A regular council meeting of the Village of Burns Lake was held in council chambers on Oct. 21. Present at the meeting were mayor Luke Strimbold, councillors Frank Varga, John Illes, Wes Hart and Chris Beach, chief administrative officer Sheryl Worthing and clerk Cameron Hart.
Mayor Strimbold mentioned his tour at the new hospital to see how the construction of the new facility is progressing. His last visit had been three months before.
“I think the progress [at the new hospital] has been quite significant and within the next month we’ll see even more progress,” said the mayor.
Strimbold said some of the medical equipment is now arriving and being installed. Most of the floor is complete, and the project includes over 30 sub-contracts. Councillor Beach was also present at the tour and said he felt confident the new hospital will attract new staff to the area - “hopefully new doctors.”
“It’s even more impressive every time I see the hospital,” said Beach. “I think the community is going to be extremely pleased when they see it.”
Councillors had been discussing the resurfacing of Baker Airport’s runway over the past meetings. The Lakes District Airport Society (LDAA) has asked the Village of Burns Lake for one of their two plough trucks. The council discussed the merits of providing the truck to the Airport Society during the meeting and decided to sell one plough truck for $10,000 plus tax.
Mayor Strimbold said providing a truck for $10,000 to the LDAA will be “something that is beneficial to all people.” The capital funding to resurface the airport strip will come from a regional district’s grant application.
A motion was also carried that the Village of Burns Lake make an application to the Seniors Housing and Support Initiative for the 2015 age-friendly community planning grant to support senior-oriented programming at the Lakeside Multiplex.