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Welcome to the Mayor's Corner. MAYOR’S REPORT APRIL 2013 RDCK West Kootenay Transit Committee – Met March 13, 2013. We received feedback from the open houses that BC Transit sponsored regarding route changes and amalgamation. Transit will be offering a base level that can be improved upon in the future. Please see attached news release. Board meeting was held on March 21st. Patricia Dehnel, West Kootenay liaison appeared as a delegation to discuss the Carbon Neutral Project. Discussion was held on adding to the eligible companies for carbon neutral credits. A letter was received on February 14, 2013 from Minister Bill Bennett extending the RDCK's participation in the trial project to expedite the adoption of OCPs and other land use bylaws. The five year financial plan received 3 readings. The final adoption was on Mar. 28, 2013. The RDCK staff presented information for the establishment of a Marijuana Management Plan for approval of for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR). The federal government is expected to make a decision on the regulations in spring 2013. David Wilks, MP will be attending the Apr. 11th board meeting and we will discuss the process the federal government is working on with him before moving forward. The RDCK is sponsoring the April 2012 Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments' convention by purchasing tumblers emblazoned with the RDCK logo at a cost not to exceed $2507.07 (incl. HST) with funds to come from the AKBLG convention budget. March 13 – Columbia River Treaty session for staff and directors & public – Nelson (1130-4:30) March 13 – West Kootenay Transit Committee meeting – Nelson. (4:30 – 6pm.) Mar. 14 - RDCK budget meetings: – Defined Area K. Village of Nakusp. March 18th – Liability Seminar for directors in Nelson. Mar. 21 – Board Meeting Mar. 22 – Columbia River Treaty Session in Castlegar – technical review. Columbia Basin Trust Local Government Committee – Supported the Castlegar session put on by the Government team. There was a good attendance and a lot of good discussion. There will be a meeting in June in Fauquier and I will keep you up to date on the details. We need to pay attention to the discussions and there are various ways to give input: the CBT website and the BC Gov’t website. West Kootenay Regional Health Board – Did not attend the meeting but have attached the presentation by Andrew Neuner, Vice President of Community Integration. Report attached. Apr. 2 – Councillor Mueller and I attended the award ceremony for retired fireman Warren Leigh. He was given a 10 year plaque with his badge on it. Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives and Affected Area Funding : The committee met with Area Director Paul Peterson and me. We have $168,971 in funds for Nakusp and Defined Area K and Bayview. Requests received for $219,333.78. The projects will be split into small $10,000 and under and large – over $10,000. Project requests are capped at $30,000. The advanced poll is Wed. Apr. 10th 3pm – 5pm and Vote day is Apr. 14 th, Noon to 4pm. Respectfully submitted Karen E. Hamling Mayor MAY 2012 DOWNTOWN/PARK SELECT COMMITTEE: We have gathered quotes from a local vendor as well as another vendor that we have dealt with in the past and have referred the quotes and information onto staff to give us feedback on size, placement, hardware needs etc. New directional signage is up in the downtown area and looks good. Thanks to Arena/Parks and Public Works for doing such a good job. All signs were done in-house. FERRY ADVISORY: no meetings. COMMUNITY HEALTH/COMMUNITY CONSULTATIVE: The Community Consultative Group met Apr. 23, 2012. This was our first meeting with our new Corporal, Ryan Fehlar. The meeting was well attended. We met the new CEO from Community Services. Concerns were voiced over the school zone and speeding vehicles and it was decided to request the speed sign be put in place periodically throughout the school year. The school pickup/drop off area at the elementary school is an ongoing issue. The snowpack is a concern again this year with potential for flooding and slides. We will meet quarterly or as needed. Dr. Sayed Subswari will be arriving to start work on July 3rd. Dr. Lea has been working hard to keep the clinic and staffed with locums and the hospital emergency room open. Housing has been obtained for him. Healthy Communities- I attended a healthy communities meeting in Trail on Apr. 18th. We were given an overview of the proposed Healthy Families BC Communities Initiative and gave feedback on the initiative. Discussion was held between the local government and the IHA on how we can build on existing partnerships to reduce chronic disease and obesity risk factors. Jack Boomer was the facilitator and Matt Herman- Director of Chronic Disease/Injury Prevention and Healthy Build Environment – Ministry of Health was present. Anne Clarotto- Program Director of Promotion and Prevention was also present. We can give feedback to HealthyFamiliesBC@gov.bc.ca. After discussion with local health care givers, the issues I brought forward were that there needs to be more education of the community on health issues. Information on when it is appropriate to come to the hospital and what to bring. Often we have people attending emergency who could use the health line or we have people who should be attending and don’t. When people come to the emergency, they need to bring their medications and information on their health problem. People in the community are supported by friends and neighbours long past the time it is safe to do so and then there is no plan in place for what happens when that support fails. We then end up