• Staff and council heard a report from Curtis Fediuk of D.G. Regan and associates on the company’s progress in the municipality’s Mosquito Control Program.
Fediuk noted that no where else in the province does the company see their mosquito control program begin so early, adding that the company will begin assessing areas in Central Saanich for larvae in a couple of weeks and will most likely begin treatment sometime in February.
Fediuk also said that 2010 was a peak year for mosquitos in Central Saanich but as of last year, numbers had dropped off significantly due to a number of factors including increased drainage in some areas. There are eight known species of mosquitos in and around the Island View Beach area.
• An old bylaw on council reneumeration that had been started in 2008 and never completed due to an oversight was finally adopted during the meeting. Council asked staff if there were any other outstanding bylaws or similar housekeeping issues that hadn’t been dealt with. So far staff have not noted any others.
• A long discussion on the town hall project’s next steps took place during the meeting. Council seemed to agree that a project of such magnitude needs to be looked at carefully and some discussion took place over costing out the maintenance of the existing building and new space that would be vacated by the fire hall for five to ten years while saving money to build the new structure. Staff will look into the details and report on them at a future meeting.
“We need to let our community tell us what’s palatable,” said Councillor Cathie Ounsted of the project.
• A notice was handed out from Chief Electorial Officer Gary Nason announcing the general voting day for the 2013 byelection. The general vote will take place on April 13 with dates for special voting opportunities and advance polls still to be determined.
