Since January of this year, the RDKS has communicated with residents about a proposal to establish a service area to fund Heritage Park Museum by taxation.
The Alternative Approval Process (AAP) was used to determine if service area residents were opposed to the initiative and ran from July 11 to August 30. The AAP was conducted in accordance with the requirements of Section 86 of the Community Charter and required 10% of eligible electors to submit a form in opposition to the bylaw to prevent the RDKS from establishing the service without a referendum.
The results of the AAP have been confirmed:
- Number of eligible electors: 5536
- Number of eligible elector forms required for the AAP to force an Assent Vote (referendum): 554
- Number of eligible elector forms received: 295
These results mean that the threshold of 10% of electors opposed to adoption of Heritage Park Museum Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. 793, 2024 was not reached, and the approval of the electors was obtained.
However, the final decision on how to proceed with the service establishment still rests with the Board of Directors. They could accept the results of the AAP and adopt the bylaw, or direct staff to carry out an assent vote, or abandon the service area establishment altogether. This will be discussed at the September 13, 2024 Board of Directors meeting.
The full results of the AAP are part of the next RDKS Board meeting and the agenda can be viewed here, #12 at the link.
More information and documentation about the initiative is available at https://link.rdks.bc.ca/heritagepark.
Please contact our office at 250-615-6100 with any questions.