with our acute care beds being occupied with cases that are not acute. At t he meeting, I emphasized the need for personal public education – live information sessions versus sending out more paper info which is often thrown out and not read. The senior’s information faire that was held recently is a good example of filling this need. I will be meeting with Dr. Stewart, senior medical director for Community and Residential Services and Dr. Bell, Community Medical Director- East Kootenay. RDCK – CBTLG Committee- Have had several teleconferences to set up the next round of community information meetings. The next meeting will be the provincial government doing presentations and the Nakusp meeting will be on the 5th of June. There will only be 6 communities where the sessions will be held in comparison to the 13 from the last session. I was also part of the delegation that gave a presentation to the AKBLG in Trail. SIDIT – Several telephone conferences and our AGM will be held in Vernon on June 27th. WEST KOOTENAY REGIONAL HEALTH BOARD – Met in Castlegar March 21st and was quite a long meeting around budget and equipment purchase. The annual budget for the WKBRHD for 2012 was set at $5,547,626. The global budget for minor equipment was $376,700 and small capital improvement projects with costs between $5,000 and $100,000. Kootenay Lake Hospital and Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospitals receive $46,893 for minor Equipment and smaller capital improvement projects between $5,000 and $25,000. WKBH (TRH) -$200,000 for Elevator modernization at KLH; $32,000 renovate pathology dept. $86,000 for cart washer at TRH. $56,800 ultrasound machine. NAKUSP’S 120TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS – we have received confirmation of $1500 sponsorship from Columbia Power Corporation. Plans are moving forward. Broadway will be closed off June 30th from 8am to 10pm to allow for festivities. AKBLG – Trail Apr. 19th to 21st – Interesting sessions. Andy Shadrack, Area D Director is the new president. Christina Bentley, Mayor of Golden is vice chair. Keynote speaker was Mr. Mike Harcourt- Building Sustainable Resilient Communities. Attended the following session: Understanding Trends in the Basin/Boundary; Positioning Our Region for the Future- Dr. Terry McDonald, Regional Innovation Chair in Rural Economic Development. This is the second time that I have had the opportunity to hear Dr. McDonald Speak. Why Don’t (More)Good People Enter Politics – Mr. Max Cameron-Director UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions. I also had an opportunity ot have a conversation with this every interesting gentleman. Valuing Culture: The Contribution of Arts, Culture & Heritage in the Kootenay Boundary. TRANSIT MEETING – Apr. 19th- Kevin Schubert & Tanya Wegwitz- Review of Memorandum of Understanding review. Look at increasing revenues- easily accessible service and reliability. Looking at single operator and single system. MAYOR’S CAUCUS – I will be attending the Mayor’s Caucus in Penticton from May 16th to 18. This will prove to be a very interesting session and I am looking forward to it. There will be over 80 Mayors from around the province attending. Respectfully submitted Mayor Karen E. Hamling MARCH 2012 DOWNTOWN/PARKS SELECT COMMITTEE The Committee met on March 7th and approved a design and make up for recommendation to council. We can remain within the $5000 budget with the purchase of 30 banners that are 30 x 60. We have a few details to work out and once we get a design together we will present to council for approval. The downtown direction signs will go into place by May. The posts need to be repainted to spruce them up. The committee has been slowly working through the recommendations of the Roger Brooks report. FERRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Council and the committee met with the ministry prior to the public meeting to receive information and give feedback prior to the community meeting on March 1st. About 60 people who attended the public meeting and a lot of good questions were asked and answered. There will be another public meeting when the contract has been awarded. COMMUNITY HEALTH/COMMUNITY CONSULTATIVE The ambulance staffing levels are extremely low and at times, we have only one person available. I have been in touch with Chris Mason, BC Ambulance and they are trying to recruit staff for our area. We are looking forward to the arrival of Dr. Sayed Subzwari on July 3rd. REGIONAL DISTRICT OF CENTRAL KOOTENAY Budget meetings in Nelson Feb. 23. Strategic Priorities were set. Budget meeting in Nakusp for Nakusp and Area K was held on March 6th with no public attending. RDCK meeting Feb. 16. Respectfully submitted Karen E. Hamling Mayor Feb. 29, 2012 The Water treatment plant arrived today and our crews will be busy working towards completion of the project. It's exciting for Nakusp and a step forward in allowing for increased development. Council meetings changes: Our new council has been busy getting used to new committees and working on the budget. We have moved our meetings to Monday evenings from Tuesdays to accomodate Councillor Zeleznik- who is a fireman. We meet the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 6:30 pm. We have decided to have the 2nd council meeting each month - the fourth Monday - to the Emergency Services Building to allow easier access. Council is hoping that more people will attend our meetings with the building being wheel chair accessible. We had our first 120th birthday celebration planning meeting with a great attendance and lots of ideas. For more information, go to facebook and sign into Nakusp's 120th birthday celebration. Our next meeting with be Apr. 