Thank you, it's great to be back. Now let's get to work.
Right off the bat, I must say how optimistic I am about this council. Sure, you have to be, but there is potential in this dynamic bunch with great passion, energy and ideas. Of course, on top of everyone's to-do list is economic development and SODC, but there are lots of other ducks to get in a row as well.
After the election I sat down and decided it's best to focus on a few things this term. The three that first came to mind: trail maintenance infrastructure, combining school board and district assets, chickens/bees. Chicken/bees I figure will be a quick win - just follow what so many other communities have done. It's not rocket science.
On the "hopefully in my lifetime" side of the scale, we have combining district and school board infrastructure. It might seem an impossible task but everyone knows there are millions of dollars of savings to be had and only history and territorial politics are holding us back. This has to stop and should be an interesting one to tackle.
Then there's the trail maintenance program that never seems to happen. I should point out that I'm not talking about trails on district property, bike lanes, commuter trails or highway overpasses. I'm talking about the trails that thousands have moved to our community to ride, thousands more visit every year and millions are pumped into our economy because of. The same trails that are constantly featured in magazines all over the world, produce the world's best mountain bikers and are advertised to the world to ride, yet the district has never spent a cent maintaining them.
We're going to fix that - but how? I'm a fan of user-pay, but it doesn't work with all sports. For instance, hockey, soccer and ball could never afford the fees and have to be subsidized by all taxpayers. Last year, trail users forked over $14,000 and we just axed the $5 event fee and the trail co-ordinator position.
Going forward, the district and user groups are working hard to get this right. I think the summer student crew plan is fantastic. We also have to figure out how to get money from business operating on the trails and work with the province and SLRD to get the best bang from everyone's buck. These partnerships might have to wait for this year because we're behind on the budget talks.
Oh yeah, it's also budget time and we are waaay behind, so let's add another to the list: Start the budget process earlier.
Thanks for reading. If you haven't already, please sign up for my email newsletter (at www.bryanraiser.com or email me). It's a glimpse into this nutty job and a reminder that I'm here to listen so drop me a line anytime. That point is huge since this job is all about communication.
