North Cowichan council’s Nov. 15 meeting began with two delegations, the first from the Cowichan Intercultural Society.
The organization has been doing great work in the community for more than 35 years and continues to grow. Council was told about the group’s search for a new location, and an ongoing capital campaign to help reach that goal.
The second delegation pertained to the BC Forest Discovery Centre about its exciting new projects and recent achievements. With much success and growth during the past few years, the museum is on track to becoming Vancouver Island’s third largest admissions attraction behind Butchart Gardens and the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.
Council made some decisions around the 2018 meeting schedule, and requested further staff reports regarding the implications of not spending the budgeted $25,000 on carbon offsets in 2018, and another report on the possibility of increasing development fees.
Council, along with the City of Duncan, accepted the tender from Munro Thompson for the Amalgamation communications consultant. The consultant will begin work in the New Year to present unbiased information to the public prior to the amalgamation referendum taking place in the spring of 2018.
There was some discussion at the end of the meeting around the ongoing topic of odour complaints in Chemainus. Staff confirmed this issue lies under the jurisdiction of the Cowichan Valley Regional District.
Anyone experiencing an offensive odour is encouraged to fill out the CVRD’s online Odour Nuisance Complaint Form, which is the only way to capture accurate odour data. For additional questions on the matter, the public can take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions document that staff has prepared.
The next meeting of council is Wednesday, December 6 at 1:30 p.m. The session can be watched live at www.northcowichan.ca/CouncilLive.