7th at 7pm at the emergency services building. The celebration will be on the July 1st weekend and it will be as big as the community is willing to put into it. Downtown changes - The Downtown/Parks Committee has been meeting and we are looking at replacing the banners downtown. Staff will remove the old banners and new banners will be ordered and placed. Directional signs: New directional signs will be put in place this spring. We are just waiting for good spring weather. Community Planning - The NADB & the C of C held a community information meeeting on Feb. 7th where they reported back the findings of the economic meetings held during the spring and fall. Over 125 people attended to hear the report and participate in the various groups to provide feedback to the NADB & the C of C. Great support Nakusp!! We are going to need the support of the community at large, if we are to move Nakusp forward in a positive manner. One definition of resiliency is the ability of a community to anticipate and respond to shock in coordinated, collected actions toward a commonly agreed vision of a better future. JAN. 10, 2012 RDCK – The Regional District of Central Kootenay held its inaugural meeting on Dec. 8th. John Kettle- Director from Area B is once again the chair and Councillor Hillary Elliott- Slocan City is the Vice Chair. Meetings are the third Thurs. of each month at 9am. We are expected to be in our chairs at 8:30 for late agenda items. There are 20 directors – 11 area directors and 9 municipal directors. The rural directors have a Rural Affairs meeting-usually the day before the board meeting and their recommendations come to the board for approval. The committees that I sit on to represent the RDCK are as follows: Municipal Insurance Association (MIA)- voting member Columbia Basin Trust Local Government Committee-(CBTLG) Vice Chair Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust – Director Rural Advisory Committee (RAC) representing small communities.(SIDIT) Each RDCK director also sits on a regional health board. I sit on the West Kootenay Boundary Regional Health Board and represent Nakusp. The meetings are on the Wed. before the RDCK meetings. (cuts down on travel and expense). The issues that Nakusp and Area K are working on that come to mind are the Animal Control Bylaw; the Building Code Bylaw. Of interest to Nakusp is the meeting that Director Larry Binks and Mayor Lawrence Chernoff are having with BC Ambulance. There will be an attempt to identify staff to train in each community and BC Amb. will pay. (we’ve been battling that for awhile). Also helicopter service has improved. They are still working on several issues to improve ambulance service in the Kootenays. The board approved: The RDCK Vehicles and Green Fleet Policy and the Purchasing Policy. Two year extension of the 911 Service contract to Dec. 31, 2013. (Emerg. Telephone Service Agreement between RDKB and RDCK. - This was done to coincide with the PSAP agreement, acknowledging That the terms of the contract are assessment based. The board will give consideration to a further three year agreement to 2016. Approved a letter of support to Western Economic Diversification to Selkirk College’s funding proposal for its aviation program. Purchase of the 2009 Nova Bus at a cost of $32,000 annually for the Kootenay West Transit Service- which is all municipalities and electoral areas except the Town of Creston and electoral areas B and C. This was done to provide late night transport. Next meetings: Jan. 12- RDCK Strategic Planning Session Jan. 18 – WKRHB meeting - Castlegar Jan. 19 – RDCK board meeting Jan. 26 – RDCK budget meeting Items coming up: Rec. Com. #4 budget Nakusp Public Library budget. COMMUNITY HEALTH/COMMUNITY CONSULTATIVE – Dr. Sayed Subzwari – International Medical Grad will complete his requirements and be arriving in Nakusp in July. I have met with Shelley Wilson, Physician Recruitment Co-ordinator for IH and she is working to help bring in more physicians. Currently, Dr. Lea has been able to find locums to keep our health services going. He is commended for his dedication to this community. Dr. Lea’s application for emergency department access funding was successful and will help with filling in on call shifts. We can apply again in April and it is anticipated that some of the funds from that application will go towards recruitment. I am still awaiting Dr. Avery’s final report. It is sitting with IH staff and after they have reviewed it, we will receive a copy. Dr. visited the community on Apr. 11th and I believe he filled his report several months ago. Let’s hope it arrives soon. FERRY ADVISORY COMMITTEE – Letter from Min. Blair Lekstrom in our package and will need to be discussed. DOWNTOWN/PARK SELECT COMMITTEE – will meet in the next month to discuss banners etc. and bring recommendations back to council. Respectfully submitted Karen E. Hamling, Mayor Mayor’s Report UBCM 2011 The Union of B.C. Municipalities met in Vancouver from Sept. 25th to 30th . In attendance were representatives from municipalities and regional districts from the whole province. Councillors Leitch, Mueller, our CAO and I attended. The theme of the convention was Rethink, Replace & Rejuvenate. Our schedule was very busy and probably one of the busiest UBCM’s I have attended as we had several meetings scheduled with various ministries. Councillor Leitch and I met with Dr. Halpenny and Norm Embree of the IHA to voice concerns about the amount of time that Dr. Lea was spending on physician recruitment and finding locums. We requested that the IHA give him some staffing support so that he could spend his valuable time looking after patients. We also requested that the IHA recognize the importance of