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Personal Real Estate Corp.
Rotarians pitch in to help Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Black Press C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
Pirjo Raits photo
Sooke Food Bank president Ingrid Johnston stands in the newly renovated area of the food bank premises. New refrigerators and improvements were possible with the funding from the District of Sooke and the Rotary Club of Sooke. Pirjo Raits
Sooke News Mirror
The Sooke Rotary Club is best known for their auction and spring fair held in May of each year, but did you know they also have a number of other hands-on projects in Sooke? The Rotarians have helped with upgrades to Camp Barnard, funded a SEAPARC Community Youth Bus, were a lead partner in the Rotary Pier, funded playgrounds and shelters, built stairs, signs and
skate parks, bought curtains for the EMCS theatre and provided mattresses for Sooke Hospice. And to top all of that off, they also provide financial assistance to local families in need. That’s just a partial list of the projects this group of community service oriented people take on. Just recently the Sooke Rotary made some welcome and much-needed improvements to the space used by the Sooke Food Bank. Their space is in the basement of the Sooke Community Hall
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and it was sadly in need of some upgrades. The volunteer group got together and painted, landscaped and renovated the kitchen at the food bank. The space is now a lot brighter and more welcoming. “This was a hands-on project for the community,” said Rotary president Trevor Colley. And the improvements were not lost on Ingrid Johnson, president of the Sooke Food Bank. “Finally,” she said when
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Borrowing bylaw gets another third reading
speaking of the new commercial fridges in the improved kitchen. Along with the kitchen renovations came a little more space where the office was as well as a reception area where people can wait inside out of the cold and rain. A new ramp makes it easier for volunteers to transport food. The Sooke Food Bank helps 450 families in the area stretching out from Sooke to Port Renfrew. Johnston said they helped 6,070 clients in 2013 and that there are more people coming forward for assistance every month. That’s a lot of people and a lot of food, and the need is almost as great in the summer as it is in the winter. People are very, very generous around the holiday season but many forget the need is still there in the summer. She said the biggest need is always, of course, non-perishable food donations, but also money. With the cash they can buy what they need wholesale. What they do need though on a weekly basis is protein, either in the form of beans or tuna. Donations can be dropped off at the Sooke News Mirror office at 6631 Sooke Road or at any of the grocery stores in Sooke. The Sooke Rotary welcomes new members. They hold weekly lunch meetings at the Village Food Market’s board room at 12:15 each Wednesday. For more information go to: www.sookerotary.com or call 250-642-1108.
Pirjo Raits
Sooke News Mirror
At a special council meeting on August 19, council rescinded third reading of Bylaw 603, amended it and gave it another third reading. The motions passed unanimously. Councillor Maja Tait was acting mayor and Councillor Bev Berger was absent. Bylaw 603, Community Centre Facilities Loan Authorization Bylaw, 2014, will ask voters if they favour the District of Sooke borrowing up to $1.5-million to construct a multiuse community centre. The motion reads: “Are you in favour of the Council of the District of Sooke adopting Bylaw No. 603, Community Centre Facilities Loan Authorization Bylaw, 2014, which authorizes the District of Sooke to construct multi-use community centre facilities for the benefit of the community with the cost to the District of Sooke, including principal and interest on borrowing up to $1,500,000.” The previous motion, which was approved at a previous council meeting, went to the Inspector of Municipalities, Ministry of Community Sport and Cul-
tural Development for approval. The July 24 motion included the words, “… to construct new or renovate existing community facilities for the benefit…” Acting Mayor Maja Tait responded by saying, “My understanding from discussions with staff (and their conversations with the provincial inspector) and yesterday’s meeting is that ‘construction’ would include ‘renovation’ as well as ‘new build’. All options remain open as they were before, meaning the ‘intent’ with this wording is the same as the ‘intent’ behind the previous wording.” It is estimated in a staff report, dated July 24, 2014, that if the $1.5-million is borrowed in 2015 over 30 years, the impact on taxes will be 1.3 per cent, which is approximately $15 per average property. If borrowed over 10 years, the impact on municipal property taxes would be 2.9 per cent. Council had budgeted $50,000 per year for 2014 and the next five years to go towards the construction and operation of the centre. The $1.5-million would go towards purchasing property, design and construction of a building.
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