CRD Board Highlghts - Nov 17th Meeting

Courtesy of the Cariboo Regional District:

2012 Central Cariboo Grants for Assistance

The Cariboo Regional District Board endorsed the recommendation from the Central Joint committee regarding the 2012 Cariboo/City of Williams Lake joint grants for assistance applications. A total of $19,958 in grants for assistance was approved under the CRD and City of Williams Lake Memorandum of Understanding. The City of Williams Lake will contribute $13,970.60 while the CRD will contribute $5,987.40 which will be shared equally between Electoral Areas D, E, and F.

Canadian Mental Health Association $1,500
Cariboo Chilcotin Partners for Literacy Society $1,408
Williams Lake Farmer’s Market $500
Williams Lake Curling Club $10,000
Williams Lake Food Policy Council $3,550
Gavin Lake Forest Education Society $3,000

Total $19,958

The Board also referred two other requests back to the Central Cariboo Joint Committee. These applications are for requests from the Williams Lake Dry Grad Committee and the Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club.

Barkerville Photographic Exhibit to Tour China

The Regional District received information in a release from Premier Christy Clark regarding a new Barkerville exhibit slated to tour China. The document announced the signing of a letter of intent between Barkerville and the Guangdong Museum of Overseas Chinese that will form the foundation for a tour of the Barkerville photographic exhibit in China. The exhibit, entitled “Who Am I?”, explores the lives of Chinese migrants who came to Barkerville in the late 19th and early 20th centuries during the gold rush. It is expected to be on display at the Guangdong museum in Guangzhou in the spring of 2013.

Building Inspection Services for Williams Lake

The City of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District have developed a five year agreement to provide Building Inspection Services to residents of Williams Lake through a shared Building Inspection Service. The Cariboo Regional District Board endorsed this agreement and it will now be presented at the next Williams Lake Council meeting for consideration on Tuesday, November 29th.

CRD Service Recognition

The Cariboo Regional District recognized five directors who will not be returning to office for the next term. The Directors were awarded with tokens of appreciation for their years of public service. The Directors include - Art Dumaresq (Area H – 12 years), Roberta Faust (Area B – three years), Steve Mazur (Area E – three years), Rick Mumford (Area K – seven years), and Jay Vermette (six years).

Community to Community Forum Scheduled

Cariboo Regional District Board members have been invited to attend a Community to Community Forum with the Nazko First Nations. The forum is tentatively scheduled to take place in January, 2012 at the Nazko Community Hall.

BC Community Recreation Grant Program

The Cariboo Regional District will be submitting two applications to the new BC Community Recreation (BCCR) Grant Program provincial funding program. The first project is a joint application with the City of Quesnel for $7.5 M for the North Cariboo Multi-Centre. The second application will be for the continuation of the CRD’s Wheelchair Accessible Trails. The deadline for applications is December 28, 2011. The BCCR program will provide up to 80 percent of eligible costs. The Project Categories for the funding program include:

Recreation and sport projects such as indoor sports and recreation infrastructure
Bike paths
Walkways
Greenways
Amenities related to the above infrastructure
Capital projects that get children and youth playing again

The Selection Criteria for the BCCR grant include advancing the principal of being active, community health benefits, and additional criteria such as financial planning, partnerships, sound risk management. Eligible projects must be completed by March 31, 2015.

Editor's Note - Sue Zacharias, acting for WL Mayor Kerry Cook, asked the Board to include a project for Esler Sports Complex to build a new road access.  The Board turned her down, not once, but twice in the same meeting

Upcoming Meetings

Friday, December 9 – CRD Inaugural Board Meeting

Editor's Footnote - A little health scare today as the Board recessed its' meeting a couple of times after smells of natural gas was detected.  In all of the years that I've attended Board meetings (since 2004), I can not recall a time that I've smelled natural gas in the Boardroom.  The Regional District did bring in a contractor to look into it so hopefully  the Inaugural CRD Board meeting on Dec 9th will go off without a hitch