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COMOX VALLEY REGIONAL DISTRICT BOARD
Mission Statement:
“We ensure that all regional residents have access to a responsive local government,
We provide a forum to address common issues.
We manage utilities and services best delivered through collaboration and
co-operation among municipalities and electoral areas.”
Back row, L to R:
Starr Winchester, City of Courtenay; Larry Jangula, City of Courtenay; Don McRae, City of Courtenay; Jim Brass, Town of Comox; Barry Minaker, Puntledge-Black Creek, (Area 'C'); Carol Quin, Denman-Hornby Islands, (Area 'K').
Front row, L to R:
Suzanne Murray, Baynes Sound, (Area 'A'); Fred Bates, Village of Cumberland (Chair); Barbara Price, Lazo North, (Area 'B') (Vice-chair); Paul Ives, Town of Comox.
The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) was established on February 15, 2008 as one of two, created as a restructure of the Comox Strathcona Regional District (CSRD). The other one created was the Strathcona Regional District. Regional districts are as unique feature of the British Columbia local government system, and the CVRD, as with all regional districts, is a federation of municipalities and rural areas. Regional districts provide a government for unincorporated (rural) areas, a forum for inter-municipal cooperation and an organization upon which provincial mandates can be imposed such as for regional waste management planning.
Three member municipalities and four electoral areas together form the CVRD whose boundaries an area of just over 1,725 square kilometres (666 square miles) and serves a population of 58,824 according to the 2006 Census. The region's borders extend from Cook Creek in the south to the Oyster River in the north, west to Strathcona Park, and east to take in Denman and Hornby Islands.
Governance
The CVRD has a board of ten directors, comprising electoral area directors who are elected directly by rural area voters and serve three-year terms, and municipal directors who are first elected to a municipal council and are then appointed by council to the regional district board for a maximum term of three years. Annually, the board elects its chair who establishes committees to deal with issues such as land use planning, environmental management, water supply, etc.
Most matters, when dealt with at the board table, are voted on a one person-one vote basis, but there are certain issues that are voted on using a “weighted vote”. The weighted vote is determined by population. Every municipality and electoral area is designated one vote for every 1,500 in population. No municipal director is permitted more than five votes, therefore the City of Courtenay has three representatives for a total of 15 votes, and the Town of Comox has two representatives for a total of nine votes on the board.
The regional district provides services such as preparation of overall plans for the region; assistance with Official Community Plans; approval/inspection services to encourage and ensure compliance; awareness and education; water and air enhancement; solid and liquid waste management; impact assessment; encouragement of environmentally appropriate development; protective services such as 911, fire prevention/suppression, disaster response, search and rescue and animal control; recreation and culture, such as development and management of parks, greenways, recreation and exhibition facilities; public utilities and services such as water supply, public transit, street lighting; economic development: regional planning and encouragement of sustainable economic development; and advocacy, which is ensuring that provincial and federal governments understand regional needs and priorities.
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A primer on regional districts in British Columbia - provides background on the development of regional districts in British Columbia.