Regionalizing recreation has favour among local politicians but a lot of energy must still be expended to reach the finish line.
At a community-to-community forum held Thursday, July 24, Colin Palmer, Powell River Regional District chair, outlined the ramifications of the recently completed Powell River Regional Recreation Initiative. The community-to-community meetings are held quarterly to allow regional district, City of Powell River and Tla’amin (Sliammon) Nation representatives to discuss to matters of mutual interest. The Tla’amin representatives were unable to attend this meeting because of a prior commitment.
The final report of the regional recreation initiative was presented at the Thursday, July 17 regional district committee of the whole meeting by recreation consultant Gary Young. Palmer said at the committee of the whole meeting, it was agreed that one action the regional district has to undertake before any decisions are made is for this report to go out into the various communities and let them know about its findings and suggestions.
There would be intricacies in implementing components of the report. For example, if a recreational facility in the regional district requires funding, Palmer said there would have to be determination if it is a total regional interest, or if it would be the responsibility for the individual electoral area.
“I have a bunch of trails in areas B and C around Dove Lake,” Palmer said. “Who is going to pay for them eventually?”
Palmer said the regional district report had a huge section about the Powell River Recreation Complex.
“A lot of things could only be city decisions,” Palmer said. “At some point, in any partnership deal, you start to make decisions.” He said about five pages of the report were dedicated to various potential funding models. Service delivery could be multi-faceted and might involve the city, the regional district, the Tla’amin and School District 47.
A solid communications strategy for recreational programs will be an important component of reconciling recreational resources in the regional areas.
“Nobody knows what the all programs are,” Palmer said. “We’ve got programs in electoral areas, there are programs in the city, the school district has programs. Does anyone know what we are doing? Just doing that could be a useful exercise. There are possibilities in the plan for making it all happen.”
City Councillor Russell Brewer said it makes sense to talk about regionalization. As a first step, perhaps a working group or committee needs to be formed to initiate discussion about these items, he said.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway agreed, saying that representatives from the four groups should be brought together to make recommendations.
“I still think there is quite a bit of talking to do,” Palmer said. He did not think the process is at the stage of bringing together the various affected groups.
Al Radke, the regional district’s chief administrative officer, said there are challenges with the regional district’s local government structure. “Baby steps have to be taken.”
City council, from a financial point of view, has to maybe think about what is a reasonable target date for a regional recreation agreement, Radke said. Matters such as proper citizen engagement or presenting a referendum will require attention to detail, he added.
Councillor Debbie Dee asked if the majority of the people at the table had the appetite to move the matter forward. She said the region is so interconnected with what happens recreationally.
“It has to be an informed decision and maybe the next step is really good public education.”
Palmer said at the regional board meeting that evening, adoption of the regional recreation strategy would likely occur, and then the regional district would like to get the strategy out to the public. He asked how the city wanted to react to that.
“Do you want to push it as well?”
Dee said “absolutely. I think we should work together.”
Palmer suggested the CAOs from the regional board and city have discussions; figure out how to go about the process and how extensive it will be.
“Then, we as the elected officials will know what’s in this document,” he said.
Dee said if the strategy is on the regional district website, it should also go on the city website. Palmer suggested the same could go for the school board and Tla’amin.
“We can at least get the message out,” Palmer said. “We don’t know what the outcome will be.”
Dee said it feels like the process is moving forward.
“Well, as I’ve said, I’d hate to spend thousands of dollars on a report and then put it on the shelf,” Palmer said. “There some good stuff in there.”
Later in the day, at the regional district meeting, the board carried a motion to consider entertaining a regional recreation service and solicit the acceptance of such from the public.
