North Coast Regional District set for two days of meetings, including Budget planning review

North Coast Regional District meets this weekend in
Prince Rupert with the Five Year Financial Plan and grant
requests among the items up for discussion

Members of North Coast Regional District will be gathering in Prince Rupert this weekend for their first session for 2020

The debut for the New Year one which will see the Members begin to tackle a number of budget planning items for the year ahead and to finalize their work on the Five Year Financial plan.

The first of two days of meetings takes place Friday night at 6:30 PM at the Coastal Business Centre on Second Avenue West, the Agenda for the night will have its focus on a report from the Treasurer on nominal funding from Northern Development Initiative Trust,.

That session will be used for a review of the amount of funding to be allocated towards each Electoral District that makes up the Regional District.

Saturday's session gets underway at 10 AM and the Agenda is a tad more extensive with members set to tackle Round One of the Draft 2020-2024 Regional District Financial Plan.

In addition to their review of the financial blue print for the next four years, the members will also receive a number of correspondences from community groups seeking funding for 2020.

Among those on the Prince Rupert side of Hecate Strait providing for their request are the Prince Rupert Regional Archives, the Port Edward Historical Society, the Prince Rupert Library and the Dodge Cove Recreation Commission.

Rob Basso from the Board of Directors of the Regional Archives uses his correspondence to highlight the work of the Archives and the growing demands for their resources and services, noting how the Regional Archives have become an important step in economic development planning.

They are seeking a grant of $130,000 with plans to recruit an assistant and bring the wage scale closer to current standards.

For North Pacific Cannery Historical Site the quest is for an increase to their annual grant, with Treasurer Polly Pereira seeking $130,000 for 2020, up from the previous level of $100,000.

Ms. Pereira provides a thumbnail sketch of how they would allocate the funding, as well as some of the challenges that are faced by the Port Edward site.

"The Regional District’s annual $100,000 grant is allocated as follows: $75,000 to Administration & Overhead, $20,000 to Maintenance and $5,000 to Marketing. The balance of the increased amount would be allocated to Maintenance, allowing a more permanent part-time maintenance person to work on small jobs throughout the year. 

We estimate the related cost to be $60,000 (wages and materials). North Pacific Cannery will contribute $10,000 from revenue generated during our summer season. North Pacific Cannery is flourishing, but we face difficulties when hiring staff for the season in view of minimum wage increases and the cost of local accommodations. In order to provide high-quality hospitality we need the funding to hire the right staff."

The Dodge Cove Recreation Society is looking for a $2,500 grant, the money to be put towards maintenance and operating costs for the facility.

Director Lou Allison outlines some of the work that took place at the Dodge Cove Centre in 2019 as well as some future plans for the facility.

"The work that we have done this year (2029) includes having the lighting in the main hall upgraded with new efficient fixtures and/or bulbs, with dimmer switches as the new lights are very white and bright ...  We have several big jobs looming: upgrading our septic system and our playground. We have also been looking into the possibility of installing a geothermal unit to help reduce our heating costs and keep the building at a more even temperature."

For the Prince Rupert Library funding for supports for library service in the outlying areas of the NCRD is the goal, with Chief Librarian Joe Zelwietro looking to access $6,000 in funding from Regional District.

His review of Library services provides for a look at some of the range of activities available through the facility and how it fulfills a vital role in the region.

As for the path ahead for Regional District to craft its financial plans, a report from Treasurer Landrath notes that there will be three rounds of review prior to adoption of the bylaw for the Five year plan.

The third and final round that of a teleconference set for March 11th.

You can review all of the items of note for the Saturday session including the letters requesting financial support from Agenda package for Saturday here.

For more notes related to North Coast Regional District see our archive page here.


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