Today’s Poll

Pilot project behind 'yes' vote in Area H: Popoff

Nelson Daily Editor
By Nelson Daily Editor
October 28th, 2010

By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily

The primary driver for the library referendum ‘yes’ vote in southern Area H was the pilot project the library ran for nearly one year in Winlaw, says the area’s director.

Walter Popoff said the pilot project only ran for one year, but it whetted the appetite for people for permanent library service.

As a result, In the Slocan Valley (southern Area H), the vote passed on Oct. 16 by a count of 489 to 316, with Winlaw leading the vote at 194 yes to 86 no — people voting ‘yes’ in the recent referendum for entering into a service for the Nelson Municipal Library.

“I’m fully looking forward to having an extension (library) centre established in Winlaw as a result of the successful referendum, and it was successful by a considerable margin,” said Popoff.

“And the majority of the support was in the Winlaw area.”

The next step in the process is the adoption of the bylaw in Area H and Area F, in accordance with the summary agreement worked out before the referenda took place. The only amendment will be to remove Area E off of the agreement (they voted ‘no’).

The logical place for the service is the Winlaw School, said Popoff, because that is where they ran the pilot project in 2009 and that is where the majority of the resources are.

“We have an advisory committee from Area H working on the issue, and post-referendum they will be involved with the library on figuring out the best way to service the area,” he said.

After all is said and done there will be a representative from Area H on the library board of directors that will be dealing with the issues of library service in Area H, Popoff noted.

Because Area F and southern Area H voted in favour of participation with the Nelson Library, 7,400 people gained barrier-free access to the library’s holdings, programs, databases and interlibrary loan opportunities.

The Nelson Library financial contribution will be set at a rate of $10.30 per $100,000 of property assessment.

editor@thenelsondaily.com

 

 

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