structure of a stand-alone Shawnigan based municipality. The three SC Area Directors are on record as wanting government to proceed with a proper study to provide all residents with the qualified information necessary to make informed decisions on incorporation, although Mill Bay and Cobble Hill do not appear to have the same sense of urgency for progress as Shawnigan. At this time, government is not forthcoming with the necessary study financing, but the issue is still being pursued actively.
Director’s meetings are scheduled for the first Monday of every month at 7pm at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre. Agendas, generally available in the Shawnigan Focus newspaper, include questions and issues raised by residents, reports from civic groups, reports from the Watershed Round Table and Village Development Council, a Director’s update and a visiting Shawnigan Artist performance or display.
Representing over 8000 people in Area B is a tall order for a single person. Alternate Director, Kelly Musselwhite, is working with the Director on many initiatives including: initial review of development proposals, site visits to CVRD infrastructure, convening and record keeping for the Watershed Roundtable and the Village Development Council, Liaison with the Shawnigan Improvement District, the SRA, the SLBA and the Parks Commission, covering office hours in the Inspire Gallery and ongoing discussions with community members about constituency concerns. Additional Duties of the Area Director
The Kerry Park Commission meets monthly to deal with service issues regarding the Curling, Arena and field facilities as well as budgeting for, maintenance of and refurbishment of the establishment. There are major future issues of essential renovation that will be coming up for public debate.
The SLCC meets monthly to deal with service issues regarding the budgeting, facilities and programs provided to the Shawnigan community.
The Shawnigan Parks and Recreation Commission meets monthly to deal with the financing, management and continuing development of public parkland in Area B. Recently they have established an initiative to develop three Shawnigan Lake road ends for enhanced public use and a proposal to designate all road ends as parks in the new zoning by-laws to increase local control of property that is the ultimate jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport.
The South Cowichan Parks Commission meets monthly to deal with the financing, establishment and management of regionally funded parks, such as Bright Angel Park.
The Shawnigan Advisory Planning Commission meets on demand, normally monthly, to deal with land development applications under consideration by the CVRD. The APC and the Shawnigan Watershed Roundtable have interlocking membership to ensure that development advice from the Commission is prepared with a whole basin perspective.
The Area Director manages a small grant in aid function. In 2012, grants have been provided to Inspire for the Gallery and art programs, to Scholarships at Kelsey and Cowichan Secondary, to the SLBA for The Shawnigan Tourist and Visitor Centre and community gathering office, to the Cowichan Spirit of Women Resource Center, Cowichan Family Caregivers Support Society, South Cowichan Rotary Foundation for the CMS Food Bank and with others pending based on available funds.
The CVRD has been pounding on provincial doors for some years to deal with the extensive dumping of soil from the CRD in the CVRD areas, particularly in the south Shawnigan watershed. This has been a very frustrating exercise with no useful outcome and has escalated recently with a very high volume of trucking and dumping, much to the concern of local residents. At present the CVRD is working on a strategy to up the pressure on the provincial government to manage dumping more effectively, particularly to deal with contaminated materials. In the meantime, South Island Aggregates is proposing to create a fully engineered soil facility at their Stebbings Road Quarry. They have applied for a reclamation permit from the ministry of mines and a contaminated soil dumping and remediation permit from the ministry of environment. The proposal is likely to go to a public consultation process, if the ministry of environment decides to require one. The Watershed Roundtable is monitoring the situation along with the CVRD Board and Staff.
The Director can speak to each of these issues as requested by any group or resident of Shawnigan – at a Director’s meeting or otherwise.
The proposed industrial developments on the Bamberton property went to public hearing on January 24th and the CVRD Board subsequently passed the by-laws approving the project zoning proposals.
The Shawnigan Improvement District is in the process of developing a third firehall at the junction of the South Shawnigan and Sooke Lake Roads. The facility is necessary to provide effective coverage to the growing communities of the southern area of the watershed. The SID is a separate body, independent of the CVRD for taxation purposes, but is responsible to the CVRD for any land development required at the new site.
The “Shawnigan Station” manufactured home development on the South Shawnigan Road is working on phases two and three of the project. This has required a site plan variance to avoid irrelevant requirements under the mobile home park legislation, to increase the scope of a playground for local children and to accommodate a possible convenience store on the site. The high cost of water and sewage charges for the residents, a source of major concern, will abate once the number of houses is increased to defray the costs over more residents. The development experienced difficulties with the performance of its sewage system at start-up, but these have been fully corrected at the expense of the developer.
The Area Director is a member of the following groups that meet monthly to deal with a wide range of issues managed by the Regional District. Agendas are published on the CVRD web site and the meetings are open to the public.
Issues are continuously arising within Area B that require the attention of the Area Director: An explanation of each issue and progress on dealing with it can be obtained at a Director’s meeting or by inquiry by email, phone or in person.
The Area Director meets from time to time with civic groups, either to discuss issues of relevance or to make reports of interest to the group.
|
Director’s Meeting May 7th 2012
7pm, Shawnigan Lake Community Centre
The Director’s meetings, 7pm on the first Monday of each month at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre, are open to the community and a good place to get questions answered, issues brought forward and for community issues that need broad based discussion. Please join us when you can.
Office in the Village
Inspire, the organized voice for Shawnigan’s arts community, now has a gathering place in Suite 4 of the Purple Building on Dundas St. in the Village (above the Chippery). As Area Director, I share a desk in their space for a part time village office. The idea is to be more accessible to area residents and to encourage CVRD staff to meet us on location rather than in their Duncan office when conducting business in Area B.
Office hours for the Area Director will be from 11am to 1pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Other times, fitted around Inspire gatherings, can be arranged by appointment by calling Bruce Fraser at 250-510-7082, at home at 250-733-0771 or by email to bfraser@cvrd.bc.ca or by calling Kelly Musselwhite at 250-743-8112 or by her email luvlife@shaw.ca