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Parksville mayor looks back at council's first 2 years

O'Brien thanks council for two years of respectful discussion
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The Parksville Civic and Technology Centre.

With Parksville council just past its mid-term point, Mayor Doug O'Brien recently took some time to look back on its successes so far.

O'Brien touted highlights such as the completion of the long-awaited Oceanside Track, work on the transportation master plan and improvements to the downtown core like the opening of Memorial Plaza.

Shortly after taking office, council spent several days caucusing, he said, to determine its strategic plan for the term.

“Basically what it is, is it’s focus on things we can improve on, type of thing, and keep within our lane,” he said during council's Dec. 16 meeting. “It stops us from wandering into the weeds and stay focused on what we as a council have decided together.”

The strategic priorities selected were: advocacy, official community plan review and update, community engagement, water use planning and management, investment in recreation amenities and a vibrant and livable downtown.

“Working closely with the Parksville Downtown Business Association, we have successfully activated Memorial Plaza with dozens of community events throughout the summer months,” O'Brien said.

He added the city has hired an event planner.

“She has been instrumental in making sure that we have many events throughout the city.”

O'Brien listed investment in drinking water services as another major accomplishment, in particular a comprehensive review of city’s drinking water assets to date.

“This important work will provide factual information on the state of our current drinking water assets," he said. "And offer guidance to council on future storage and water provision needs for a growing community with resiliency and climate change implications in mind."

Sitting on the board of the Regional District of Nanaimo, O'Brien said he and Coun. Sean Wood were able to advocate for improvements to local health care, "such as the new cancer care clinic, the cardio cath lab in the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital," O'Brien said.

He also expressed an optimism for future health care investments, as the province has announced that it is listening and has heard the concerns.

Coun. Amit Gaur said he is thankful to the previous council for its work, as some of the projects mentioned in the mid-term report were a continuation of things initiated and partially-completed in the previous term.

“I really want to acknowledge the heavy lifting that gets done by staff in order for anything to move forward,” said Coun. Mary Beil.



Kevin Forsyth

About the Author: Kevin Forsyth

As a lifelong learner, I enjoy experiencing new cultures and traveled around the world before making Vancouver Island my home.
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