December 18, 2005
Members:
JCDC Ltd. – Betty MacNeil, Louise Campbell
District 10 Fire Dept – Scott
Magdy, Darrell Johnson, Bill MacKenzie
Seniors – Theresa Campbell, Carol
MacNeil, Dan Cash
Parish Council – Joyce MacMullen, Charlie MacIntyre
Members at Large – Father Joe Gillis, Bob Campbell
The last report to the planning committee was October 9, 2005 – that report was circulated to the community in general and to the members of JCDC Ltd. prior to their AGM which took place on November 5, 2005.
To Do List from the October 9, 2005 Report:
1. Request that the fire department invest in JCDC.
The AGM of the District 10 Fire Dept was held on October 20, 2005. The members in attendance passed a resolution authorizing the purchase of one share in JCDC.
2. Revise the terms of Reference and submit an application for assistance to ECBC.
With the assistance of the Regional Development Agency, new terms of reference were prepared (see attached). These were submitted to ECBC along with an application form for assistance.
On November 21, 2005, I emailed Rick Beaton, VP, ECBC directly with a request for a meeting. No response to that request has been received to date.
Other Initiatives Undertaken:
- On November 4, 2005, the members of the Planning Committee who were available met with our MP, Rodger Cuzner at the District 10 Fire Hall. Mr. Cuzner reviewed the terms of reference with us and indicated that he thought the project had merit and that he would give it his personal attention. With the election underway, we do not anticipate any action on this file until after January 23, 2006.
- On November 14, 2005, Scott Magdy, Wilfred MacNeil, Theresa Campbell and Betty MacNeil attended the regular session of Richmond County Council in Arichat. Our terms of reference and a request to be put on the agenda had been forwarded by mid-October to the Municipal Office. A presentation was made to the council and questions were answered. We were informed that our request for $20,000 for a business plan would be referred to Committee of the Whole and a decision reached there. Since that time, we have had no notification, although in an informal conversation with a councilor from outside our district we learned that we would probably not get funding in this round.
- On December 1, 2005, after hearing a CBC program on how Cheticamp got their theatre built after involving the Dalhousie School of Architecture, I sent a letter to Professor Ted Cavanagh, School of Architecture (see attached). I acted unilaterally because I figured a shot in the dark was better than doing nothing until after the election.
- Mr. Cavanagh responded on December 7, 2005 (see attached).
- In my response to him, I suggested that members of our planning committee could meet with him at his convenience when he is traveling to Cheticamp.
With Christmas upon us and the election following in January, there will probably not be any attention given to our proposal (at least by government agencies) before February.
I would suggest that the committee try to meet in January and review our strategy. In the meantime, if we have the opportunity to meet with Mr. Cavanagh, I will contact you by phone.
If any committee members have suggestions or comments, please contact me at 535-2765 or email at betty.macneil@I-port.ca
