Ravensong Aquatic Centre RDN Bylaw #899

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) Board held the special board meeting on April 18, 2023, regarding District 69 Swimming Pool Service Establishment Bylaw No. 899, 1993 (Bylaw #899). The RDN Board was considering the two proposed changes to Bylaw #899; changing how Ravensong Aquatic Centre is funded and adding Electoral Area E as a participating area. At the meeting, the Board passed the following motions:

1. That the Regional District of Nanaimo Board receive the Bylaw No. 899 Community Engagement Summary and cover staff report for information.
2. That the Staff Report dated April 18, 2023, “Options for District 69 Swimming Pool Local Service Area Establishment Bylaw No. 899 Amendment following Public Engagement” be received and that the Chair re-establish the District 69 Swimming Pool Service Select Committee and the report be referred to the Committee to further review options and models for the District 69 Swimming Pool Service, as well as an additional aquatic facility in Oceanside, and provide recommendations to the Board.
3. That staff be directed to prepare an analysis of the 5 year financial plan for Ravensong pool with operating funds and capital funds separated for the information of the select committee meeting.
4. That staff provide the select committee with the detailed usage survey data, as appropriate, from 2010 and 2015 which would include methodology and standard deviation.
5. That staff provide the select committee with a variety of cost apportionment models for consideration.

The public engagement report, which includes the survey results, is available here. To view all of the reports included in the April 18, 2023 special board meeting agenda package, please click here.

The complete agenda for the Special RDN Board meeting scheduled for April 18, 2023, 1:30 p.m. at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre at 747 Jones Street, Qualicum Beach to review the What We Heard Engagement Summary Report and for the RDN Board to discuss next steps on the changes being considered for the District 69 Swimming Pool Local Service Establishment Bylaw #899 is now available at rdn.bc.ca/agendas-minutes-videos. To view the agenda, click the Special Board meeting on April 18, 2023. A new window will appear with options to view the Notice of Special Board Meeting or the agenda, click on either to view.

Thank you for your interest and getting involved in the Ravensong Aquatic Centre RDN Bylaw #899 public engagement process.

The recent survey and gathering of community feedback phase is now closed as a What We Heard Engagement Summary Report is being prepared to be presented to the RDN Board.

Next steps:

• There has been a Special RDN Board meeting scheduled for April 18, 2023, 1:30 p.m. at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre at 747 Jones Street, Qualicum Beach to review the What We Heard Engagement Summary Report and for the RDN Board to discuss next steps on the changes being considered for the District 69 Swimming Pool Local Service Establishment Bylaw #899.
• All correspondence received to date on this topic will be attached word for word (with personal details such as address or email removed) to the report to the Board for their consideration. It is not necessary to resubmit your correspondence.
• Those unable to attend the Special RDN Board meeting in-person will have the opportunity to view the live stream of the meeting. On the day of the meeting visit rdn.bc.ca/agendas-minutes-videos. To view the live feed for a meeting, click on the appropriate tab on the calendar, click on the desired meeting and then select the Live Feed option. To access the closed captioning, select the CC icon at the bottom right of the video. Please note that the live feed link is not available until approximately 10 minutes prior to the start time of the meeting.
• The agenda for the Special Board meeting will be available on the RDN’s website by Thursday, April 13. To view the agenda when it is published, visit rdn.bc.ca/agendas-minutes-videos.
• The deadline to submit a delegation request and delegation presentations for the April 18 meeting is Monday, April 17, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. Delegations are recommended to attend the meeting in person as internet connectivity can be interrupted without notice and impact the ability to participate electronically. To sign up as a delegation, please fill out the form at this link rdn.bc.ca/appearing-as-a-delegation.
• Delegations who sign up to speak at the meeting after the agenda is published will be included on an addendum to the agenda.

Thank you for your time and effort participating in the review of Ravensong Aquatic Centre Bylaw #899.

We have hosted five in-person open houses and two virtual open houses. Our last open house is this Wednesday, January 18 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the BGC Parksville Family Centre, Lobby, 132 Jensen Ave. All Oceanside residents are welcome to attend.

If you have not yet completed our survey, please do so before Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

Within the last few days, the following have been added to the Ravensong Aquatic Centre RDN Bylaw #899 project page based on what we have heard from residents:

• Video recordings of both virtual open houses held on December 12, 2022 and January 9, 2023
• Staff report, minutes, agenda and video of the May 10, 2022, RDN Board meeting where the bylaw amendment options and procedures were discussed
• Additional FAQs from residents and answers
  
  

We will continue to update the FAQs and add additional information as needed. Thank you to everyone who has registered to the project page, we will send an enewsletter to those registered, sharing what we heard and next steps when they are available in the coming months.