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Bridge on new Whaletown Creek trail
General News · 14th May 2018
Noba Anderson
Happy Spring Cortes

The attached newsletter went into Cortes mail boxes today. For those of you not attached to an island mail box, please download the full newsletter attached below. Here are the first few sentences from each article to wet the appetite.

SRD Awarded $45.4 M for Connectivity
www.connectedcoast.ca
The Strathcona Regional District Board’s recent bold leadership has been rewarded with $45.4 million to lay a SRD-owned sub-sea fibre-optic cable circum-navigating Vancouver Island and up the coast to Prince Rupert with a leg west to Haida Gwaii. read more...

Whaletown Creek Trail Opening
JOIN US! Wednesday, May 16, 1 pm Whaletown Creek on Carrington Bay Road
The sweet new Regional District trail that connects the end of Jocelyn Road to Carrington Bay Road where it crosses Whaletown Creek is now finished. read more...

Cortes Zoning Bylaw Review
Thank-you for all your input over the past year in the review of the Cortes Zoning Bylaw - the Regional District’s land-use regulation for Cortes; crafted to reflect our Official Community Plan and your input. This is your document. The draft revised bylaw has passed first reading at the Regional District Board and is being reviewed in detail by myself and the Cortes Advisory Planning Commission. read more...

Cortes Community Housing
It’s Happening! www.cortescommunityhousing.org
We all deserve a good safe place to live. I know that without a stable home I would not invest in my community as I do. I am so fortunate to have a house, a warm place to return to every day. Many of our Cortes friends do not have a stable home. As a person in a position of influence, it is my duty to help meet community needs, to convene, to inspire, to work hard. This winter, it has been my greatest pleasure to co-create with the highest of functioning groups – the Cortes Community Housing Committee - empowered by both the newly formed Cortes Island Foundation and the Cortes Island Seniors Society. We have bought over 50 acres of land in Manson’s for the long-term provision of stable, year-round, affordable housing. read more...

2018 Grant-In-Aid $
This year’s funds have been awarded as follows leaving $5,000 yet unspent, which I expect will be awarded largely to support the implementations of the Cortes Local Economic Action Plan’s forthcoming recommendations. read more...

Proposed Cortes Hall Tax Update
SRD staff will meet this week with representatives from both community halls as well as the key anti-tax organizers. Soon thereafter they will bring back a report for the Regional District’s consideration on how to best proceed. read more...

Health Network Housing Strategy
The Strathcona Community Health Network, that I Co-Chiar, has undertaken a Regional Housing Needs Assessment followed by a Regional Housing Strategy. This data gathering will help our local Cortes housing work by providing information to support our funding applications and put Cortes’ housing needs in a regional perspective. We have started on the Needs Assessment portion of our work and invite you to fill out a housing survey. Please visit www.strathcona-chn.net. read more...

Committees (Parks & Trails, Transportation & Economic Action)
They might not be sexy, but…. they can be awesome when done well! One of my most treasured roles as Regional Director is that of conversation convener. There are many Cortes issues that can be best addressed in a collaborative form and are ripe for focus. I have been involved in the formation of a number of new committees this year, the most dynamic of which has been the Community Housing Committee (see article on page 2), but there are others. read more...

Really Cortes?!?!
Are we an eco-minded, garden-loving community?
I was SHOCKED to learn that we on Cortes throw more organics in the trash that any other community in the whole Comox-Strathcona region! 50% of our trash is organic! What?! Only 30% of our garbage was actually trash while the remaining 20% was recyclable. read more...

Moved here in the last 10 years?
(That’s how long I have been in elected office.)!!
Are you curious about island governance?
Wonder what a ‘Regional District’ does anyway?
Wonder what a ‘Regional Director’ does anyway?
Wonder what this ‘Regional Director’ does anyway?
Interested to get involved but…?
Put off by meetings dominated by ‘old-timers’?
Want a relaxed & focused time to talk with me?
I am hosting a few outdoor (weather depending) talk circles for ‘newcomers’ where anything goes.
Let’s start with two and see…

Thursday, May 31st, 2 - 3:30
Tuesday, June 12th, 4 - 5:30
Manson’s Hall Outdoor Market Space

That's a wrap for this newsletter. I'll post more articles here between now and civic election in October.

Thank-you for the honour of this office.
In Gratitude,
Director Noba Anderson
directorcortesisland.com 250-935-0320