District of Vanderhoof held their regular public meeting of council on April 12 at 5 p.m. Below are briefs from council’s agenda available on the district’s website.
Minutes from March 22 public meeting
- Vanderhoof RCMP staff sgt. Laurie Clarkson updated council on the current establishment of the local police and further discussed the detachment’s annual performance plan strategies.
- Lorna Bihori from United Way BC informed council of the bc211 helpline initiative established by United Way. 211 initiative is now federally funded and represented in all provinces across Canada. Bihori spoke about the benefits of the 211 initiative, which is a non-emergency helpline available to all residents of Canada. B.C. residents can access province-wide resources by dialing 211 or by visiting bc211.ca
- Mayor and council carried a motion to provide a letter of support to Carrier Sekani Family Services for the Addictions Treatment Facility on Tachick Lake Resort.
- District of Vanderhoof authorized Colliers Project Leaders to award the Design - Build RFP for the Vanderhoof Cultural Centre to Datoff Bros Construction Ltd.
- Five-year financial bylaw has been carried and adopted by Mayor and Council.
- Council approved the request from Vanderhoof International Airshow Society for ground resources including - barricades, garbage containers, no parking signage, traffic cones set up on Northside Road, and roadway services including district staff time for the 2021 Vanderhoof Airshow. Council also approved the request from the Airshow Society to waive the $5000 damage deposit to use the district’s portable washrooms at the airshow. Council is also amending their policy around portable washrooms to include a User Contract that outlines responsibilities of the users.
- Mayor and Council carried a motion to allocate funds in the 2021 budget to purchase new banners.
- Council waived the district’s Purchasing Tender Policy and authorized staff to directly award the district’s 2021 Capital Paving contract to Lafarge Canada, a paving contractor from Prince George.
READ MORE: Vanderhoof council discuss one percent tax increase, building permits and more at public meeting
Agenda items at the April 12 regular public meeting of council
- BC Livestock Producers Cooperative’s president Shirley Moon and local manager Mile Pritchard are providing a general update of operations in the region to council.
- Airport: VADS president Paul Collard along with Vanderhoof Flying Club president Floyd Wuthrich and Vanderhoof International Airshow Society president Glen Pearce, sent a letter to mayor and council in regard to their expectations of the work that needs to be done on the apron and taxiway rehabilitation. A story around this will be in the April 22 edition of the Express.
- BC Wildfire Service is requesting council for permission to place directional signage at the Vanderhoof Municipal Airport. The sign will be used to direct BC Wildfire Service employees to the new VanJam fire zone base located there. Proposed signs will be located on the corner of Northside Road and Airport Road, and along Airport Road.
- Nechako Waste Reduction Initiative have submitted a letter to request placing “Do Not Litter” signs on municipal properties. The organization is proposing that one of the signs be placed near Subway as that location seems to be an area where a lot of litter is found. The organization also proposed three other locations for the signs including Vanderhoof Museum, Skateboard Park and the Boat Launch Site near the bridge. These signs have been donated by CN Rail and will be designed by the Nechako Valley Secondary School Enviro Vikes. Yellowhead Road and Bridge have donated posts and anchors and have also offered to install the signs. The organization wants to have the locations finalized and signs erected before the Community Cleanup on April 24 this year.
- The Nechako Waste Reduction Initiative have also requested permission to erect a “little free library” in Ferland Park. “These libraries are small boxes of books and are popular in many places around the world. Individuals are invited to donate and also take books for free. The NWRI believes this aligns well with our goal to reduce waste and encourage recycling.” The group is aiming to have the library be built by a local person, and are planning on using funds from their budget to finance the project.
This story was first published in the April 15 edition of the Express.
Aman Parhar
Editor - Vanderhoof Omineca Express, Caledonia Courier
aman.parhar@ominecaexpress.com
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