Joint CRD/City of WL Town Hall Meeting

Earlier tonight, the City of WL/CRD held the annual 2011 Town Hall Meeting with 25 people in attendance which included the City of WL CAO (Brian Carruthers), CRD CAO Janis Bell, CRD Corporate Officer Alice Johnston CRD Protective Services Manager Rowena Bastien and CRD Executive Assistant Bernice Crowe. 

Politicians in attendance included:

* Mayor Cook, Deputy Mayor Rathor & City Councillors Sue Zacharias and Laurie Walters
* 100 Mile House Mayor Mitch Campsall and Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom
* CRD Area 'D' Director Deb Bischoff and her Alternate Director John Andrews
* CRD Area 'E' Director Steve Mazur
* CRD Area 'F' Director Joan Sorley
Questions raised included:

* CCRHD (Cariboo-Chilcotin Regional Hospital District) - lowering of the tax rate of $50/$100,000 of assessment post 2015

* Need for Capital Plan for the CRD Library Network

* Solid Waste Management/Recycling

* Clarify working relationship on City of WL/CRD on Muncipal Water System - work with CRD Area 'E' Director Steve Mazur on possible extension of water to Dog Creek Rd area

* Lengthy discussion over Indoor Turf Facility - costs, role of public, etc

With that, the Town Halls on the CRD 2011 Budget now ends.  CRD Staff will now do up minutes from all 16 Town Hall meetings for the CRD Board's information.  This information may or may not change CRD Directors' mind as they vote on the 2011 CRD Budget on Friday, March 25th

I also discussed with Mayor Cook 1-on-1 about raising tax requistion on the local Victim Services Function while City Staff (Brian Carruthers/Elizabeth Hutchinson) is working on a plan for the future of Victim Services in the Central Cariboo-Chilcotin.  I stated to her that this is simply a case of "putting the cart before the horse".  Let's have the plan first, then decide how to raise the local funding which could include going back to the public to ask for a higher tax requisition rate for the Victim Services Function.  But let's make sure we do all the work to ensure Victim Services works for all - both in the City and Central Cariboo-Chilcotin Rural Areas (CRD Areas D, E, F, J and K)

SBF