our acute care portion of the hospital as well as our emergency room by providing education funding for our nursing staff, helping us to find locums to keep the ER open and to move us back into the acute care sector from community health. We attended the Forest Economy workshop where John MacDonald of MacDonald Dettwilder and Associates spoke of the strong link of our lifestyle and affordable energy and how our life style will change affordable energy. We were given the message that demand and supply will be an issue when demand exceeds supply. MacDonald said that our future is renewable energy sources and the challenge is 100% renewable and firm energy sources and that there will be a need to control consumption during heavy load times. Dr. Greg Halseth said we need to change our approach and rebundle our assets. We must accommodate new relationships and opportunities and look or move to more value for each tree. I left the Forestry Economy workshop to attend the roundtable on post-secondary institution campuses put on by Minister of Advanced Education Naomi Yamamoto. On Tuesday, Councillor Leitch and I attended the small communities forum where communities of 5000 and under meet to discuss areas of concern. I was asked to give a presentation on our new Emergency Services Building – how we built it and how we got the ambulance, fire dept and search & rescue under the same roof. It was an interesting experience with a lot of feedback throughout the conference. Councillor Leitch, our CAO and I met with Crown lands to discuss the industrial parks status and Councillor Mueller joined us for a meeting with the Honourable Ida Chong, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development to discuss small community funding and BC assessment classification of vacant lands use. Councillor Leitch and I attended the Municipal Insurance Association AGM. This is the association that provides our municipality, along with several other municipalities, with insurance coverage. Wednesday Councillor Mueller, our CAO and I met with Glen Brown Executive Director to discuss various grants that we have applications on and where they stand. We have applied for funding to replace the Hot Springs bridge and will hear in the next couple of months. We all met with BC Ambulance to discuss observations and experiences in the project of providing ambulance housing. On Thursday, we met with BC Hydro to discuss the wharf replacement and receive assurances that this project will move forward. It has been delayed, due to high water levels over the past two years. We then had a meeting with the Honourable Blair Lekstrom, Minister of Transportation and Highways to discuss a number of concerns that we have with the proposed new ferry. We gathered information on the operations side and presented it to the minister to review. We requested the Galena remain in service as a back-up ferry as this is not in the current plan. We also asked the minister to look at long range planning for the area and to look at the feasibility of a fixed link. We discussed the importance of access and a fixed link to our economic growth. In between all the meetings we attended the resolution and policy sessions. The hottopics on the floor were the proposal for a Municipal Auditor General (MAG); an office to be funded by the province, which would set up an audit system to determine value for money audits for communities. The MAG would not set or order changes to tax rates or call into question local government financial accountability; nor revisit policy choices of elected officials and recommendations would not be binding. Local governments are not opposed to initiatives that enhance accountability and transparency of financial decisions. They want more information on the proposal and assurances that it will not duplicate current systems in place. BC Hydro’s smart meter program was also a hot topic with a resolution passed by 55% of the delegates requesting a moratorium on smart meters until more health information is obtained( in spite of the previous comments from Minister Rich Coleman stating the meters would go ahead regardless of what the UBCM delegates voted). Minister Pat Bell challenged every community to identify what they could do better than anyone else and to identify the advantages that make our community unique. Once we have identified these items, he will work with us to maximize our economic potential. Premier Christy Clark announced the implementation of $30 million in funding for capital projects to improve healthy living and sustainable communities. She spoke of the communities that were funded by Towns for Tomorrow and sited Nakusp as a community that held onto their arena complex due to the funding. A smoking cessation products free program for BC residents is in place. The Premier told delegates she would be ‘the best salesman BC has ever had” and that Canada Starts Here – a program for new investment to be brought to BC to create jobs in every corner of BC. UBCM is definitely important and worthwhile for council to attend. We learn a lot and get a lot out of attending. June 15, 2011 Signage: You will notice that we have had our entrance signs refreshed. We didn't have enough funding this year to replace the signs and so the Public Works Dept. repainted the Welcome to Nakusp and put up our new logo. The signs look 100% better. Downtown directional signage: The current signs are old and peeling and will be removed over the next few weeks. The posts will be repainted by Public Works and they have made new signs that will be posted. The new signs will be generic and easier for the public and visitors to find what they are looking for. |
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