Meeting with Other Community Groups
Two of our executive members were invited to attend meetings in April with CRD Area L representative, Maureen Pinkney and with South Cariboo MLA, Charlie Wyse. Other invited guests were executives from area community groups from Green Lake, Deka Lake and Bridge Lake. The purpose of the meetings was to establish communications between Regional and Provincial Government representatives and these likeminded groups that have common interests and issues. These were very positive meetings and will hopefully be the first of many such exchanges. They have given us some ideas for follow-up regarding property owner contact lists, inclusion on the Regional Planning Advisory Committee and Provincial parks designation plans.
Friends of Bridge Lake
Bruce and Shirley Rattray of Friends of Bridge Lake attended our May meeting to present their group’s issues. This was in response to our letter to them that did not support their position of opposition to the proposed development, as our members have not voiced their opinion on private development in the South Cariboo.
FoBL have two key issues.
- Opposition to the development of Rainbow Island to 29 strata lots and commercialization of the one servicing mainland lot, and
- Criticism of the public consultation process used by the CRD on such a development.
Bruce presented a history of the group’s formation and the many issues that have been identified to support the opposition to the development. He also mentioned that the dormant Bridge Lake stewardship group, the Upper Bridge Creek Watershed Society, has been absorbed into the Friends of Bridge Lake and provides them with some considerable history of the lake to work with in their future stewardship plans.
At the time of our May meeting, the rezoning hearing was scheduled for May 30. Since then, the CRD was scheduled to vote on the rezoning at their June 27 Regional meeting. On the morning of June 27, a deferment was granted to the developer so that he may investigate an alternative proposal.
Watch for new information posted on their websites, www.crd.bc.ca. or www.friendsofbridgelake.org.
Around the Lakes …
Ice Off – Wendy Marshall will see if our ice-off data has been submitted to the Canadian group that is tracking this information, www.naturewatch.ca.
Birding – Wendy is looking for local help with the new bird atlassing project.
Other May 7 Meeting Items
New Signage – No update on the new lake sign for the rest stop but we are hoping the CRD will still fund this initiative for this year.
Little Lac des Roches Boating Speed Limit – No word yet from the CRD or Transport Canada on our request for further reducing the boating speed from 20 km/hr to 10 km/hr.
Society – We are reconsidering the benefits of forming a registered society. The decision to proceed will be discussed and voted on at the upcoming AGM.
Website – The major revisions to our website are near completion and will go live this summer.
Community Newsletter – Our 2008 newsletter was ready for printing and distribution around the lake by the May long weekend. This is the last year of manual distribution. Non-members will have to provide mailing contact or view the newsletter on our website.
Map-based Land Use Presentation – We will be presenting our land use maps at the upcoming AGM. Workshops to complete this presentation are scheduled throughout July. We encourage members to provide their thoughts on how the area land should be used for inclusion into this project, as it will be going to the CRD and TNRD for consideration of the Official Community Plans for the area.
Deka Lake questions taxes – We received a copy of a letter that was published in the 100 Mile House Free Press from the Deka Lake Ratepayers Association questioning the rural tax increases in the South Cariboo. We will be investigating the entire assessment process further to see how we could best get involved. We would like to hear from our members on if or how you would like to see our group involved in the rural property tax issue.