The primary purpose of the Cultus Lake Park Governance Study is to understand what a decision to join the City of Chilliwack would mean for Cultus Lake Park residents in terms of local service cost, service governance and service delivery. The Governance Committee is the body that has been established to undertake the Study. The Committee's approach to the Study features some key components, including an Impact Analysis, a Public Information Program and a Recommendation to the Minister of Community Development. This section of the website speaks to these components, as well as to the issue of timing. The section also speaks to the participation of the Soowahlie First Nation in the Study.
Impact Analysis
The Impact Analysis is the part of the Study during which the Committee and its consultants gather and assess all of the relevant data related to the Join Chilliwack and Status Quo options. A key product of the Analysis will be a series of sample tax notices that would apply to representative properties under each option.
- For the Join Chilliwack option, each tax notice will show what the property holder would pay (2008 dollars) in taxes, fees and charges if Cultus Lake Park were included within the City of Chilliwack, and relied on the City as the primary local service provider (the Park Board woud not exist under this option).
- For the Status Quo option, each notice will show what the property holder would pay (2008 dollars) in taxes, fees and charges if a City boundary extension were rejected, and Cultus Lake Park continued as a separate community governed by the Park Board, under the Cultus Lake Park Act.
The figures in the sample tax notices will reflect the net costs associated with providing the various local services under each of the options. Because the primary local service provider will differ by option — the City of Chilliwack under the Join Chilliwack option; and the Park Board under the Status Quo option — it can be expected that the net cost of providing services will also differ. To generate the net cost numbers, and to demonstrate how the net cost associated with each service differs by option, each local service needs to be examined separately. For each service, two questions need to be addressed:
- What changes to service cost, service governance and service delivery would occur as a result of a boundary extension that brought Cultus Lake into the City of Chilliwack?
- What changes to service cost, service governance and service delivery would occur without a boundary extension (i.e., under the Status Quo)?
The answers to these questions will be documented and presented in a series of Fact Sheets. One separate Fact Sheet will be produced for each local service.
Transition Period — Join Chilliwack Option
As noted elsewhere, a decision to extend Chilliwack's boundary to include Cultus Lake Park would not automatically result in the repeal of the Cultus Lake Park Act and the dissolution of the Cultus Lake Park Board. The Act and the Board would remain in place, irrespective of the boundary decision, until the Province acted to eliminate them. In all likelihood, the Province would not be in a position to repeal the Act and dissolve the Board immediately at the time of an extension. The Park Board, therefore, would remain in place as a governing body for Cultus Lake Park for a period of time post-extension. During this period, the Park Board would co-exist with the City of Chilliwack Council.
It is not known at present exactly how long the period of co-existence would last if the Join Chilliwack option were chosen, and the City's boundary were extended to include Cultus Lake Park. It is assumed, however, that the Park Board would ultimately be dissolved, and the City of Chilliwack would ultimately become the local government for Cutlus Lake Park.
For the Join Chilliwack option, the Committee's Impact Analysis will look beyond the period of co-existence to determine what Cultus Lake Park ratepayers would be expected to pay in service fees and taxes once the Park Board had been dissolved, and responsibility for all of its local services had been transferred to the City of Chilliwack. It is this information that Cultus Lake Park residents will wish to know, understand and compare against the figures developed for the Status Quo option.
Public Information Program
The Public Information Program is the part of the Study during which the Committee presents the results of the Impact Analysis to Cultus Lake Park residents, as well as to others who are interested in the future governance of the Park. The primary purpose of the Information Program is to ensure that residents of the Park have all of the facts and answers they need to properly consider the two governance alternatives.
In its entirety, the Program will make use of a number of different information vehicles, including:
- Committee meetings, all of which are open to the public
- this website
- mail-outs
- newspaper and newsletter announcements
- news releases
- public open houses
Recommendation
As part of its mandate, the Governance Committee is responsible for making a recommendation to the Minister of Community Development on whether or not to proceed to referendum on the question of incorporating Cultus Lake Park into the City of Chilliwack. Any decision to change the Park's governance would only be made as the result of a referendum involving Cultus Lake Park electors.
The Governance Committee is expected to base its recommendation on the results of its Impact Analysis, as well as on the feedback it receives during its Public Information Program.Accordingly, the Committee will not be in a position to make a recommendation until after Impact Analysis and Pubic Information Program have been completed.
Timing
The Committee hopes to be completed its Impact Analysis by mid-Summer, 2009. The bulk of the Public Information Program will be implemented at that time. The Committee should be in a position to make its Recommendation to the Minister of Community Development by early Fall, 2009.
Soowahlie First Nation
The Soowahlie First Nation has a strong interest in Cultus Lake Park, as well as in discussions involving the Park's future governance. For these reasons, the Soowahlie First Nation's active participation in the Study is important. Two measures have been taken to facilitate such participation:
- The Soowahlie have been invited to appoint representatives to sit, as full members, on the Cultus Lake Park Governance Committee. The Soowahlie have accepted this invitation — representatives of the Soowahlie First Nation have been on the Committee since its inception.
- A consultant (Ms. Katherine Gordon) has been retained to provide assistance and support to the Soowahlie throughout the Governance Study. The consultant will work to ensure that the Soowahlie receive all of the information they need to fully understand the implications of a change in local governance at Cultus Lake Park for the Soowahlie First Nation. The consultant will work with the Soowahlie and the other parties to identify common and separate interests and concerns related to a possible boundary extension, as well as possible joint actions to pursue.
Other Information
At the Committee's October, 2008 and December, 2008 meetings, the consultants involved in the Governance Study reviewed their work plans with Committee members. Written summaries of these work plans are available here:
- Cultus Lake Governance Study: Proposed Approach (Neilson-Welch Consulting Inc.)
- Terms of Reference for Consultant Katherine Gordon