North Cowichan council members wore pink shirts to their Feb. 20 meeting in recognition of the Feb. 27 Pink Shirt Day.
Pink Shirt Day was started by two Canadian high school students in 2007 to raise awareness about bullying in schools, workplaces, homes and online. As an organization and as a council, North Cowichan participates in Pink Shirt Day every year as a symbol of the importance of being a respectful workplace.
The three-hour meeting included council receiving the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment’s quarterly report for the period October through December 2018 that showed an increase in calls for service. Total calls for 2018 were also 8.5 per cent higher than total calls for 2017.
Of the approximately 48 per cent of calls in North Cowichan, 14 per cent were in Chemainus and eight per cent in Crofton.
An additional RCMP position was recently given full approval and will be staffed shortly.
Next was a delegation from Joanna Sales, who represented the Broombusters Invasive Plant Society. She talked about the damage caused by Scotch broom and what can be done to control or eliminate the proliferation of the plant.
Broombusters has active volunteers in North Cowichan helping to control the plant.
Zoning Amendment Bylaws included one adopted for 3042 Henry Rd. in Chemainus to permit a second detached residential building. Another Zoning Amendment Bylaw was adopted to allow Cannabis Production Facilities in the Industrial Light (I1) and Industrial Heavy (I2) zones.
Council addressed two motions that resulted from our discussions around organizational capacity and the its strategic plan. Staff was directed to prepare a report recommending a new staff position be created in 2019 that will focus on addressing the climate and environment-related strategic priorities of council.
Council also directed staff to immediately begin preparation on a report that will outline the process to update the Official Community Plan.
The next council meeting is March 6.