NOVEMBER
• Health-care needs of Salmon Arm families and seniors were going unmet because of the ongoing doctor shortage experienced throughout B.C.’s Interior. Some medical practices reported having waitlists in the hundreds, while others weren’t accepting new patients due to lack of physicians. This is all while doctors, eager to work in the region, fight a convoluted hiring process.
• New parking meters are on the horizon for Salmon Arm streets, but because they’re not cheap, the timing of their arrival depends on funding. “We do not have a firm price on the new ‘smart’ parking meter strategy for the downtown area, but it will be in the $200,000 range and will provide automated types similar to what is in Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna,” said Rob Niewenhuizen, the city’s director of engineering and public works.
• During budget deliberations for the city’s 2020 budget, city council approved $15,000 to go towards a bike trail in the new Shuswap Memorial Cemetery.
• A fundraiser was launched to support two-year old Henrick Hamelin, who in September was diagnosed with type one Osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, where the body doesn’t produce enough collagen resulting in fragile bones. Children with type one are subject to bone fractures from mild traumas like a simple fall.
• A concert hall and event centre is being proposed for Lakeshore Drive in Salmon Arm. At its Nov. 12 meeting, Salmon Arm council provided a letter of support for a funding application to help create a performance venue in the building that housed the Living Waters Church.
• The decision to sell the Salmon Arm Golf Club to a Canadian golf course consolidator has been unanimously approved by club members. GolfNorth Properties entered into an agreement to purchase the Salmon Arm Golf Club (SAGC) earlier this month. With the addition of SAGC, GolfNorth will operate 32 golf properties in Canada, from British Columbia to Cape Breton.
• Before construction of the Ross Street underpass can begin, a new set of rail tracks must be built to bypass what will become the construction area. “We’re going to build a whole new set of tracks to allow trains to go around our construction area. Then we’ll put in the bridge,” explained Rob Niewenhuizen, the city’s director of engineering and public works, during a chamber luncheon.
• Novice and professional dancers put their best foot forward to raise funds for the Shuswap Hospice Society at the Dancing with the Shuswap Stars event held in the SASCU Recreation Centre on Friday night, Nov. 22.
