SRD approved Blenkin park bicycle project, in Principle
Cortes Currents
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Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - SRD Approves proposed bicycle project in Blenkin Park, in principle
At their April 27th Board meeting, the Strathcoan Regional District (SRD) Board approved a proposed bike park at Blenkin Memorial Park in principle, but is withholding its endorsement until it can ascertain the implications of this action.
Regional Director Jim Abram of Area C, which includes Quadra Island, explained that the community was behind the project.
“ I went to the school myself and made a presentation to an assembly of the school kids and after explaining to them about the regional district and all that, I asked them, what would you guys like to see on Quadra Island? What's your number one? And about a hundred hands went up and every one of them said ‘bike park.’”
The problem being that the Quadra Island Recreational Society lease Blenkin Memorial Park from the SRD and did not seek the SRD Board’s consent before applying for and obtaining a $180,000 grant from the Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program.
As title holders, the SRD would be legally responsible for an asset they have not authorized. They could be responsible for cost overruns during construction, and have not had time to consider oversight, maintenance or insurance costs.
The SRD Board was given three options in the associated staff report:
A - they could endorse the project as submitted
B - they could approve the project in principle, but withhold their endorsement until a report identifying the implications for the Regional District is prepared by staff
C - they could withhold their endorsement until the staff report is prepared
In the minutes of the April 27th meeting, it states that director Anderson moved and Moglove seconded a motion, “that the Board conditionally approve in principle, the bike park project of the Quadra Island Recreation Society as submitted, withholding endorsement until such time as a report identifying implications for the Regional District can be considered by EASC and the Board.”