By Adam Williams
Kamloops This Week
The province won’t look at reinstating rail service between North Vancouver and Prince George. In a letter to John Ranta earlier this month, Minister of Transportation Todd Stone responded to a request made by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to Premier Christy Clark, asking the province to work to bring rail service to communities between the two locales. Stone cited financial loses, the need for replacement or refurbishment of existing rail cars and low ridership as reasons for ending the service in 2002, none of which he said have changed markedly.
Grant them this
The TNRD has approved a number of grants at the recommendation of its Emergency Management and Protective Services Committee.
A total of $10,000 was approved for each of the Kamloops, Logan Lake, Nicola Valley, Barriere and Wells Gray search and rescue teams.
Another $3,325 was approved for the South Cariboo Search and Rescue Team, while equipment and training grants were approved for Kamloops ($11,070), Logan Lake (1,420.78), Barriere ($8,897.70) and Wells Gray ($14,021.53) search and rescue squads.
Building blocks
April was a strong month for building permits in the TNRD.
Twenty-six permits valued at $7,860,810 were issued last month, an improvement on 28 permits valued at $1,793,950 in April of 2015. To the end of April, permit values were up nearly $9 million over 2015.
Twenty-two new residential units have been created in 2016.
It’s a gas, gas, gas
The Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) will benefit from $8,000 of federal gas tax revenue, which will be used to fund the expansion of the Kettle Valley Trail Network.
The expansion will extend from the TNRD and RDOS boundary to Brookmere.
Federal gas tax revenue of $125,000 will be forwarded to the City of Merritt to fund installation of a UV system and replace the roof of the Nicola Valley Aquatic Centre.