The cruelty that is dished out by the pillars of the community.

As explained below, in 2009, the UBID board wanted to borrow $2 Million dollars to build a new Firehall on the school property and it was defeated by 25%, far more than the 10% needed to defeat it under the Alternate Approval Process.

Bill and Daphne Hamilton signed the petition against the proposal. Bill lived in Union Bay for 58 years, purchasing his home for $500. from the coal company when the bookkeeper declined buying it. Both Bill and Daphne were loved and respected. Daphne loved to sing in the choir at the Union Bay church and it was important to her especially when she began to show signs of Alzheimers. All that changed when Bill and Daphne’s good friends and neighbours who sat on the UBID board and were also the higher ups in the church showed up at their door to rip up one side of them and down the other for signing the petition.

This had such an impact on Daphne, she never sang in the choir again – never. Daphne eventually went into a home and died with Bill blaming her unhappy last years on those people who came to their home and destroyed the happiness Daphne experienced.

I purchased Bill’s house in 2013, and every time we spoke including when visiting him in the hospital and when he was Glacier View Lodge, Bill would say how he blamed them for Daphne’s death – the pain remained all those years. Bill was a soft spoken man and would never say anything to that couple but it was obvious it tortured him. Bill sat in his home for years with this pain. Just heartless treatment.

Half of this couple is still here walking around pretending to be a good Christian and a good upstanding member of the community. I haven’t forgotten and no one else should either because 2 human beings lived a tortured existence inflicted by people this cruel who feel no remorse – only justification that others must adhere to what they believe.

I’ll let you imagine the foul mouth rant they deserve. In 2009, the UBID Board kept secret that we didn’t have clear title on the school – imagine the financial mess had they been successful borrowing $2 Million to add to property without clear title? Bill and Daphne’s signatures prevented that financial disaster and paid a very high price themselves.

Firehall proposal fails

Colleen Dane.  The Courtenay Comox Valley Record.  Courtenay, B.C.:Jun 16, 2009.  p. A.1 

(Copyright (c) 2009 Black Press Group Ltd.)

The alternate approval process for a new Union Bay fire hall has been defeated.

About 300 ratepayers returned the form opposing the Union Bay Improvement District’s proposal to borrow $2 million to build the new hall on their office property, the old Union Bay school. The respondents equaled about 25 per cent of the eligible ratepayers, when 10 per cent was needed for it to fail.

Exact numbers are still being finalized.

“We can either do nothing or we can go to referendum,” said UBID chair David McDowell about the next steps for the improvement district.

The Union Bay Fire Department’s current hall has been deemed out of date for a few years, forcing trustees to consider their options for the future.

At this year’s UBID annual general meeting, they told ratepayers that the hall doesn’t meet WorkSafeBC regulations, isn’t big enough for the new fire truck they need, doesn’t meet seismic requirements or health regulations, can’t support a snow load on the roof, floods regularly and shares a parking lot with the Highwayman Pub next door.

They also presented architectural plans for the proposed hall.

The $2 million would mean roughly $58 per $100,000 in assessed property value increase for Union Bay ratepayers.

While trustees admit that’s a notable increase, they say it’s small compared to the house insurance premiums homeowners in the community will have to pay if they lose their fire hall because of the inadequate hall.

McDowell said many of the responses noted the need for the new hall, but either didn’t like the design or didn’t like the timing.

He said he felt others were trying to hold on for Kensington Island Properties, which had in its development agreement with the Comox Valley Regional District, agreed to set aside land for a new hall.

McDowell said the money was for building the hall, though — and that even with a land donation, there would have to be borrowing.

“We’re going to have to have a firehall, no matter what. We have to build a firehall.”

The alternate approval process is a preliminary way to receive ratepayer support for borrowing bylaws. If they are defeated like this one was, the government still has the option of either taking it to full referendum for approval, or dropping it all together.

McDowell said UBID trustees would discuss the issue at their board meeting this week.

reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com