Dec.24 2009

Condolences to family and friends of Andrew Nuttall.........R.I.P.

Dec.22 2009

Good morning.....pretty quiet on the local political front.....looks like free enterprise is stepping up to the plate wth regards to affordable housing......Lefevre Group has a proposal submitted for townhouses to be built at the vacant lot next to Shelter Restaurant.......lots of long term rentals available on the www.westcoaster.ca site.......

Tofino Olympic spending and more consultants !

Tofino council has voted to spend $10,000.00 for an info booth at the Richmond Olympic venue....at the same time it has cut hours of operation at the District hall in the month of January.....If you need a dog licence in the afternoon you will have to go to Richmond to get it !!
The Tofino Housing Corporation has been carrying on it's tradition of hiring more consultants....the latest appeared before council on Tuesday morning.......CitySpaces Consulting Ltd. is the latest aboard the THC gravy train.......hundreds of thousands of taxpayers dollars spent and no end in site........special thanks to Gord Johns and Dorothy Baert for trying to stop the info booth in Richmond.......

District of Tofino Wages

http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=7135

here is a link to the Westcoaster article on District of Tofino wages....

Impromptu town hall meeting

An impromptu town hall meeting was held at the Hippie Bakery yesterday......it was decided that the District could improve it's bottom line by reducing wages.......while no one likes to cut jobs the question was raised : Why is the district maintaining staffing at a pre-recession, pre-development moratorium level ?? comments ??

Friday Dec.11,2009

A group of concerned citizens met with Dale Wall, Deputy Minister for Community Services (formerly Municipal Affairs ) to see if something could be done to avert the approaching sewer crisis. It was a very positive meeting and it is hoped that Council and staff will work with constituents in a co-operative manner to get some acceptable grant applications in......Please lobby your council to make this a priority.....

By-election looming ??

Good evening ! Persistent rumours of an upcoming byelection in the District of Tofino....I will report further when this is confirmed or denied......let's hope someone with some fiscal responsibility will run........
I haven't got my invitation to the District engineer's Christmas party ! Must be in the mail....wait.....didn't we get rid of them ? apparently not.......
Many local construction workers have told me that they are out of work as a result of this regime's outrageous Development Cost Charges.....not a good situation any time but really bad going into the Christmas season.....let me know if you have any work available and I will pass it along.........

more rent increases

Good morning, more reports of rent increases coming in as landlords come to grips with the increase in water rates......also reports of frozen pipes as residents can't afford to leave a tap on in this cold weather.....any affordable housing programs will have to consider subsidizing water rates as well as rent......

Ucluelet sewer and water connection fees

A quick check of the District of Ucluelet website shows charges of $1500.00 for residential sewer and water connection compared to $5,000.00 in Tofino.....

sewer and water connection charges

On Oct.13th 2009 Tofino Council voted to increase the sewer connection charge to $3000.00 . At the same time they approved an increase to the water connection charge to $2000.00. This is in addition to the $18,000.00 Development Cost Charges......which is in addition to the charges for a Building Permit....Sorry for the late reporting on connection charges.....it was just brought to my attention.......comments ?

Sobo ravioli

This just in.....try the Crab Ravioli at Sobo !! it's real good !

rent increases

This just in....four reports of rent increases from blog followers in Tofino......the reason given the tenants......water rate increases ! so much for this council's commitment to affordable housing !

Eric Clay R.I.P.

Sad to announce the passing of old school Tofino celebrity fisherman Eric Clay....Eric fished for many years out of Tofino in his boat the "Company Point " Funeral in Victoria on the 25th of November at McCalls ..... http://www.mccallbros.com for details....thanks to a blog follower from Kamloops for passing this on......

North Chestermans meeting

Good evening, a good turnout for tonight's meeting....Mayor and two councillors and staff....all together a productive meeting.....some misunderstandings about the terms of the " Towns for Tomorrow" grants......please take the time to look at the plan and give the District your input.....I have suggested that the grant might be better put towards infrastructure but if it can't be changed from this project you might as well have your say.....
Many at the meeting expressed concern with people parking along Lynn Rd. and the lack of a pedestrian path......It was suggested that Lynn Rd. be made a one way road....allowing for more parking and a pedestrian path....from a historical perspective.... thirty-five years ago not many imagined that Chesterman's Beach would be as popular as it is now......parking wasn't considered an issue because everyone parked right on the beach.....

North Chesterman's Parking meeting

A good showing of concerned residents ot the noon meeting to discuss the new proposed parking lot at North Chesterman's Beach ! Unfortunately no one from the District of Tofino staff or council showed up.After many residents stood in the rain for 20 minutes waiting for someone from council or staff to show up the group dispersed in utter disappointment . I had met earlier with the Mayor who informed me that he would not be attending....at this time he said that the District Superintendant was down with the flu.......get well soon......still there are six others on council that could have showed up.......

