The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) is launching an Alternative Approval Process for street lights on Maple Drive.

At the Oct. 2 board meeting, directors unanimously agreed to obtain area approval through the Alternative Approval Process (AAP) for Cariboo Regional District Maple Drive Streetlighting Service Establishment Bylaw No. 5280, 2020.

The CRD has established that the total number of eligible electors for the AAP is 1,112, and the deadline for receiving elector responses for the bylaw is Nov. 16 at 4 p.m.

The board gave three readings to Cariboo Regional District Maple Drive Streetlighting Service Establishment Bylaw No. 5280, 2020 on July 10, 2020, and the bylaw has subsequently received Statutory Approval from the Deputy Inspector of Municipalities, according to the staff report from CRD corporate services manager/deputy CAO Alice Johnston.

“The board may now proceed with a public assent process; the Electoral Area Director has expressed an interest in conducting an Alternative Approval Process (AAP), as the information has already been shared publicly through various means, and to keep the costs low,” writes Johnston.

With the AAP, only those eligible electors who are opposed to the CRD proceeding with the adoption of the bylaw fill out an elector response form. Only one person may register per form, and forms can be faxed to 250-392-2812 or emailed to mailbox@cariboord.ca.

If 10 per cent or more electors sign an elector response form during the AAP, the CRD would have to decide whether to go to a referendum. If fewer than 10 per cent object, the CRD will move forward with establishing the service bylaw.

The proposed project will see 23 streetlights installed on Maple Drive from the junction with Highway 97 to the corner of Plywood Road.

It is anticipated the project will increase the safety of pedestrians on Maple Drive, which has seen increased industrial traffic since the Johnston Bridge was closed to heavy trucks in October 2018. One pedestrian died in a collision on the road in January 2019.

CRD Area A director Mary Sjostrom has been successful in obtaining a $12,000 grant from ICBC toward the streetlighting project. The initial cost of installation will be offset by the grant, and the CRD proposes to fund the service through a residential tax to surrounding properties: $7.31 per $100,000 of assessed property value per year.

READ MORE: Maple Drive streetlight project to be put to voters this fall

Quesnel Cariboo Observer