September 20, 2024: A small group gathered to welcome Electoral Director/Local Community Commissioner (LCC), Gary Holman, as well as LCC member Gayle Baker. After a lovely Territorial Acknowledgement by notetaker Sheila Dobie, facilitator Grant Fredrickson asked guests what “excites and delights” them. While, with a wry smile, Gary said that he is simply not the “excited and delighted” type, he proceeded to congratulate the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) for its intention to relax the water moratorium to allow for some additional hookups in the area served by Mount Maxwell Lake. Gary acknowledged the staff and trustees of NSSWD for their diligence in gathering and analyzing needed data to make a prudent and scientific decisions concerning current and future water needs.

It is estimated that this relaxation of the NSSWD moratorium could result in as many as 300 new hookups. While details are still needed, this is very, very good news, expected to provide water for important housing initiatives. Gary is especially optimistic about a possible hook-up on the remaining undeveloped area of the Drake Road property where the supportive housing is being built. Donated many years ago by School District 64, belonging to CRD, and rented to BC Housing, the use of the remainder of the property was expected to require an expensive well. Gary is hopeful there is now a good chance that it will be served by NSSWD instead, a lower cost and more secure water source than groundwater.

Gayle shared her excitement and delight with an amazing summer full of family, fun events, good LCC progress, and an abundance of parties. . .but also her exhaustion from so many good things. She expressed her continued fascination with the establishment and growth of the LCC, pleased to participate in its deliberations and progress.

The first question concerned the CRD 2025 budget. After a nine hour meeting September 12, the LCC approved the provisional budget with two dissenting votes for entirely different reasons: Brian Webster because additional reserve allocations had not been approved and Gary because some of his proposed requisition reductions did not get approval. Presented with a 14% budget increase for local services, the revised provisional LCC budget will still result in an increase of approximately 12% for delegated LCC services (comprising most Salt Spring local services.) The LCC is also recommending to the CRD Director the hiring of an additional administration/technical staffer to help expedite delivery of local projects and services.

 In January, after the community has had an opportunity for suggestions, the LCC will have another chance to make changes to this provisional budget before its final adoption in March 2025. 

By far the biggest portion of our local budget is Parks and Recreation, including our pool, parks, trails, and community recreational programs. It was noted that negotiated wages and salary increases of over 4%, as well as other supply and operating costs, have resulted in unavoidable increases. While expansion to these services was relatively minimal, the addition of the Middle School, Mount Maxwell Park, and a lease for the former Phoenix School (currently being negotiated) have created significant budgetary increases. And, it only includes a minimal allocation for the not-too-distant possession of the Ganges Firehall property. 

Increasing costs of our bus service is also a significant factor in this 2025 budget, resulting from continued, additional costs imposed by BC Transit and a deficit carryover due to decreased ridership revenues during COVID. The good news is that we have managed to maintain bus service during the COVID years. The LCC is also planning transit requisition increases starting in 2026 to fund our local share of the costs for the first major expansion of our bus service in a number of years – on the Fulford-Ganges route.

Additional 2025 requisition increases from other CRD services and programs are expected These increases include a new General Manager for electoral areas, a position that will also directly support the our LCC. In future years, phased in over time, there will also be additional tax impacts from a number of regional initiatives, including: affordable housing (which historically has greatly benefitted Salt Spring), as well as regional transportation (from which we have not benefitted greatly).

More information regarding the total requisitions for regional and sub-regional CRD programs will not be available until next week. Curious? Come to ASK Salt Spring September 27, 11-1, SIMS classroom to learn about the proposed 2025 budget increases including all CRD services for which you will be taxed.

We briefly discussed the Economic Sustainability budget with a modest increase over the 2024 allocation. Several years ago, when the volunteer Community Economic Sustainability Commission was making recommendations to Gary about projects, he began to transition away from studies and strategies toward direct support for nonprofits engaged in specific projects to enhance our economy and community. The LCC continued this trend, with modest allocations to the Chamber, Farmland Trust, Southern Gulf Islands Tourism Partnership, and Housing Now to help them pursue critical initiatives. 

This year, the LCC has allocated up to $60,000 to contribute to housing initiatives. While some Local Commissioners believe that the next step is a Salt Spring Housing Strategy, other Local Commissioners seek a more action-oriented use of these funds. Seeking consensus about next steps, the LCC is planning a meeting in October with housing experts to help identify its role addressing our housing crisis.

When a participant asked whether there was consensus among Salt Springers about the housing needed, Gary replied that he believed that virtually all agreed that affordable housing is a priority for Salt Spring. 

Gayle noted, however, that it was her impression that, while there appears to be a consensus that worker housing is needed, this consensus does not extend to the housing needs of those who battle addiction and mental health challenges. She, like so many others in our community, seeks the community connections that will erase those divides.

Just back from the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), Gary was surprised to learn that many communities, even larger, more affluent municipalities, do not have both a shelter and supported housing, something Salt Spring will have as soon as the Drake Road supportive housing project is completed in 2025.

A newcomer to Salt Spring shared information about a successful grassroots Comox project with which he was involved, Dawn to Dawn: https://dawntodawn.org/. This nonprofit sought rental accommodations in neighbourhoods. Paired with a social worker, each renter was supported while, at the same time, each landlord was protected, with rent and any damages covered by this nonprofit. Quickly a success, more and more landlords rented to marginalized community members, secure in their investment; tenants thrived in welcoming neighbourhoods.

With Dawn to Dawn as a possible place to begin, this participant suggested Salt Spring identify what works in other communities and unabashedly borrow their ideas to implement here. This began a spate of ideas to create a housing continuum to address the wide variety of our housing needs:

• Should we revisit that traditional entry-level model of rooming houses? Already allowed by zoning, this may be the perfect lifestyle for those needing simple, inexpensive accommodations. . . and willing to share some living spaces.
• Rather than waiting for homeowners to figure out the logistics of building a cottage on their property, why not make it easy with a project of 60 (or more) small engineered homes bought wholesale and set up on qualifying properties, using the provincial forgivable loans of $40,000 (https://www.bchousing.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/BCH-Secondary-Suite-factsheet-English-2023.pdf) plus other incentives expected through the CRD Rural Housing Program? 
• What about Brinkworthy-like worker housing community with provincially-approved tiny homes as that first step in home ownership?
• Townhouses can be an attractive and cost-effective way to accommodate workers who can afford mid-range rents.
• What about a Millennial Village with small purchased homes aimed at young families with good incomes but not nearly enough to purchase market-priced homes?
• And the ideas flew, as well as our time. It was already 1:00, and we had hardly begun to explore the creative – and, yes, sometime crazy, ideas. 

We left, thanking Gary and Gayle for setting the tone for a creative and fun brainstorming session . . . as well as their tireless work on the LCC, optimistic solution-seeking, and listening to our concerns and ideas at ASK Salt Spring every month. (Thanks Gary. . .and Gayle!)