A Message from the Acting Mayor of Wells

This past Wednesday (February 28th) - the current Acting Mayor of the District of Wells (Councillor Birch Kuch) put the following message on the District of Wells website (see below):

To the People of Wells,

It came as a shock, 11 days ago, to find out that I would be Acting Mayor of our town until the end of March. Councillors Mandy Kilsby, Lindsay Kay, and I serve as your interim Council. Now that the shock has subsided, I look forward to a period where together we can develop a new set of customs for Council’s proceedings. By holding deliberations and negotiations in the open wherever it is allowed, and by incorporating the feedback of the community into our decisions, I hope to eventually engage all of you in determining the direction of our town.

Councillor Mandy Kilsby will take over as Acting Mayor from the beginning of April until June. There will be a by-election on June 9th, with a nomination period from April 24th to May 4th. It is expected that we will elect a new Councillor and Mayor. The municipal general election will be four months later, in October, where we will elect a whole new Council.

In other news, I recently met with Falko Kadenbach of ABC communications. I learned some details about our town’s internet system that I would like to disambiguate.

First, the communications tower on Slide Mtn was decommissioned in 2011. Our internet comes exclusively through fibre optic cable to the Community Hall, where it is spread around town. BGM, itself, has its own separate connection and does not contribute to the overload experienced in town. The town has three 4G WiMax Distribution systems, with 30 clients each. The increased population in town, in conjunction with people switching to bigger packages and using more, has led to regular peak time overload and the resulting problems.

I have invited Falko to present to Council next Tuesday a proposed Radio Site Lease Agreement between ABC and the District of Wells. He can explain our current situation, and the upgrades that would be possible under the agreement. There will be an opportunity to ask him questions, and to give input to Council.

Tuesday’s (March 6th) meeting will be held in the Banquet Room downstairs in the Community Hall. I will bring microphones, and we will talk about the 2018 budget and consider amendments. We may start earlier than the usual 7:00pm,  so keep posted. Please have your questions and comments somewhat prepared, and try to be succinct.

Thank you to staff for tuffing it out through the uncertainty.

Sincerely,

Councillor Birch Kuch
Acting Mayor of Wells