Jenifer Vogel and Crystal Klem from Central Kootenay Invasive Plant Committee gave a presentation about the recent Scotch Broom Bash in Nakusp. There were 79 students, and in three hours they accomplished what it would have taken three to four days for two people to do.
Vogel said community members have said they would like a community event, and she said the Committee would like to have Village involved, perhaps by allowing a barbeque on Village land.
Cell coverage at ferries
The Business Retention and Expansion group has sent letters to Telus about getting cell phone coverage at the ferries, coun. Ulli Mueller told council. She added if it was appropriate to take it to UBCM. Mayor Karen Hamling suggested referring the issue back to staff, and commented that it might be more efficient to look at a bunch of issues being raised, get reports and work on them in a less ad hoc manner.
Interface fire
In the Mayor’s report, Hamling brought up the issue of interface fire management, something that municipalities all over the province are dealing with.
Something we’re going to be facing in the future as a community is the interface fire issue, said Hamling, who stated in her report to council that the interface fire property risk is $232 million for Nakusp. Municipal funding under the Community Wildfire Prevention
Program Strategic Plan will cover up to two km outside our borders, her report said. The bigger issue is regional district coverage, and one funding idea raised at the RDCK meeting was a taxation model, the report said, which would be $0.89/$100,000 residential. Another suggestion was that a loss of timber study be carried out and to look to insurance companies to contribute to the prevention program.
CRT report
The Columbia River Treaty Local Government report has been given out to different regional district directors to review and will come to council tables in the fall.
Bobbing water levels
BC Hydro water levels forecast are not to reach new highs this year, as Hydro believes most of the snowcap has already melted.
A water storage agreement with the U.S. means that water won’t be as low as previously forecast. Due to fluctuations in forecast levels, July 27 is the new date for launch of the new ferry, instead of the previously forecast mid-August, said Hamling. Waterbridge Steel is working hard to get ready for new high water date.
Wood works
Coun. Tom Zeleznik reported that prices for wood are down at the moment. NACFOR also an abundance of firewood for sale at the moment, and is taking part in a worker training initiative assessing opportunities for training.
Zeleznik also told council that Dan Wiebe and David Dubois have started a study to see the feasibility of using biomass heating at the Alliance Church.
Coming along swimmingly
Coun. Joseph Hughes said the swimming program is coming along well. A couple of instructors were able to come from Nelson and teach. The Rec. Commission will be looking into creating a coordinator position so that more programs can be offered in the summer.
Biomass info
CAO Linda Tynan told council that Wood Waste 2 Rural Heat’s David Dubois offered to do an analysis of the Village’s buildings to see whether it’s worth converting to biomass heating. Dubois really encourages the Village to do this step, and then it would come back to council.
The next step after that would be looking for funding opportunities once a business plan was developed. The mayor asked if getting this info wouldn’t take an enormous amount of time. The CAO responded that it wouldn’t and that it would be good information for the Village to have.
“There’s a lot of interest in this,” said Tynan, who mentioned that the engineer working with the Village at the moment is interested in working on these kinds of projects and has worked on similar projects up north.
Annual Report
The Village of Nakusp’s annual report was presented. The report has been ready for a couple of weeks, and there were advertisements inviting written comments or queries from the public. There have been none, and were no questions from the public at the council meeting.
“Each year we’re trying to make it more of a living document including more useful information,” said Tynan. “They’re quite good community information.”
Physical copies are available on demand at the office, and the report is available on the Village website.
UBCM politicking
Discussion about requesting meetings with ministers and the premier at the upcoming UBCM came up. It was noted by the CAO that meeting with the premier had been useful for speeding bureaucratic processes along.
Tynan said it was helpful to mention that the premier told the Village to get a hold of her when there were hold ups. When the Village was working with the paperwork surrounding the wharf, mentioning meeting with premier helped process along, she said.
Flail financing
The new flail mower will cost more than $15,000 than the amount budgeted for the equipment, and the money will come from the equipment pool. Only one proposal was received in response to the request for proposal.
Coun. Guy Duchaine asked if there would be an issue with fitting the flail to existing equipment. CFO Rob Richards replied that he was under the impression that the brackets were a universal size. Coun. Zelezniksaid that generally brackets are included in the price, and asked if the price included delivery. CFO said yes it was.
Arena repairs, continued
According to CAO Tynan, the compressors were tested Thursday the week before council, and two were found to be in not bad shape, just needing a cleaning out. The third looks like it needs to be cleaned out and can be used, although more examination is being done. At this moment it looks like none of the three will need to be replaced, she said. The ice plants are still on schedule with $136,000 for this year and are in the final design phase.
Building envelope is coming in, said the CAO
“What I’m learning is we haven’t had full information and we’re getting more information, so we’re taking it very carefully,” she said. What has been learned so far is that a large part of roof of arena does not leak, and the area at the front can be patched. Venting is definitely a concern, as well.
There are three options, detailed the CAO: do the roofing job, which would be bigger than projected; put a membrane on, which would take up all the budgeted money and that could have just a 10 year lifespan; or patching. If the Village decided to take on a large infrastructure project, there could be grant funding available in the future. At the moment staff is exploring patching and not more structural work. It seems like a better idea to do a minimal amount now and wait for some funding, said the CAO.
When asked if the original engineering firm should have to cover any subsequent engineering required to address issues, the CAO answered that, theoretically, that is correct.
We are looking into the obligations of original engineer, she said, and the current engineering firm is aware they may be called on to verify it should be done differently if necessary.
Hydro communications need change
A late item was introduced about sending a letter to BC Hydro about getting better communication about scheduled power outages. There needs to be a better way to communicate, and the outage could have been done at a better time, said mayor Hamling. “It affected a lot of businesses, she said.
Coun. Zeleznik commented that both the pole yard and Box Lake Lumber were shut down for the day.
Coun. Duchaine said the change of time of the outage also threw people and didn’t give them enough time to react.
“Maybe they need to pay a little bit of overtime and get the work done before businesses open,” said Hamling.
Messy recycling concerns
A letter from a local resident about the recycling bins location and unsightliness was forwarded on to the RDCK
Coun. Zeleznik asked why the recycling can’t be located at garbage dump.
Mayor Hamling said the recycling bins had been put where they are because lots of seniors can’t drive. If there is not easy access, she said, there could be more dumping all over the place.
Coun. Mueller suggested the Village needs a camera there.
Coun. Hughes said he’s hate to see a camera but if people won’t respect signs it might need to be done. He said he believed the location was good, and said an area near the dump for working and useful items that could be used by someone else would be good.
Mayor Hamling commented that there is a shed up by the landfill for working items where people can drop off and pick up working used items
Coun. Duchaine said a camera needs manpower to back it up, and wasn’t the answer. The RDCK needs to be responsible, he said.
Fosthall Creek power?
Coun. Zeleznik said it would be nice to get both sides in room and get some answers, some way to get this solved.
“The community’s suffering and we need to do something,” he said, suggesting to invite both parties to work something out.
There was a motion to schedule a meeting with council, Darcy Fear and BC Hydro to discuss the Village’s interest to get power to Nakusp.
