The Board of Directors of Comfor Management Services Limited (CMSL) provided clarification of issues surrounding the recent announcement of profit sharing. Burns Lake Community Forest manager Kerry Martens provided answers on behalf of the CMSL board of directors.
Does this [profit sharing] mean that there are no funds available for community grants?
No, the board has agreed in principal to a new donations policy and this will be provided to you in the immediate future.
How did the board arrive at the decision to share profits rather than take community grant applications?
The Board has the intent of doing both. Profit sharing and donations to the public are part of CMSL company practice.
Are there expectations on the part of bands and the village to spend the money in a particular way, or is it cash straight into general revenue?
This question needs to be directed to the Village of Burns Lake, the Wet’suwet’en First Nation and the Burns Lake Band.
Will there be a downfall in the annual allowable cut (AAC) next year?
Yes, our AAC drops from the current 260,000 cubic meters per year to 100,000 cubic meters per year starting in January 2014. We will also be starting another Timber Supply Review in 2014 to help determine a new AAC going forward.
Is there a new policy in place to replace old policies and procedures? If so, could we have a copy of the new policy? If the policy remains the same as before, where can we find a copy of Comfor policies now that the website is down?
As part of the restructuring process the Board rescinded all policies at their Oct. 17, 2012 meeting. The restructuring process is ongoing and all policies are being revised.
When do you expect the ComFor website to be back up?
We currently have a local company working on the website and hope to have it back up soon.
How long has it been down?
I became aware that the website was down about a month ago but cannot say for certain how long it was down prior to that.
Could we have a copy of the existing profit distribution agreement?
You would have to request that information from the Village of Burns Lake, the Wet’suwet’en First Nation and the Burns Lake Band.
The previous Fiscal Policy that CMSL had ensured some went to reserve funds, some to community-is that still in effect or is there a new policy on that?
As mentioned before all policies have been rescinded. They are all being updated and revised.
The Lakes Timber Supply Area (TSA) includes the Regional District as well. Why wasn’t some of the 65 per cent given to the Village distributed to RDBN?
You would have to request that information form the Village of Burns Lake.
At press time the following questions were still unanswered by the board. Answers to follow in next week’s Lakes District News.
Can someone from the board explain the reasoning behind the board’s decision not to allocate funds to the RDBN?
Community polling was done help guide the original comfor policies. How was community input gaged for the revised policies, if not through public consultation?
Can you be more specific as to when new policies can be expected? Are we talking within three months, six months, one year?
Does the board have a date set for the next public meeting of the comfor board?