During their March 15 meeting, members of Clearwater's town council approved the terms of reference and the appointment of committee members for the community's FireSmart Task Force.
The project, “Clearwater Neighbours GO FireSmart, got underway on March 15 and has a targeted end date of Dec. 31.
In a report to council, chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx said that the goals of the project would be to revisit District of Clearwater's community wildfire protection plan.
This would involve conducting site visits and completing site plans specific to the identified neighbourhoods; develop a communication and education strategy that is directly related to FireSmart best practices; and organize and hold FireSmart awareness sessions throughout key neighbourhoods.
Members of the task force are: fire chief Mike Smith; Ralph Sunderman, Weyerhaeuser subdivision; Chuck Emery, Candle Creek; Warren MacLennan, Raft River; Jim Jones, Clearwater Fire Zone; Wayne Wysoski, Chance Breckenridge and Marshall McRae, Clearwater Volunteer Fire Department; George Brcko, Wells Gray Community Forest; and councillor Barry Banford.
Less money for music
District of Clearwater will provide North Thompson Music Guild with $1,800 ($200 per performance) to support nine evening music performances this summer at Dutch Lake Community Centre.
Town council made the decision during its March 15 meeting.
The amount is far less than the $5,000 the guild had received last year and had asked for this year.
In her report to council, Chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx said that giving the guild $5,000 would use the entire grant-in-aid budget. Instead, she recommended giving half that amount.
During the town council meeting, Groulx said that no formal financial report had been received in regard to last year's grant. However, an anecdotal one stated that approximately $2,600 had gone for equipment and the balance to the musicians.
Councillor Merlin Blackwell commented that, while the music program is still growing, in the long term the grant would not be sustainable going forward.