Texada Island residents were told by Powell River Regional District (PRRD) Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick that they would have to live with the results of a fall survey, which led the PRRD board to cancel the widening of Gillies Bay Road.
Former Texada director Dave Murphy came to PRRD’s Thursday, March 24, meeting looking for answers regarding the reinstatement of funding for a cancelled road-widening project on Texada.
At the board’s February meeting, Murphy submitted a 165-name petition and requested that PRRD reverse its decision on the road-widening project.
Murphy said he wanted to make sure the project was reinstated before this year’s budget was passed and became upset when he realized this had not happened at the March meeting.
“There was no debate, no discussion. What happened?” asked Murphy.
At the February meeting, Patrick Brabazon, PRRD chair and Electoral Area A director, accepted the petition as part of Murphy’s presentation, but refused to amend the meeting agenda to include a motion to re-fund the project. Murphy requested that the matter be discussed during March committee meetings and be brought back to the board.
Murphy returned for the March board meeting to ask why, despite accepting the petition, the project had not been discussed further.
McCormick explained to Murphy that Texada residents would be held to the results of the survey it had conducted last fall on whether they supported the project. She said she actually supported the road widening, but felt it was more important to support the public consultation process than change direction because of an after-the-fact petition.
The matter could be brought back during the official community plan review later this year, she said.
