All members of Cache Creek council were present (Coun. Lisa Dafoe by phone) for the regular council meeting on Feb. 1, which began at 6 p.m.
CAO report
Coun. Sue Peters singled out three items in Chief Administrative Officer Martin Dalsin’s report marked as “pending” which she would like to see advanced, noting that they are all timely and should be dealt with:
1) That the village should write to the Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, federal minister of environment and climate change, regarding flooding on the Bonaparte River and the increasing number of properties affected each year (Oct. 26, 2020 meeting);
2) That the village should sign an amended open letter to B.C. Premier John Horgan about how the voices of the province’s resource-dependent communities can be heard (Nov. 23, 2020 meeting); and
3) That the village should respond to Cache Creek resident Tom Lewis’s query as to whether the village has a “coordinated, integrated and layered action plan involving the federal, provincial governments and Cache Creek village, including the surrounding incorporated and unincorporated area’s governing bodies, addressing how the area’s water flow and flooding of all areas can be controlled” (Dec. 14, 2020 meeting).
Peters also asked about the next step for the village’s Cannabis Bylaw, which has had first reading. Dalsin responded that because it involves zoning amendments the next step is a public hearing, which will be held on Feb. 16. Once the bylaw goes to third reading it must be signed off by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, as it affects properties immediately adjacent to a controlled access highway.
Community Foundation
The village has received confirmation that the B.C. Interior Foundation has received $50,000 from Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT), to establish a Community Foundation for the village. Council decided last year to establish a Community Foundation and apply for the grant from NDIT, which the village would match with money from the landfill legacy fund. The interest generated by the money in the fund can be used to support not-for-profit organizations and initiatives in the village.
Bylaw enforcement officer
Peters said that at the next meeting of the bylaw officer working group, members from the three communities involved — Cache Creek, Clinton, and Ashcroft — would be working on a bylaw to be brought back to the villages for approval. The bylaw would lay out who is responsible for what, time frames, budgets, withdrawing from the agreement, etc.
Relocation of memorial bench
Glenn Fehr requested permission to have a memorial bench that was previously located at the Semlin Valley Golf Course (which is now closed) moved to the Cache Creek park. Dalsin said there were plenty of locations where the bench could be sited, and there will be a discussion with the family to see what works.
Health care
Coun. Wendy Coomber reported that the lab analyzer at the Ashcroft Hospital lab — used for blood testing — was removed by Interior Health on Dec. 16, 2020 and has not been replaced. She noted that the analyzer was removed because of lack of staff and because it was more than 10 years old. The lab is now using point of care testing; IH said that 85 per cent of tests can be done that way, and that even with the analyzer some tests still had to go to Kamloops.
IH also reported that during the weekend of Jan. 18 some 22 people attended the Emergency Department, with 18 of those people deemed low priority. Coomber said that during a visit there on Feb. 6 the Emergency Department was quite busy and they were not low priority cases. “I think we would be in dire straits without our emergency room.”
Landfill inspection
Coomber reported that on Jan. 16 she and Mayor Santo Talarico took part in the first of four quarterly inspections at the Campbell Hill landfill. She noted that the inspections used to be done weekly, and added that there was “not a whole lot going on and not a lot to inspect”. They looked at entrance signage, safety, fencing, security gates, the weigh scales, appearance and cleanliness, and more. “It was nice to see there was garbage there again … we were all pretty happy with it.”
The meeting went into closed session at 6:17 p.m.
All minutes and agendas for Cache Creek council meetings can be found on the Village’s website at http://www.village.cachecreek.bc.ca/. Meetings normally take place on the first and third Mondays of each month (with some exceptions), and begin at 6 p.m. Because of the Family Day holiday on Feb. 15, the next regular meeting will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
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