Assessments of the water damage to the head office of the Cowichan Valley Regional District on Ingram Street have revealed the building will require even more restoration work than initially believed, with the closure now anticipated to continue for another 14 weeks.
As announced previously, during this closure, main reception and building permit administration services have been relocated to the Cowichan Community Centre, located at 2687 James St.
However, in-person service will be limited to receiving payments and documents, and does not include the ability to request documents or advice from CVRD Land Use Services staff.
“Many residents are accustomed to visiting our front counter to receive assistance from our planners and building inspectors, and unfortunately this will not be possible while they are displaced from the Ingram Street office,” said Ann Kjerulf, general manager of land-use services for the CVRD.
“Fortunately, many of our staff are well-equipped to work remotely and we are continuing to process applications despite recent disruptions to service. We will continue to connect with residents and developers over the phone, by email and through virtual meetings until we are back in our offices this summer.”
The CVRD head office building on Ingram Street was significantly damaged due to a water leak that began on March 28 and impacted all three floors in the building.
Although the full building restoration will last until this summer, it is anticipated that a phased reintroduction for staff into the building will be possible as work is completed on various floors.
“While we continue to deliver many of our services seamlessly since we were forced out of the building, we have developed a business continuity plan to provide a deliberate, coordinated approach to deal with the myriad of issues and tasks associated with this incident,” said Brian Carruthers, the CVRD’s CAO.
“On behalf of all our staff, we thank the public for their understanding until we can once again welcome them back into our offices.”
During this temporary disruption, residents are encouraged to reach out to CVRD staff by phone or email for any service inquiries.
A full list of CVRD phone and email contacts is available at www.cvrd.ca/directory.
