Community: Tapestry project being woven at Whippletree Sports: Closson oldtimers’ fastball always a classic
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Climate action and energy plan airing Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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Andrew Leong
Gwen Ludvig-Turner snaps a close-up photo of a 1932 Ford three-window Coupe owned by Toby Hird of Duncan at the annual Beverly Corners Show and Shine at the Cowichan Sportsplex on Sunday.
olks worried about climate change and global warming can air their concerns during Thursday’s climatechange advisory committee meeting at North Cowichan’s municipal hall. The 3 p.m. huddle will hear ideas about water-rights’ protection, wasteoil collection, municipal population growth, carbon sequestering, comments by Cowichan carbon-buster Peter Nix, and more after an update about North Cowichan’s Climate Action and Energy Plan. Thursday’s meeting happens as Maple Bay’s Valerie Russell, a teacher at Shawnigan Lake’s Dwight International School, is in San Francisco being trained about climatechange action tactics by former U.S. vice-president and climate-change guru Al Gore, plus notable scientists, as part of Climate Reality Canada. Russell and other Canadian trainees can offer free presentations about climate change impacts and answers as of Oct. 1. That’s good news to Councillor
Kate Marsh, leading the climatechange committee (northcowichan. ca). “It sounds like she’ll be a great resource to bring in after she’s had that course,” said Marsh, noting council’s committee has been working on its climate neutrality plan for a year. A draft report will be compiled for senior-staff review by Vancouver’s Sustainability Solutions Group — earning about $60,000 — by month’s end. More public comment will happen this fall before council gets the amended plan. Marsh expects action, not shelf dust, from the report. “About 80% of North Cowichan’s emissions come from private residences and cars. If we’re really going to make a difference, we have to engage the community in strategies to get us closer to carbon neutral.” That may usher municipal electric cars, solar panels, and a total municipal burning ban, depending on council’s will, she explained. “The municipality has a goal to become carbon neutral in its operations. Council commissioned the plan and set the goals. The plan will make an argument for doing these things.”
Scrubbing two-tier pool fees on top of council’s 2012 bucket list Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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crubbing two-tier pool fees is on North Cowichan’s 2012 bucket list. Declining user rates, plus resident complaints about higher user fees for folks not funding the Cowichan Aquatic Centre, prompted council’s recent motion adoption toward single fees by year’s end. “We’ll sit down with our pool-funding partners (Duncan and Cowichan Tribes) and have a discussion,” Mayor Jon Lefebure said. “There are lots of options to discuss.” One idea Lefebure likes involves long-touted regional-recreational funding whereby all Cowichan communities chip in to maintaining — and maybe building — facilities such as the pool, Cowichan Arena and Kerry Park’s worn-out complex. “My biggest concern is we don’t have a repetition of Kerry Park, that’s still limping along, and issues in other communities where facilities get run down,” he said of Kerry Park’s failed referendum
for funding a touted south-end pool, plus cash to ¿x its ice sheets. “My goal is that we use a regional approach to fund recreation fairly, and ensure these major facilities are properly maintained.” Aquatic Pool partners told regional leaders two-tier fees would be applied if those communities didn’t pay into maintaining the $20million pool built in 2008 — replacing the outdated 1978 Aquannis Pool — by North Cowichan, Duncan and the Tribes. No other funding partners have surfaced. Owners of average North Cowichan homes pay about $150 annually toward the pool. Adults from funding areas pay $5.50 to use the pool; out-of-area adults pay $11 under the two-tier tariff. Drop-in admissions — outside of programs, passes or swipe cards — were 124,594 in 2010; 109,734 in 2011; and 77,276 so far this year, staff said. Those dips bother single-fee fan Councillor John Koury. “Now we have a sincere commitment from council to get rid of the two-tier fee structure. We have to build a business model that will hopefully demonstrate to our partners that it is the right thing
to do.” Duncan Mayor Phil Kent welcomed single-fee, and a regionalrecreation talks. “Entry fees don’t cover the cost of operating a facility like the pool. We’ve asked North Cowichan over recent years to consider changes to two-tier. “Half the cost of our portion for the pool, and operating it, is from business owners living outside Duncan,” Kent said. “Regional recreation options and issues have never gone to the public — their elected representatives have chosen for them. “Let’s bring well thought-out options to the table, then let the public have its say, probably in a referendum.” Cowichan Bay residents voted to reject pool-funding several years ago. “We all need to pitch in with funding,” bay Director Lori Iannidinardo said. “We all have facilities that we don’t charge two-tier for,” she said, citing Hecate Park’s boat launch. “Community facilities are there to break even, not to make a pro¿t,” she said.