A crowd of over 50 people from across the Cowichan Lake area came out to Centennial Hall Monday night as the Town of Lake Cowichan hosted its first public meeting of 2014.
The majority of the crowd deemed communication an issue on the town’s part with various people stating they have tried to attain access to different bylaws and have had difficulty doing so.
One man also claimed that he thought last night’s meeting was being held at the Shaker Mill restaurant, whilst another claimed he was not consulted properly on a recent rezoning process.
It was also suggested that the town place a copy of all of its bylaws at the library in Lake Cowichan, which town chief administrator Joe Fernandez and Mayor Ross Forrest believed to be a “great idea.”
“The Town of Lake Cowichan is a small organization compared to other municipalities,” said Forrest at the meeting. “Our staff tries to do its best and with three or four people in the office, it is a heavy workload. I’m not making excuses for us lacking in the communication department. We want to get the information out there and we have nothing to hide.”
Sharron Carpentier was one of the first to speak at the meeting and outlined her disgust at the town hiring a student from Duncan ahead of those in Lake Cowichan for a recent student job position cutting grass in the town.
“Council does not decide on the hiring,” said a defiant Forrest. “Our staff hired the person they thought was best for the position. It is legislation that you can’t discriminate against where somebody lives. We’ve hired a lot of people from Lake Cowichan and that is our preference. Each applicant was interviewed and staff hired who they thought was best suited for the job. We are all taxpayers and deserve the best people for our buck.”
Carpentier had written a similar letter to the Gazette in which she also claimed a recent U’Brew business proposal had been turned down by the town.
“I can emphatically say that no one ever approached the town about a U’Brew,” said Forrest. “We want business in the town and have no reason to turn it down if it fits the zoning.”
Cathy Wagner asked the mayor and council what they are doing to attract more businesses.
“With Johel Brothers going, one of our main goals of the downtown revitalization is to attract businsees. We want to make Lake Cowichan attractive as it’s difficult to get big employers here,” said Forrest.
David Ridley believes transparency to be an issue.
“If a property is being effected, the town hall has all our addresses. A letter should be sent out with the bylaw saying what is being effected. However, more people need to get involved and come to the council meetings. I encourage letter writing to the Gazette but would ask people do their research first,” said Ridley.
Jack Fyfe claimed some areas of grass in town have “never been cut properly.”
“Council does not direct the workforce, said Forrest. “If you phone the office and don’t get satisfaction, it comes to the council table.”
Coun. Bob Day also stated the town’s public meetings are always held at Centennial Hall.
