Residents will have a chance to learn what and who the Regional District of Nanaimo is and the services it provides.
In recognition of Local Government Awareness Week, from May 14-20, the RDN is inviting the public to visit its Get Involved page online to see Frequently Asked Questions, videos and an online form to submit any questions you may have about the RDN.
Residents who are currently signed up on Get Involved RDN or sign up by June 16, 2023, will be entered to win a prize. Three winners will be drawn. Winners will have their choice of one of the following prizes:
· RDN Recreation or Parks $100 gift certificate
· 2 month passes for RDN Transit for an adult or a youth ($80 - $130 value)
· $100 credit on your next RDN utility bill (you must live in one of the seven RDN electoral areas to be eligible for this prize)
· $100 gift certificate for a local restaurant or business
To learn more and to register, visit getinvolved.rdn.ca/who-we-are.
As well, on Wednesday, May 17, B.C. is recognizing Asset Management Awareness Day during Local Government Awareness Week, and so is the RDN.
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This day helps highlight the importance of asset management best practices and sustainable service delivery by local governments. And through these best practices, the RDN strives to ensure that meeting the community’s current service needs does not negatively impact the ability to meet the needs of future generations.
Across Canada and around the world, the importance of sustainable infrastructure is being raised. Infrastructure is how governments deliver services to its residents. Local governments are responsible for maintaining an enormous quantity and variety of assets, ranging from major infrastructure such as hundreds of kilometres of water pipes and utilities, to items as small as the computers and telephones used by staff to provide services to the community.
The goal of asset management is to achieve sustainable service delivery. This is done by delivering current and future community services to residents in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible way while not compromising the level of service provided.
Residents and businesses in the RDN depend on these services. It is easy to forget about all the infrastructure that is needed to deliver water to a tap or take sewage away for treatment – until something goes wrong. Effective asset management involves identifying the life span of our assets, planning the asset upgrades or replacements needed to avoid disruption of service and creating a long-term financial strategy to pay for it.
The longer infrastructure ages, the more challenging and expensive it becomes to maintain it. And just like with your car or home, these assets may fail much earlier than expected if they are not regularly maintained.
Some of the RDN’s larger assets include:
- The Regional Landfill in Cedar
- The Transfer Station on Church Road in Parksville
- The Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre
- More than 2,072 hectares of regional parks and trails
- Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Qualicum Beach
- Oceanside Place Arena in Parksville
— NEWS Staff