Back in early February we had a meeting with Greg Kyllo where we discussed our situation, expressed our concerns and provided him with a pile of letters of support for the Incorporation Study. The response we received on March 7 follows:
Hi Jeff,
MLA Kyllo has gathered the following information for you with respect to Community Governance, and has asked me to forward to you and your group.
Thanks!
Holly
There are several varieties of study that might be considered by a rural community that is evolving and looking for specific governance and service outcomes. While one of those is an incorporation study, in general this is reserved for communities that have at least 1,000 permanent residents, a diverse property tax base (including a mix of residential, business and industry), and a robust network of local public services (e.g. a single public water system, compact road network, parks and schools, etc.) and have the support of both their electoral area director and the regional district Board. For many rural communities, exploring issues and options within the regional district/electoral area framework may be more timely and less expensive to implement. Given the focus on water and wastewater systems and facilitating development, this may be the case for Scotch Creek.
Here is the link to the document left with you, Managing Changes in Local Government Structure, which outlines the principles of local government restructures in the Province of British Columbia. The guide does a good job of setting context for changes to local government, as it provides insight into the issues and opportunities that may be facing a community as well as describing the governance variations available within the local government system to address different local circumstances.
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District Board of Directors have responded to the request from the representatives from Scotch Creek. The Electoral Area Director and staff are willing to meet with community representatives. Ministry staff are here to support that conversation, in particular Ms. Karen Lynch is an experienced senior analyst with the program and has responsibility for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District; she can be reached at 778 698-3229 or via email Karen.Lynch@gov.bc.ca.