Eleanor Deckert
Thompson Headwaters services committee hosted an open house for Avola residents to view playground equipment proposals on April 1 at the Avola log schoolhouse. Thompson Headwaters (Area B) director Willow MacDonald, services coordinator Sherri Madden and four members of the committee received written feedback from the 11 residents who attended.
The opportunity for expressing opinions came after a THSC meeting last June in Avola indicated only one example of playground equipment. The decision was postponed until after a variety of possibilities could be offered and a method could be arranged for residents to have some input.
Three companies were approached. Habitat Systems Inc. provided a five-activity plan, including acceptable fall material for the play-space. RecTec Industries provided a plan very similar to the one suggested in 2013, including 11 activities and acceptable fall material. The third company, which builds playground equipment using natural materials, did not get its proposal in by the deadline.
Eight Avola residents chose the RecTec playground.
In 2010, the existing equipment was examined by Risk Management Services and the Risk Control Survey for the Municipal Insurance Association of BC. The survey determined that the metal merry-go-round, slide, dino-climber, teeter-totter and 25-year-old wooden climbing structure must be removed.
THSC will mail out information to Avola residents stating requirements for the removal of the old equipment and allowing for the purchase of the pieces. In 2013 residents rejected the idea of cutting it all up for scrap.
Hiking and biking trail proposed
On April 7, director MacDonald invited Area B constituents to a monthly coffee house at the schoolhouse and the Log Inn Pub. Seven residents attended. Information was given to director MacDonald suggesting that a seven km of the old highway roadbed along the river could be cleared out and a trail for hiking and bicycles could be prepared with relative ease.
The regular business meeting of the THSC was held on April 8 at the Avola schoolhouse. It was attended by seven members of the public. A motion to install the playground piece the residents agreed to at the April 1 open house was passed and an additional toddler-friendly item will be added.
A delegation was received thanking the director, coordinator, committee and contractor for the interior and exterior renovations to the schoolhouse.
Arrangements are being made for the Avola Improvement District to cover the insurance requirements to use the building for its meetings.
Other items on the agenda included: updates from director MacDonald's recent meetings regarding the CN gate closure near Blue River, a recent Thompson Regional Hospital District meeting and a summary of Area B taxation. A Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Trade Show report was prepared by Merlin Blackwell.
An in-camera meeting followed.
The next regular THSC business meeting will be held on May 13 at 4:30 p.m. at the Blue River Elementary School.
A Thompson-Nicola Regional District property clean up in Avola is scheduled for May 3.