Puntledge North Community Facilities
Between June 3 and July 5, 2021 an Alternative Approval Process (AAP) was held to seek elector approval for the establishment of the Puntledge North Community Facilities Support Service.
Background
Community halls within the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) rural areas provide an important focal point for local residents and are used to host a wide range of athletic, social, cultural and recreational activities. The CVRD provides operational funding support each year to community halls within Electoral Areas C (Puntledge – Black Creek) and B (Lazo-North), including Black Creek, Halbe, Dove Creek and Merville. This funding has been provided by way of grant-in-aid services which requires annual applications from each non-profit society that operates the halls.
In an effort to provide consistent and stable funding to support such public facilities, the CVRD proposed to amend the existing Black Creek Community Centre Contribution Service to change the service name and expand its purpose, boundaries and maximum requisition. The amended service would be known as the Puntledge North Community Facilities Support Service, and would provide consistent funding to support the maintenance and operation of community halls within the local area, including Black Creek, Halbe, Dove Creek and Merville. As these community halls received funding annually from the CVRD’s Electoral Areas Grants-in-Aid Services, this initiative was projected to be property tax neutral as the existing tax requisition for the Grant-in-Aid Services would be redirected to the proposed Puntledge North Community Facilities Support Service. Bylaw No. 637 being “Black Creek Community Centre Contribution Service Establishment Bylaw No. 47, 2009, Amendment No. 2” would authorize the CVRD to undertake such changes.
Results
| Number of Eligible Electors | 10% Threshold (eligible Electors) | Elector Response forms Accepted | Percent of Elector Response Forms |
| 10,785 | 1,079 | 20 | 0.19% |
In order for the CVRD to proceed with the final adoption of Bylaw No. 637, less than 10 per cent of the electors in the service area would have had to submit an elector response form. The results of the AAP were confirmed in the July 8, 2021 news release.
On July 13, 2021 the CVRD Board of Directors adopted Bylaw No. 637.