Metchosin and East Sooke residents are on a streamlined process to decide if the two communities should merge into one.

The concept of the boundary restructure has been on the table for decades, but in 2007 the Ministry of Community and Rural Development funded the Phase 1 study looking at the overview of the amalgamation.

“After Phase 1 it was determined that there were no structural obstacles,” said Metchosin Mayor John Ranns.

Instead of moving onto a traditional Phase 2 study, which looks at financial and governance issues, the ministry has offered the two communities a faster way.

Traditionally, the Ministry of Community and Rural Development would release funds and the communities would hire consultants to collect the data.

Since the issue of boundary restructure was looked at in 2000, the government already has significant data on hand and will collect any outstanding information itself, said Cathy Watson, director of local government and First Nations relations with the ministry.

“It’s standard stuff and hasn’t changed,” Watson said. “I think everyone wants to streamline the process and make it a bit quicker.”

One requirement for the process is for the communities to consult with Beecher Bay and Sooke First Nations.

Ranns and Juan de Fuca electoral area director Mike Hicks have good working relationships with the First Nation chiefs and will help the consultation process, Watson said.

“We anticipate that by early spring we will have completed the First Nation consultation,” Watson said.

If the project continues as planned it will take a hiatus during the summer months of 2010 and then pick up again in September, Watson said.

During the process the ministry will look at how municipal elections would operate if the two communities amalgamate, the merging of two fire departments and current debts that both communities hold.

If the two communities amalgamate, Metchosin residents would continue paying for West Shore Parks and Recreation, while East Sooke residents would pay for SEAPARC Leisure Complex in Sooke, said Doug Bourhill, program analyst with the ministry.

Hicks requested other residents of the JDF EA be notified how the potential amalgamation could affect them. East Sooke people make up 35 per cent of the JDF EA and contributes 26 per cent of its tax base, Hicks said.

Once Phase 2 information has been collected, processed and made public, then each community would vote in separate referendums on the issue. East Sooke residents would vote first.

If everything goes according the plan, East Sooke and then Metchosin will vote in a referendum on amalgamation in the winter of 2011.

“Once the vote is taken then the die is cast,” Hicks said.

“No vote will take place until you see everything in writing,” said Linda Galeazzi, a senior policy analyst with the ministry. “We don’t have a specific date, but in the timeline most of the numbers will be available in spring of 2010.”

The ministry will continue its work with Phase 2 unless elected officials from either Metchosin or East Sooke stop it.

The concept of amalgamating Metchosin and East Sooke was examined in 2000, when Ranns and Erik Lund, the JDF electoral area director at the time, approached the ministry, after about 500 East Sooke residents asked for a study.

At the time East Sooke residents felt threatened by Sooke’s development and expansion plans.

“(Due to the economy) there is no longer development pressure and we are in the middle of treaty negotiations. We may want to see these things be solved before it goes any further,” Ranns said.

At a restructure meeting held in Metchosin on Oct. 21, an East Sooke resident warned — to roaring applause — that while property development is on hold now, it will certainly be back.

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