Your Protest Sign’s called and they want fresh air on Saturday!
WHY?
Come and join us on the last chance Union Bay has to save some money to build our water treatment plant. Polls are open from 9am to 6pm. Show up with your signs and smile of encouragement to get out and vote!
In mid March UBID was given a full report on the costs of building the water treatment plant yet the majority decided to keep landowners in the dark until after the election? Why? How does this serve the public interest?
Fact: UBID Landowners will be paying over $2 million in borrowing costs, that is over $100,000 per year for 25 years in interest costs alone!
Local media coverage by James Woods; https://www.mycomoxvalleynow.com/52863/exact-parcel-tax-amount-needed-for-union-bay-water-treatment-plant-wont-be-released-until-after-election-admin/
Becoming a service area of CVRD means we can apply for Infrastructure Grants AND municipal financing (2% below prime) and $ave $$$!
VOTE for Paul HEALEY and Hein VANDENBERG for Union Bay Trustees on Sat. April 20 “It just makes cents!”
April 2017 saw a 1 vote difference between Bitten – 293 and Kaljur – 292. Total votes cast= 585. Next vote is Saturday April 20.
Many new families do not understand what is at stake in this election. Talk to them! Let them know that this election is worth $2 million in landowner tax savings by becoming a service area of the CVRD.
We have often won the advance vote but lost the main voting day. Keep on campaigning until April 20! Union Bay is worth it!
Want to know if 2 candidates really said that? Read local Reporter James Wood’s accurate and fair summary:
Union Bay merger with CVRD looms large at election forum
VOTE: Paul HEALEY and Hein VANDENBERG
UBID Election Days: Tuesday April 9 and Saturday April 20~9 to 6pm
VOTE 4 $aving Union Bay $ by joining CVRD
Union Bay Improvement District Annual General Meeting
Thursday April 25 – 7pm Union Bay Hall
This is the only meeting since 2018 where landowners are “allowed to ask questions and it takes place after the election !?
~ Union Bay’s taxes are kept in a separate account. CVRD can not use any UBID monies, not one penny!
~ All the conditions the Ministry set have been met: wait until October 2018 Municipal elections are past and the Water Treatment Plant is “well underway. The Ministry has already contacted Union Bay to say we can proceed.
~ Facilitator James Mattison recommended becoming a Service Area of the CVRD in his report Aug. 2017 Clear and Safe Water for Union Bay. https://union-bay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/UBID-KIP-Final-Report-2017-August.pdf
~ If we send the letter asap there is a very good possibility that we can benefit from 2% below prime municipal financing for our Water Treatment Plant.
Vote Paul Healy and Hein Vandenberg and $ave $$
Read the UBID Water Treatment Plant Executive Summary detailing how much we will pay in interest charges. This information is critical to all of you! Landowners are expected to have this information BEFORE they vote on April 9 and April 20 as well as before the Annual General Meeting April 25, 2019. The Summary cost landowners $9000 to produce and when public funds are spent for a report, the report must be released in full
The Bad News: Interest we will pay in 5 years is $566,640.00 with $3 million dollars still owing! By the end of 25 years landowners will have paid over $2,266,260 in interest alone.
More Bad News: We did not need to pay those interest charges!
The Good News: We can become a service area of the CVRD and be eligible for infrastructure grants and municipal financing which is 2% below prime. Imagine paying only 1.49% interest rate instead of the 3.49% quoted in the summary. A huge savings in borrowing costs.
More Great News: We have fulfilled the Ministry requirement of waiting until after the October 2018 Municipal Elections as well the Water Treatment Plant is “well under way”. Nothing is holding us back from proceeding with the letter to do a study of the pros and cons of becoming a service area of the CVRD. Union Bay would also become eligible for Infrastructure Grants. For local reference both Cumberland and the CVRD received 75 to 80% in grants alone in 2017 and 2018.
Thank you all for a heartwarming and hopeful pop up protest! The vision is simple:
Union Bay landowners will *save **two million dollars *in borrowing costs for our Water Treatment Plant!
How?
