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Nelson  

RDCK gives insight on the recreation engagement process so far

Recreation ongoing process

The light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter for the Nelson recreation campus.

With the residential survey now finished — and the user group survey slated for completion Jan. 15 — the inside scoop on the inside thoughts of the Nelson and regional district electoral areas E and F are set to be revealed.

As it has been 10 years since they Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) has been able to engage residents on the topic of the community recreation campus, the primary goals for the three-phase public engagement process include education and understanding, said Joe Chirico, the general manager for community services at the RDCK.

He said the start of the process included an education of the public on what makes up the community recreation campus, the current state of all facilities and the costs it will take to continue to maintain each building.

“We also hoped to educate taxpayers on what facilities and services their taxation contributes to,” Chirico noted.

As well, the process will attempt to understand the current utilization of the existing facilities and amenities, along with the types of activities that are currently being offered and whether the current facilities are able to accommodate the needs of the community.

The RDCK needs to “understand the willingness to support any increase in taxation or user fees to provide upgraded or additional facilities and amenities on the recreation campus,” Chirico said.

All of the goals were put in place so the RDCK and City of Nelson could use the information provided from the survey to begin to plan a vision for the future of the community recreation campus, he added.

On the chopping block?

Throughout the early stages of the engagement process there has been much misinformation swirling about, including discussion of some buildings earmarked to be knocked down.

There is currently nothing on death row, said Chirico. The RDCK owns and operates the Nelson and District Community Complex (NDCC) and supports the City of Nelson in operating the Civic Arena and Civic Centre.

“The RDCK has no plans to eliminate the NDCC or the services offered there. We cannot provide comment on the buildings owned by the City of Nelson or the services within those buildings,” he said. “Both government organizations are committed to this process and listening to the community.”

The bill comes due

The idea of the engagement process is to ensure people are heading into the future with eyes wide open of what it will take (money) to refurbish and maintain the existing buildings and services.

“Many of the buildings are aging that are currently supporting recreation in the community,” said Chirico. “We want to understand if the current usage of these buildings is still serving the community's needs or if those uses need to change before we ask taxpayers to pay for the repairs that are needed.”

Towards that end, once the RDCK and the city have the final report, it will be going back to the community through more public meetings to hear what the thoughts are on the findings from the survey.

“This final report will also go to the Nelson Recreation 5 Commission, RDCK board of directors and Nelson city council to help support conversations surrounding the community recreation campus,” said Chirico.

Before that takes place, the next steps are to compile all the data from the resident and group survey into a “What We Heard Report.”

“Once we have that data compiled and digestible for the public, we will then come back into the community with community meetings to hear their thoughts,” Chrico said.

The hope is to be able to share that information with the public sometime in March.



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