In attendance:
Deb Bischoff - CRD Electoral Area Director (Area 'D')
Steve Mazur - CRD Electoral Area Director (Area 'E')
Rowena Bastien - CRD Manager of Protective Services
Randy Isfeld - City of WL Director of Protective Services (Fire Chief)
9 Members of the Public
Meeting called to order at 7:01pm
Ms. Bastien made general introductions and then proceeded to a Powerpoint Presentation:
Points discussed include:
· 12 Electoral Area Directors and 4 Municipal Directors comprise the Cariboo Regional District Board
· 14 Volunteer Fire Departments throughout the CRD
· CRD also contracts with WL, Quesnel, 100 Mile and Wells to provide fire protection for fringe areas outside the 4 Municipalities
· Areas of Fire Protection Expansion Area – “Front” area of Fox Mountain, Esler Subdivision and Portions of Dog Creek Road
· This proposal has been discussed since with Area D + E residents’ since 2005
· Proposed Requisition of $151, 554 with a residential tax rate of $221.53 per $100,000 on assessed value of land and improvements
· General Voting Day is Saturday, September 26th with Advance Voting Days on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 and Friday, September 18th, 2009. All polls (General/Advance) will open from 8am – 8pm. Mail-in Ballots are available for those who want to vote by mail. To obtain an mail-in ballot or to determine who can vote, contact Alice Walters (Corporate Officer) or Rick Hodgson (Deputy CAO) at the CRD WL Office (Ph: (250) – 392-3351))
A Question Period ensued with residents, Fire Chief R. Isfeld and R. Bastien
Questions discussed included:
i) Response time from new City of WL Fire Hall
Answer - Response time to new areas is to be a maximum of 13 minutes (Esler/Dog Creek Rd/Fox Mountain)
ii) What will the $150,000 budget for this Function (if it proceeds) be used for?
iii) Who can vote in the referendum and can each area (Esler, Dog Creek, Fox Mountain) vote in a separate vote?
Answer - Contact Alice Walters or Rick Hodgson at the CRD Office (250-392-3351) to see if your property is in the new Fire Protection Service Area and if it is, you can vote in the general voting day, advance voting day or mail in your vote. Contact the CRD Office for further details. All areas (Esler, Dog Creek Rd and Fox Mountain) will vote as 1 Block. The question will pass or fail on a majority of the votes cast
The question that will be put to the voters will be:
Are you in favour of the adoption of Cariboo Regional District Williams Lake Rural Fringe Fire Protection (Phase 2) Service Establishment Bylaw No. 4526, 2009, which would allow the following:
"The establishment of a service to provide fire protection to the service area, with a maximum requisition of $151,554 or an amount raised by applying a tax rate of $2.23229/$1,000 to the net taxable value of land and improvements in the service area (based on 2009 assessed values, the residential rate is $2.215/$1,000 on assessed value of residential land and improvements)?”
Ms. Bastien advised 2 more meetings in July (Monday, July 20th and Wednesday, July 29/09) and 2 more in September (dates to be announced) – all meetings at WL City Hall (Council Chambers) starting at 7pm
General Voting Day on adoption of Bylaw #4526, 2009 is Saturday, September 26th, 2009 from 8am - 8pm
2 Advance Voting Opportunities will be held on Wednesday, September 16th and Friday, September 18th at the WL CRD Office from 8am - 8pm
Meeting adjourned at 7:52pm
Update - The meeting on Monday, July 20th, 2009 garnered no public interest.
The next public information meeting on this proposed Function is Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 7pm in Council Chambers (WL City Hall - 450 Mart Street)
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