During the ordinary session on Monday, February 2, a report was presented by Councilor Rodolfo Orozco, who is a member of the commission charged with carrying out the popular referendum regarding the creation of a Municipal District Council (MDC) in Nosara.
According to the councilor and counsel given to Supreme Election Tribunal (TSE – Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones) officials, for the vote to be valid and enable the formation of an MDC in Nosara, 15% of the canton’s electoral roll must vote affirmatively. Based on the 2014 elections, there were 38,781 voters registered in the canton, which would mean that 5,818 “yes” votes are needed.
Regarding the process, Orozco explained that it is onerous and will cost some ₵30 million ($56,000) that must be covered by municipal funds or donations that the municipality may receive.
In addition, the councilor estimated that the rules for the referendum will be ready before next May. However, Orozco believes that the actual vote will have to be held in 2016, following municipal elections.
“We have to have the rules ready by May at the latest. Then come the municipal elections and four months afterwards we will hold the popular vote. We can’t do it this year,” he stated.
Regarding the question that will be asked of voters, the councilor agreed that it will be something like, “Do you agree that Nosara should be a Municipal District Council?” to which the voter would respond either “Yes” or “No.”
“We want to tell everyone and invite all Nicoyans to vote and participate,” said Orozco.
Street Transfers
Residents of the San Isidro neighborhood, also known as El Caimito, hope to transfer road ownership to the municipality of Nicoya so that they become part of the canton’s roadways network and therefore maintained periodically by the municipality.
The request was made by the San Isidro neighborhood group through an audience during the session on Monday, February 2.
Gissella Ruiz, the group’s secretary, explained that until now they have not been able to secure any kind of municipal support for maintenance, because the roads are registered to the Nicoya Pro Housing Association (Asociación Pro Vivienda de Nicoya), an organization that was in charge of that area’s urbanization projects.
“At this time we have no arrangement because development was done in stages and the roads aren’t municipal. So that means we can’t receive line item allocations or [resources provided by] law 8114 for street maintenance,” explained Ruiz.
For that reason, residents requested that council members investigate the current situation for the transfer, as they had submitted part of the documentation needed for the road transfer in May of 2014.
For his part, Marcos Jimenez, municipal mayor, pointed to the Nicoya Pro Housing Association as the entity responsible for presenting the request to the municipality. “The one that should do the transfer of streets, the green areas and the communal facilities of the San Isidro neighborhood is the Nicoya Pro Housing Association. The association hasn’t presented anything to us [the municipality],” he said.
As such, the mayor committed to give the residents a report on the documentation needed to complete the transfer of streets and other areas.
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