The Comox Valley Marine Rescue Society is hoping to continue a partnership with the Town of Comox.
At the March 17 regular council meeting, Dave Mellin, president of the society, along with Roch Massicotte, station leader, asked council for a five-year extension in grants for the individual moorage and hydro costs for the station.
The 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week CVMRS and RCM-SAR Station 60 Comox have been operating within the community since 1978. Volunteers provide marine search and rescue services to commercial, recreational and tourist users of the waters surrounding the Comox Valley. They also interact directly with the community providing boating safety education and prevention training – all with the aim of saving lives on the water.
Their area of coverage is from Oyster River to Fanny Bay and as far as Texada Island in the Georgia Straight; they will also assist neighbouring areas.
Last year, the unit and society responded to more than 50 rescue missions in the past year. All Station 60 executives serve as well as trained crew or coxain on the Cape Lazo and the Paul Giles vessels.
Mayor Russ Arnott acknowledged the work the CVMRS and RCM-SAR do not only within the town but within the Comox Valley and added council will be looking at their request in the future.
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Following concerns raised by a town resident about the cost of water in a letter brought forth at the meeting, the town’s administration said more information will be coming to Comox residents surrounding water meters.
Coun. Maureen Swift noted ever since she has been on council, there have been concerns from residents about the water meter program and the way in which the town presented the program to homeowners.
Jordan Wall, the town’s chief administrative officer said communication in the past around their water metering program has been lacking, and a communication package is set to go out to those with meters.
“(It will help with residents) tell if you have one and how to check your usage if you’re going over,” he explained.
Coun. Ken Grant inquired about how the municipality is charging for water use.
“Are we any closer to getting our charging of water straightened out? Right now we have a three-tiered system … I know how we got there, but it’s the most ridiculous system that we could have. Are we closing in on being able to streamline it?”
Wall confirmed the town is working on it and estimated it will cost about four million to finish the installation across the entire community. Currently, the town is installing water meters in the areas where they are doing projects, as it greatly decreases the cost. He added the municipality is also identifying grants to help with the cost.
He also noted the information packages are being distributed to those who currently have water meters, however, the information will be available on the town’s website and through their social media channels.
Within the Town of Comox, there are just over 3,000 single-family residential meters installed out of approximately 5,000 single-family homes. The majority of commercial and multi-family homes are on water meters.
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