The District of Barriere held a regular council meeting on Nov. 21.
CAO Colleen Hannigan reported on the Barriere Solar Aquatics Water Reclamation Centre. She noted Burkhard Fink was on site on Tuesday Nov. 15, to start up the biomass boiler and train staff, and it is now operating for the winter.
The surge blending tank now has an EPDM membrane on its roof that protects the styrofoam insulation laying over the pipes that recirculate effluent through a Vortex aerator also located in an insulated box on the roof.
Staff have made the necessary adjustments to the foam generators and are in the process of testing the changes this week to enable additional R-value for the walls and roof of the greenhouse.
Lower North Thompson Tourism Society 2017 Budget Approval:
Council approved a request from the Lower North Thompson Tourism Society (LNTTS) to provide $5,000 for tourism marketing for 2017, as noted in a report presented to council at their last meeting by LNTTS marketing coordinator Lorne Richardson.
Community to Community (C2C) Forum Date:
The tentative date of Jan. 27, 2017, has been chosen for the next C2C forum to be hosted in Barriere. The date is currently being circulated to the other participants to ensure it works for everyone.
2016 Lions Club Hall Fundraiser:
It was agreed upon and reported that the proceeds of $1,750 from the Lions Club successful Octoberfest fundraising event will go into the Hall Reserve account.
Re: Cemetery Fees
A recommendation by staff at the Nov. 7 council meeting to review and raise the current cemetery fees was tabled to the Nov. 21 meeting.
The District of Barriere Cemetery Bylaw #83 was adopted in December 2011. The rates were reviewed and set at that time.
District staff report they have noticed that the cemetery services performed by contractors have slowly increased. At the time of the last rate review and bylaw update these costs generally fell into the $500 range.
This year the cemetery had three full burials and the costs have been $815, $975 and $800. As a result of these increases staff report they have looked at three bylaws Clearwater, Ashcroft and Kamloops. Kamloops rates and fees are considerably higher than Barriere’s or Ashcroft’s and Cleanivater’s.
Staff presented a table comparison between Barriere, Ashcroft and Clearwater with proposed fees for 2017.
Nora Johnson, District Finance Officer reported that due to the increasing costs of backhoe operations, the current cemetery fee structure no longer covers expenses and recommended substantial increases. The increases proposed still remain lower than Clearwater and Ashcroft.
Council expressed concerns with such substantial increases and again tabled the matter for further discussion before making any decisions.
The report will now be brought back for consideration at the next regular council meeting on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m.