Mayne Island Residents and Ratepayers Association December 2010 Newsletter

Mayne Island Residents and Ratepayers Association As 2010 draws to a close it is both a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the year ahead. Often times MIRRA has been accused of having a ‘hidden agenda’ or only being concerned with one issue. In fact the organization has been active in many parts of the island, trying its best to represent the interests of residents and ratepayers as a whole. MIRRA 2009/2010 accomplishments:

Initiated community awareness on the pending loss of RCMP services, coordinated meetings, petitions and lobbied government. MIRRA actions helped to initiate a review of the RCMP actions

by the Solicitor General and additional funding was put into the provincial budget to insure retention of RCMP services.

Set up a liaison meeting with the Ministry of Highways and MainRoads to address community concerns with regard to maintenance and paving.

Organized a community meeting with BC Ferries to discuss future plans, community concerns and open dialog with the island. Subsequently, MIRRA coordinated protests of the deck allo- cation scheme that would have severely impacted islanders.

Continued efforts to open up access with the Miners Bay dock.

Assisted landowners in finding alternatives to the Riparian Regulations being imposed by the Is- lands Trust that would have inappropriately impacted property rights on the island.

Provided monitoring at MIID, Islands Trust, BCFS and other public meetings.

Initiated an Economic Development Committee to encourage business activities on island.

Found significant discrepancies with the Fire Hall referendum; contacted the Provincial Govern- ment who investigated, intervened and stopped the referendum.

For 2011, we have many issues on the island radar. These include the upcoming referendum for the Fire Hall, major paving planned by the Ministry of Highways, continuing issues with BC Ferries and the scheduled Improvement District, CRD and Islands Trust elections. MIRRA will be active in distributing information and providing a voice for the membership on these and other topics. We are in the process of establishing a web- site that will help to disseminate information in a more efficient and accurate manner to all islanders. As well, MIRRA has several Community Forums planned for 2011:

Deer Population BC Ferries RCMP Saturna Fire Hall team presentation Parks Canada

CRD and Islands Trust all candidates meetings

Memberships are what support all these efforts. In one way, the organization is financially supported by members. However, membership also translates to real numbers when talking to Government. The more members MIRRA has, the more government bodies can accurately gauge the overall community support for our efforts. For those whose membership is expiring (ie: If you have not paid membership after October 1,