Coun. Leslie Baird wants to add a bus shelter and garbage cans to the downtown core of Cumberland.
At last week's meeting, council passed her motion to invest $22,000 into a shelter and to put the remaining funds into more garbage cans.
"I think we need to put some money into our downtown area," said Baird, who suggests existing bins can be placed in other locations.
The funding allotment will impact the budget schedules. Council approved second reading, as amended, to the 2011-2015 financial plan bylaw.
Taxpayers appear to be looking at an approximately 3.8-per-cent tax increase this year, which is about 4.2 per cent less than last year.
At a public meeting about the financial plan last week, comments focused on the breadth and quality of garbage collection services, the level of growth in the past year and the lack of information for long-term water and sewer service.
According to provincial population estimates, the Village population was 3,253 residents in 2010, a 2.7-per-cent increase from 2009. Courtenay and Comox each registered a 1.4-per-cent jump during the same timeframe.
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Council approved second reading to a revised draft of the Parks and Greenways Master Plan, which includes the addition of watersheds to a map that is displayed in the Village office. The plan is on the Village website.
"This map is incredible," Coun. Gwyn Sproule said, noting sensitive habitat locations. "This is a very fine document."
A public information meeting about the plan will be held May 30 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in council chambers. A public hearing has been scheduled for June 23 at 7 p.m. at the cultural centre, upon availability.
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Council favours a letter of support for government funding to repair, rebuild and reuse the E&N Railway, as requested by the Island Railway Corridor Foundation, a partnership of First Nations, regional and municipal governments that has assumed ownership of the 290-kilometre rail line.
VIA Rail’s Victoria-to-Courtenay passenger service has not run since March 21 because the company has deemed the tracks unfit for travel.
Sproule, who feels E&N has been "shamefully neglected" by senior levels of government, said the train needs an injection of funding more than the Malahat Highway.
Baird is concerned residents who had relied on the train are missing the service. She notes rail travel is less expensive than the bus and is not affected by traffic jams on the Malahat.
"It would make sense to have an