The new Councillors-elect will be swearing in on Tuesday, 28th June 2011 at the Man-O-War Public School in Man-O-War Cay at 6:30 p.m. The general public is invited to attend. The election and swearing in of the Chief Councillor and Deputy Chief Councillor will also take place during this time. Refreshments will follow the ceremony. Councillors-elect are Donald B. Cash, Donald W. Cary and incumbent Councillor Harold L. Malone for Hope Town, incumbent Councillor Glenn Laing for Great Guana Cay, and in Man-O-War, Councillor-elect Michael Albury and incumbent Jeremy Sweeting.

Pictures to follow, along with results of the election for Chief Councillor and Deputy Chief Councillor.

The Elbow Cay Bylaws 2011, have survived the referendum vote held on Thursday, March 17th. Only 55 voters out of 204 participated in the referendum vote yesterday. But of the 55 voters, they were almost unanimous in their support of the bylaws.

The bylaws were voted on in four separate chapters as opposed to a ‘straight up – straight down’ vote on the entire document.

The results were as follows:

Chapter 1: Zoning                                                                     52 YES          3 NO

Chapter 2: Coastal Structures and Regulations           52 YES          1 NO   (2 Ballots left section blank)

Chapter 3: Waste Management                                           55 YES          0 NO

Chapter 4: Public Parks and Areas                                    53 YES          1 NO    (1 Ballot left section blank)

The District Council and the Zoning Commission were disappointed in the low turnout, but satisfied that of the voters who voted, the overwhelming majority voted in favour of sending the bylaws further down this process of eventually becoming law.

Chief Councillor Jeremy Sweeting stated, “Whilst we had a low turnout, the process was healthy for our democratic institutions and would safeguard the island of Elbow Cay against out of control growth.”

Deputy Chairman of the Elbow Cay Zoning Commission Vernon Malone remarked, ” It is sad that 25% of the voting population made a decision for the other 75%, but on the other hand, everyone had an opportunity to vote, and for those who voted, it was close to a unanimous yes, and I think what has transpired today is historic, not only for Hope Town, but the Bahamas as a whole.”

The District Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, March 22nd, for their monthly council meeting, at which time, they will table the bylaws and ratify the referendum results. Once that is done, the Council will forward the Elbow Cay Bylaws 2011 onto the relevant departments in Nassau, who will eventually get it to parliament to be tabled as a part of the Planning and Subdivisions Act 2009, by becoming a zoning order.

The referendum day has been announced and set for Thursday, March 17th. Elbow Cay citizens will go to the voting booths to decide the future of Elbow Cay as to whether the island should implement zoning orders and other town ordinances.

The poll will open at 8:00 a.m. at the Library and will close at 6:00 p.m.

Four chapters of the bylaws will be voted on seperately on the ballot. The four chapters are ‘zoning’, ‘coastal structures and regulations’, ‘waste management’, and public parks and areas.

You can view the final draft by clicking on the link

Elbow Cay Zoning Order 2011[1] White paper REFERENDUM VOTE

Click on the link to view the final draft of the zoning bylaws.Elbow Cay Zoning Order 2011[1] White paper (Autosaved) FINAL DRAFT VOTE

There will be town meetings in the district to discuss the Council budget and other general issues.

Hope Town           Wednesday, March 2nd   7:00p.m.                 Hope Town Harbour Lodge     

Man-O-War           Thursday, March 10th 6:30 p.m.                     Man-O-War School

Guana Cay             Monday, March 14th 6:30 p.m.                        Guana Cay School

Nine days after the commission reported back, The Hope Town Council has now drafted a white paper document after going thru the report presented to them by the appointed Elbow Cay Zoning and Ordinances Commission.

The seven member commission reported on how best to implement zoning and other town ordinances.

The Council’s white paper will be in circulation via the Council website, www.hopetowncouncil.com and by going to the Council office to pick up a hard copy.

The Council will host a town meeting on Wednesday, 2nd February at 7:00 p.m. at the Harbour Lodge to also hear any concerns before preparing the final document.

The deadline to submit concerns will be Friday 11th February at 5:00 p.m. Concerns can also be emailed to info@hopetowncouncil.com or jeremy.htcouncil@gmail.com

The Council out of the concerns will prepare a final document and come back to the town to present it and explain the referendum process. Should the entire document or parts of it survive a referendum, the Council then sits to approve and pass what was approved by the electorate.

The document then goes to Nassau to be tabled in parliament, it is then gazetted and officially made the law of the land.

Click on this link  Elbow Cay Zoning Order 2011[1] to review the White Paper on Zoning and Town Ordinances.

Email all concerns, comments or suggestions to : jeremy.htcouncil@gmail.com or info@hopetowncouncil.com or drop off letters to the office on Mondays or Thursdays.

Deadline for sending your views on this is Friday 11th February 2011 at 5:00 p.m.

In keeping with our Open Door policy, that promotes genuine transparency, integrity, and openess, you can now view our annual report online! We encourage you to look into the report and email any questions to us. Email: jeremy.htcouncil@gmail.com 

To view the financial report or minutes, would entail a personal visit to the Council office, due to the amount of data required to post online.  

Click on this link:

Annual Report 2009-2010a