February 9th, 2016 – District of Barriere Council Meeting Highlights
Preliminary Budget Discussions: At 4:30pm February 9th, 2016 Council began what will be one of a number of budget discussions for the year. The beginning of the process is marked with staff presenting Council with budget projections to continue the services it provides to the community as well as to show budget implications of adding, increasing, decreasing or removing any services or levels previously discussed by Council and/or suggested by residents over the past year. From there, Council will take into consideration any comments or suggestions from the public resulting from those preliminary discussions, into the debate going forward. The next public budget meeting will be held at 4:00pm on Monday, February 22, 2016.
Community to Community Forum held between Valley Local Governments:
Much was discussed between Local Government Officials of the District of Barriere, District of Clearwater, Simpcw First Nation and the Thompson Nicola Regional District on January 29th in Clearwater:
Clearwater has just installed a bio-mass burner that delegates had an opportunity to view. Staff seemed very pleased with how the unit is functioning; the only glitch to date has been a chip jam. It was felt the weight of the chips caused compression which resulted in the jam. Staff have cut down the amount of chips they now put into the area that gets fed to the auger which seems to have solved the issue.
There was a presentation regarding the Global Geopark Project and a resolution put forward that there would be a future meeting with the communities involved to see if there was an appetite to continue with this concept.
Simpcw Councillor Tina Donald presented Tom Eustache’s report on the Corridor Mountain Bike Strategy and will have a further update in the near future. Simpcw and the other communities in the valley have undertaken some trail building and the trails are currently being used by locals for mountain biking.
Dave Fowles, from Kinder Morgan, gave an overview of where things stand in view of the Government’s latest request. Mr. Fowles felt very confident that Kinder Morgan could meet all of the Government requirements and is hoping they will have their go ahead by December 2016.
Mayor Smith, Clearwater Councillor Shelley Sim, Jenny Green from Interior Health Authority, and CAO Colleen Hannigan provided a presentation on Food Security. Ms. Hannigan explained how the Solar Aquatics Wastewater Reclamation Plant worked and Mayor Smith gave an overview of the greenhouse space that would be available for growing—food, plants, seedlings etc.
Bert Braybrook, General Manager, Kamloops Region, Telus gave a presentation about cell service. The news was not good; basically Telus has no intention of exploring cell service to “low volume” areas as the latest ruling of the CRTC has opened the market to other providers and it is no longer profitable for Telus. Some of the attendees explained that in some cases the lack of cell service in some remote areas is a safety issue, to which Mr. Braybrook explained that Telus could not justify the expenses involved.
Harley Wright and Brian Bondar from the Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society gave an overview of the work that the LNTCFS does in the community and explained about the upcoming Rural Economic Development Forum that is being planned.
BCLabour Heritage Plaque: The District received $1,000 towards the memorial plaque from the Lower North Thompson Community Forest Society. The Kamloops and Area Labour Council has also provided a $200 donation. Letters have been circulated to other potential donors but there is enough to proceed at this time with the plaque itself. For more information on this project, contact the District Office at
(250) 672-9751.
Landscaping Plans for the Wastewater Reclamation Plant Underway: The Mayor attended a meeting with Brian Bondar, Fred Fortier and District staffer Dustin Doherty to start the planning process for the landscaping at the Wastewater Reclamation Plant. This project is funded by the District from gas taxes and an Eco Connection Grant for a total of $50,000.00. The goal is to use as many native plants as possible with signage identifying the plants as well as, to create trails that will connect with existing park trails.
Request For Proposals (RFP) Winter Road Maintenance: The 3-year term for the existing winter road maintenance contract is up in 2016. The option to renew for an additional 2-year term has been decided against due to the fact there was only one bid during the initial call for proposals which was higher than anticipated. Council directed staff in a Closed session on January 11th to issue a new RFP for the next three to five-year term as early as legally possible in order to have the results prior to final budget deliberations. This RFP has been posted on the District’s website (www.barriere.ca) and on BCBid with a closing date of February 15th.
Family Fun Night a Success: The 3rd Annual Family Fun Night & PJ Party held on Sunday, Feb 7th, at the Ridge was once again well attended with an estimated 245 people attending. Donations generated are split between Success by 6 Barriere and the Splash Pad Project. The event itself was made possible by the financial generosity of Success by 6 Barriere, the 911 Youth Golf Tournament and many dedicated volunteers. Organizer Tasha Buchanan wishes to thank all those who donated items for the Silent Auction, volunteered their time and to those who attended.
Next Budget Council Meeting:
February 22nd at 4:00pm
at the Ridge, 4936 Barriere Town Rd.
Next Regular Council Meeting:
February 22nd at 7:00pm
at the Ridge, 4936 Barriere Town Rd.