British Columbia Community Forest Association will hold its annual general meeting in Clearwater next June, chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx told town council during its meeting on Jan. 6.
The agm will be held June 11 – 13 and will be hosted by Wells Gray Community Forest.
BCCFA is a network of 46 community-based organizations in British Columbia that are either managing community forests or striving to establish community forests.
George Brcko, the manager of Wells Gray Community Forest, is the association's secretary.
No to Yellowhead Highway membership
Town council voted once again not to take out a membership in the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Association.
Not enough emphasis is placed on the branch of the Yellowhead that goes south from Tete Jaune Cache to Merritt, said Mayor John Harwood.
Instead, the emphasis is on the branch that goes north to Prince George and then west to Haida Gwai, he felt.
Merritt town council wants nothing to do with the Yellowhead Highway, Harwood said.
Thompson-Nicola Regional District continues to be a member of the association and so Clearwater could use that as a contact if needed.
Clearwater did not join the association last year either, the mayor said.
Councillor Merlin Blackwell said travellers find it confusing to have a highway with two branches.
“I don't see any sense to it,” he said.
Cost of a membership, which is based on population, would have been about $370.
Building permits boom
As of the end of November last year, District of Clearwater had nearly $9 million worth of building permits issued, according to a report from Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
“It will be interesting to see if it breaks $9 million for the year,” commented Mayor John Harwood.
Major project in Clearwater last year was the construction of the new Buy-Low shopping center next to Highway 5.
The permit value was the highest of the municipalities and electoral areas that use the TNRD for their building permit services.
Second place went to Area P (Rivers and the Peaks), which had building permits totalling nearly $8 million as of the end of November.
No more cemetery committee
District of Clearwater will no longer have a cemetery advisory committee.
Town council voted during its Jan. 6 meeting to disband the committee.
Only a few members of the public had come forward to serve on the committee, said infrastructure committee chair Merlin Blackwell.
Instead, an ad hoc group will be set up to help out at Riverview Cemetery as needed.
The committee was set up several years ago when some relatives became upset after staff of what was then Clearwater Improvement District removed mementoes that had been left on graves.
Connected by satellite
At least one former user of the TNRD's free television rebroadcasting system now has satellite TV.
Annabelle Stevens reported during the public comments portion of the meeting that a LTSS (Local Television Satellite Solution) receiver was installed at her home on Dec. 22.
She thanked the mayor and council for their efforts in making this happen.
Mayor John Harwood said much of the credit should go to Ron Storie, the TNRD's manager of community services.
The regional district and affected communities decided last year to discontinue the free television rebroadcast system due to increasing costs and decreasing usage.
Unfortunately it was found that LTSS, a federally sponsored program through Shaw that was offered by the TNRD as an alternative, was unexpectedly no longer available.
Storie has apparently been working since then to create alternatives to local residents who were without television service.