Ucluelet Development Cost Charges-a comparison

A call to the District of Ucluelet revealed that when one applies for a building permit for a residential dwelling on an existing lot there are no DCCs charged.zero DCCs......that compare with about $18,000.00 in Tofino........comments ?

Tofino water rate meeting Nov 13 2009

A small crowd was on hand for tonight's meeting......it seems clear to everyone that the town is being run by the District staff instead of by the District Council......people seem to think that it would be better for the District to borrow the money for water improvements and spread the payments over a longer period of time than to maintain the new water rates.....as it stands those holding large undeveloped tracts of land aren't paying a proportionate amount for water upgrades.......if the water upgrades are paid for through general land taxation it might be more equitable......maybe a combination of both ? comments ?

Tofino Housing Corporation

Good evening, after spending several hundred thousand of your hard earned tax dollars it seems that the Tofino Council is prepared to pull the plug on the Tofino Housing Corporation.THC chairman Jim Schwartz will be invited to the next council meeting to face growing criticism from Tofino Council over the lack of progress with affordable housing.Given the increasing amount of long term rentals available in Tofino and Ucluelet it might be best for council to leave housing to the private sector and focus on affordable water rates !!

Towns for tomorrow provincial grant

While many towns have used the Towns for Tomorrow provincial grant to improve their sewer and water systems, Tofino council decided that a parking lot and traffic circle were more important ! After all it is easy enough to get local taxpayers to pay for water upgrades through outrageous rate increases....... here's a link to funded projects http://www.townsfortomorrow.gov.bc.ca/list.html

There's a meeting about water rates at the Tofino Legion on Friday 13,2009 at 7 pm

Chesterman's Beach parking

The new parking lot proposal for Chesterman's Beach can be found here:
http://www2.canada.com/westerly/story.html?id=958b95f2-fd6f-4c26-b999-773d500e05d5

comments ??

Esowista agreement

Good afternoon, I have a copy of the waste water agreement between Esowista and the District of Tofino available in PDF format......send me an email and I'll forward it to you. I must thank the District of Tofino staff for providing this in a timely manner......
I'm getting lots of questions about the water bills......in response to the most common question: I don't know of any protest being organized.....if anyone is doing this or has info please post it here.......

water rates- a comparison

In response to a telephone inquiry....residences in Ucluelet pay a flat fee of $31.50 a month for water...no meters...no surcharges.....

Tofino Sewer Update

Good evening.... according to the District of Tofino website there is currently about $1,021,000.00 in the sewer reserve funds.....of this amount $733,000.00 is from a contribution from the Esowista reserve....$138,000.00 is from Development Cost Charges and $150,000.00 is from the Sewer Capital Fund. According to the District site provincial regulations state that a Sewer Treatment Plant be in service by 2016...cost estimates for the plant seem to be between 12 and 16 million dollars..........I will try to arrange a meeting with District staff to discuss this issue soon......

tofino agreement for sewer,water and fire protection

http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/Library/First_Nations_Service_Agreements/Service_Agreement_and_Bylaw--Tofino_and_Tlaoquiaht_First_Nation--2009.pdf

Tofino sewer woes Nov. 1 ,2009

Good morning, I had a brief conversation with Mayor John Fraser this morning.....he confirmed that the meeting held with developers had to do with the sewer system......In a nutshell the district cannot handle any large scale development until a sewer treatment plant is built....
The new sewer line from Esowista reserve is not currently hooked up so that isn't a factor in the equation.....I will try to get more information on this topic and post it as soon as possible....

Oct 30,2009 Mayor Fraser holds secret meeting

Today I was thrown out of Tofino Council chambers by Mayor John Fraser.....I was told that while a meeting was scheduled for noon that it was a private meeting with admission by invitation by the Mayor only.......Upon protesting my expulsion I was told by the Mayor that he didn't want " You and Schwartz turning this into a circus" No one named Schwartz was present at this time......
I was assured that this meeting wasn't about Development Cost Charges . The Mayor demanded to know who told me about the meeting ....I replied that meetings held in Council Chambers should be public unless they are Council meetings held in camera.......
Anyone with knowledge of this meeting is requested to contact me at 250-725-3428 or by commenting at this site......
Seen attending the meeting were Chris Lefevre,Keith Gibson of Yewood Properties and Linda Pettinger......
Speculation is that the meeting had to do with the District's problems with the sewer system....it seems that it is in danger of being over capacity....rumours of a development moratorium continue to circulate.......
Thanks for all your calls and emails regarding the staggering increase in Development Cost Charges and water bills....I'll have an update on these issues soon.......