The recently formed Area D Ratepayers Association is ramping up for its first public meeting this Wednesday.
Rod Nugent, chair of the association, and Bob Solc, the vice-chair of the group, are encouraging as many people as possible to attend the meeting to share their thoughts and ideas.
The meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11 at the Oyster Bay Resorts, will follow an agenda but as many people as would like to are invited to get up and speak.
Solc, a retired businessman who lives in Oyster Bay, said the hope is those who are willing will each bring four or five issues to the table which will be added to one long master list of topics the association will discuss and work on moving forward.
So far the board, which is made up of Solc, Nugent – a retired Campbell River dentist who owns property in Oyster Bay – and Pat Evans, who owns the Shelter Point Distillery in Oyster River, have a few issues that are top of mind.
“We’re still assembling a list but of course the sewer issue and amalgamation into the city is front and centre,” said Solc, referring to the city’s proposal to join properties in the Crawford Road area with the city of Campbell River in order to provide them with the city’s sewer service. “The other thing we’re working on is the Official Community Plan for the area and we’re trying to come up with plans as to where we think Area D development should go. That will be an ongoing thing.”
The association would also like to see any and all businesses in Area D, which stretches from north of the Oyster River to Ocean Grove Road and west to Buttle Lake to Oyster Bay, bring business cards to the meeting to be dropped off in a collection box. From there, the board plans on using the cards to create a directory of all the businesses in the area as well as all the residents and their phone numbers, addresses, and e-mails, as long as they’re willing.
“I’ve always lived in the country and I’m used to having a local directory,” Solc said.
He also wants to keep his neighbours in the loop with a monthly newsletter that will likely be mailed out as well as posted on the Area D Ratepayers Association’s website which the board hopes to launch in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, the group is trying to pull people together. So far, 40 people have signed up to be a part of the association and the board is in the process of adding one or two more members.
Solc and Nugent would like to see even more which is why they are extending an open invitation to anyone who lives in Area D whether homeowners or renters; anyone who owns land or acreage in Area D, whether with or without a home on it; as well as those who run a business in Area D, to come to the Wednesday meeting.
Following the inaugural meeting, the board hopes to conduct open public meetings every two months.
For more information on the association or the upcoming meeting, contact Rod Nugent, 250-923-8043 or e-mail the Area D Ratepayers at adrrassoc@gmail.com