It is with great excitement that I write my second Area D corner!
After what seemed to be a lot of new-to-government orientation, conventions and who's who coffees we now get a chance to really get down to the nuts and bolts of setting direction for our local communities. Not that we haven't already been doing so. Getting caught up to speed on so many projects, policies and by-laws takes time.
Area D today is a hotbed for change, much of which is occurring naturally through previous initiatives and the rest is the result of a combination of engaged residents, an investment community that sees potential, staff dedicated to their work and an elected official willing to facilitate change. Not change for the sake of change, rather change from "that's the way we do it or have always done it" to "what is it that we are able to do to be better, how may I be able to help as an elected official."
This leads me into some of the initiatives we have and will be working on over the coming weeks and months to better serve the Area D people.
The SLRD hired a communications and grant writer; we are already seeing early dividends. Grant applications are no longer being written off the side of a desk, but rather by a professional solely focused on the task at hand. As we know, many grants are approved on merits and a well-written grant application goes a long way in being selected top of class. This also allows 'we,' the elected officials, to do our part, communicate our constituents' vision and ideas, as well take to a focused lobby effort if required to get grant approvals. After all, everyone thinks their project deserves funding.
The SLRD has hired a planner to solely focus on the Britannia South development; of course this is an action of a development proposal being put forward by the proponent and the SLRD receiving fees allowing this to move through this public process.
We continue to work with the community of Furry Creek and the proposed master water works plan, which came to the board a month ago. We look forward to continuing this work in progress and seeing through some return of development and investment into that community.
We also keep a watchful eye through all of this on our constituents ROI and tax rates that pay for all of the services we provide. After all, without their input we likely would not need an Area D elected official.
With just this little morsel of information, how could I not be excited to represent such a wonderful Area?
Enjoy the summer months ahead!
