Hello Everyone
As I sit here working remotely at my makeshift desk, I can see that most of the ice has left the Bay except for what the west wind pushed into Snug Harbour. I imagine it makes you all think about summer on the Bay.
In these very unusual and difficult times, we are all wondering what this summer will be like but right now I hope you are all keeping safe and practicing social distancing to stop this disease as soon as possible.
The West Carling Board has been busy over the winter. The Membership Committee continues to meet by conference call as it has always done and continues to search for new ways to increase membership and to make it easy for members to renew. They have also been looking at our events for this year but all of that will be on hold for now.
There has been a lot of activity on the Lighthouse Project with the Township. They have been looking into the possibility of new signage and developing a plan to ensure the lighthouse continues to be a landmark and the buildings properly looked after. I hope there can be a presentation by the Committee at our AGM.
The Board also had the opportunity in February to review the budget for 20/21 with Kevin McIlwain. He reviewed all the areas in the budget and where there is discretionary spending. Unfortunately, very little is within the control of the Township. I think that the Board members who heard his presentation understood this and were for the most part comfortable with the meeting.
We are continuing our conversations with the North Sound Association and are making progress on the amalgamation of the two Associations. The most important thing is to ensure both organizations will benefit from getting together.
The GBA has formed a Coastal Affairs Committee, originally to look into the potential amalgamation of municipalities by the provincial government. This did not occur but GBA felt it would be useful to have a committee to work with all our municipalities on a number of issues such as official plans, by-laws, septic systems, to see if there are opportunities to co-ordinate and develop a best practices document. The first step is to review each municipalities plans and by-laws. This will be done with the municipalities co-operation and assistance. As I am on that Committee, I will keep you updated on the progress.
At the moment, our events like the July 1st pancake breakfast, the AGM and our picnic are on hold. Keep watching the website to see if anything changes.
I look forward hopefully to see us all on the Bay this summer.
Until then, please stay safe and take care.
Pam
To read more and to download a PDF, please visit the WCA Spring Newsletter April 2020