North Cowichan council has announced the community members appointed to participate on volunteer teams supporting the Official Community Plan review project.
The announcement comes after a lengthy open call for volunteers, Mayor Al Siebring noted.
The individuals appointed to Community Ambassador Teams were as follows:
Bell McKinnon - David Darwin, Dave Jackson and Matthew Huotari.
Berkey’s Corner - Andrew Wilson, John Scull and Kevin Rodger.
Crofton - Carol Donelly.
Chemainus - Ken Brown, Tom Andrews, Christina Godbolt.
Lakes-Jaynes-Timbercrest Area - Cindy Lise.
Maple Bay - Sheila Kitson, Ann M. Murray, Wendy McPherson.
Quamichan - Marilyn Palmer, Douglas Hume, Sarah Nelles.
Rural - Nancy Dower, Carreen Unguran.
Council also appointed the following individuals to the Official Community Plan Advisory Group: Bernie Jones, Cam Campbell, Mona Kaiser, Shannon Waters, Sandra McPherson, Nick Neisingh, Rupert Koyote, Terri Mattin, Caitlen Kenny, Hajo Meijer and Tim Openshaw.
Council’s Oct. 2 meeting featured numerous highlights of local significance provided by Siebring from meetings with Provincial ministers and senior staff at the Union of BC Municipalities conference.
North Cowichan met with the Solicitor General, who noted the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment is likely to receive two more RCMP officers in the near future; the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, urging for more Provincial support for the community; the Minister of Agriculture to refrain from enforcement activity regarding the Chemainus River Campground while North Cowichan submits an Agricultural Land Reserve exclusion application; the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure to express gratitude for beginning the long-awaited upgrades to Crofton Road; the Minister of Education to lobby for a new Cowichan Secondary School; and the Minister of Environment, requesting a more active role be taken to improve water quality in Quamichan Lake.
Council adopted a new Delegation of Authority Bylaw, which delegates certain powers, duties, and functions to officers and employees. The new bylaw reflects changes to employee titles, updates procurement figures to be consistent with other local governments and grants authority to the CAO to deal with employee matters.
Council considered several requests from local arts groups and decided to appoint Councillor Kate Marsh as a liaison to the Cowichan Valley Cultural Arts Society Board; authorize Mayor Siebring to write a letter of support, in principle, for the CVCAS’s proposal to conduct a feasibility study to build a multi-purpose arts centre, with the provision that it be identified no funding options are available; and to authorize staff to participate in interviews for a CVCAS feasibility study regarding a proposed multi-purpose arts centre.
The next council meeting is Wednesday, October 16 at 1:30 p.m.