April 16, 2015 - 9:19 AM
KAMLOOPS - The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has received the go-ahead from 70 Mile residents to hold a referendum concerning the establishment a fire protection financial contribution service.
The decision to put the fire protection service to a referendum resulted from a public information meeting that was held on April 9 at the 70 Mile Community Hall. The meeting was held at the request of the 70 Mile volunteer fire department and Director Sally Watson, Electoral Area “E” (Bonaparte Plateau), to determine the community’s support for establishing the service.
After a presentation by TNRD staff outlining the proposed service, the tax impacts and referendum process, the 33 community members who were in attendance indicated their support through a secret ballot process.
Of the 32 ballots that were cast, 26 were in favour and six were opposed to the TNRD holding a referendum to determine elector approval for the establishment of a fire protection financial contribution service. With such strong support for the initiative, attendees then participated in a second secret ballot to determine the level of funding on an annual basis. Twenty one chose a maximum tax requisition of $30,000 per year, four marked their ballots indicating support for $40,000 per year and six others selected $50,000. One ballot was left blank.
The board of directors will now be presented a service establishment bylaw for consideration at its April 23 regular meeting. Once the bylaw has been approved by the Inspector of Municipalities in Victoria, the referendum date will be established.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015