By setting up a service agreement with the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) would mean the RD would take over administration and the collection of taxes kept separately, and then Union Bay would qualify for infrastructure grants and municipal financing. Currently, as an Improvement District, UBID does not qualify for grants or reduced financing costs to cover an estimated $4 million dollars.
“In essence, that move would save 700 households $2 million because that’s what the borrowing costs would be to borrow $4 million at your regular interest rate over 25 years,” trustee Susanna Kaljur said.
In August 2017 Facilitator Jim Mattison wrote a $55,000 report for Union Bay titled: “Clean and Safe Water for Union Bay” It is a detailed history of our water and has several recommendations on page 26 and 26:
4. “When an Improvement district is faced with changing technology and massive expansion, it may be time for the community to seriously consider coming under the wing of a regional district.”
It is time to save money for landowners and set up a service agreement with CVRD, we can do this if we have two candidates to run and win on this platform. It is worth 2 million dollars divided among less than 700 households!
https://union-bay.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/UBID-KIP-Final-Report-2017-August.pdf
Here is my Go Fund Me to help with my legal costs: https://www.gofundme.com/support-kaljur?member=&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=contacts-v2-invite-to-donate
UBID trustee Susanna Kaljur stands on the side of the highway outside the Union Bay Improvement District office. Approximately 35 people showed up to the Thursday afternoon protest. Photo by Jolene Rudisuela
A second protest was held in front of the Union Bay Improvement District office on Thursday, with residents lined up along the highway, holding signs and voicing their concerns about their local governing board.
A similar protest was held two weeks prior, with residents showing their disapproval of the cancellation of board meetings, as well as their closure to the public. Many also showed their support for trustee Susanna Kaljur who had been temporarily suspended from the board.
READ MORE: UBID board suspends trustee
RELATED: Union Bay trustee files lawsuit against UBID board chair
A Thursday’s protest, Kaljur stood on the side of the highway, alongside approximately 35 residents, holding a sign emblazoned with the words, “We want clean water now”.
Though she has been reinstated to the board, she said she is angered by the cancelled February and March meetings as there are currently many important issues that need a functioning board to progress.
Kaljur said her hope for the protest was to raise awareness about some of the issues and to get two like-minded candidates to run for the two board positions available in the upcoming election.
“We have a lot of things at play like the water treatment plant – our tenders are up right as we speak,” she said. “With two people and myself, we regain the majority and we will get [a service agreement] initiated with the Comox Valley Regional District so that we can proceed with our treatment plant and all the other infrastructure that needs to be done.”
Kaljur explained that entering into a service agreement with the CVRD would mean the regional district would take over the administration and the collection of the taxes, and Union Bay would also then qualify for infrastructure grants and municipal financing. Currently, as an improvement district, UBID does not qualify for these grants to cover the estimated $4 million cost of a water treatment plant.
“In essence, that move would save 700 households $2 million because that’s what the borrowing costs would be to borrow $4 million at your regular interest rate over 25 years,” she said.
Kaljur also discussed her unlawful suspension from the board, the closing of UBID meetings to the public in January and the changed election date. At the in-camera January meeting, which Kaljur was not a part of, the election date was moved five days before the Annual General Meeting, a move Kaljur worries will prevent landowners from making an informed decision while voting.
This is a sentiment that some of the protesters shared as well.
“My concern is that we won’t have a financial report and we won’t know about the new water treatment plant before the election,” said one landowner.
Another landowner expressed her concern for the ongoing boil water advisory and the lack of information that has come from the board.
“It’s pretty upsetting that we don’t get representation,” she said. “I’ve been here for only a year and a half and I’m just shocked. We’re being kept in the dark.”
The election is scheduled for April 20 with the advanced poll on April 9. The AGM is scheduled for April 25.
Kaljur’s term as trustee is finished in April 2020 and she says she is not planning on running for another term.
Approximately 35 Union Bay landowners stood along the highway Thursday to protest the closing of UBID meetings to the public, the cancellation of February and March meetings and the rescheduling of the election date. Photo by Jolene Rudisuela
Approximately 35 Union Bay landowners stood along the highway Thursday to protest the closing of UBID meetings to the public, the cancellation of February and March meetings and the rescheduling of the election date. Photo by Jolene Rudisuela
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