On Jan. 24, the Village of Burns Lake decided to submit an application to the Union of BC Municipalities Community Emergency Preparedness Fund for the 2023 Emergency Support Service’s fund.
Rob Krause, Village of Burns Lake’s director of protective services, said that the village’s current proposed fund was $28,500, while the maximum that can be applied was $30,000.
“We’re basically asking as close to the maximum as the province will allow us each year,” Krause said.
Krause stated that this is the second year the village applied for this grant independently. Before that, the village jointly applied with the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) and it was one large $100,000 grant.
He added that if RDBN felt that the Smithers’ emergency support service team had a higher priority, they could prioritize more of them.
“We felt that we weren’t always necessarily the priority for what we wanted for the community,” Krause said.
After listening to Krause’s statements, Henry Wiebe, Burns Lake’s mayor, decided to move forward with the recommended grant application and council agreed.
Northern Health
Mayor Wiebe informed council that he had a meeting with Northern Health, and three new doctors will be arriving at Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre. Two doctors will be arriving in spring and one in fall.
Spirit Square’s outdoor workout equipment
Council discussed supporting the $50,000 Active Communities Grant Program application for the replacement of Spirit Square’s outdoor workout equipment.
The outdoor workout equipment was installed in 2009 and is nearing the end of its life. The equipment has also experienced years of frost heaving that has caused damage to some pieces previously removed due to unsafe conditions.
Mayor Wiebe asked for council’s questions and comments on this grant application. Seeing none, he decided to apply, and council agreed.
Kayakomat project
Council also decided to submit a grant application of $8,000 to the Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund Society for the Kayakomat project. The project will enable residents to rent kayaks at all times through the Kayakomat’s online application for four years.
Lewis Jones, Village of Burns Lake’s recreation services director, said that the kayak rentals made between $1,000-$2,000 a year, which he believes is a significantly low number.
Jones pointed out that the village is having this issue due to a need for more available staff. He added that the kayak rentals were run by students during summertime, which has been helpful. However, it doesn’t help in early mornings, especially on Sundays.
He believes this project would remove some of these barriers and improve rental service quality without worrying too much about staff availability.
Kristy Bjarnason, Village of Burns Lake’s councillor, has concerns about this project’s reliability and recouping costs and questions what will happen after the four-year contract if it fails.
Jones said that if the project fails and the village does not want to extend this contract, council can do that, but the Kayakomat will retain the rights to all the kayaks and take them away.
Mayor Wiebe said he’s starting to have issues about recouping costs from this investment and asked to look for other alternative options. “I’m baffled. I think I can build a system where we could buy kayaks, lock them in, and leave a keynote the night before or have a lock box to give them access.”
Jones said the key system was already tried and was unsuccessful. Most of the time, people try to book at the last minute or fail to pick up the key within business hours. He suggested setting up a kayak vending machine, but it would be a more expensive one-time investment.
Darrell Hill, Village of Burns Lake’s councillor, said he is happy to support grant applications and would like council’s support on this project.
Jones suggested that council apply for this grant, and once more information on this project is available, they can make the final decision.
After hearing Jones’ comments, Mayor Wiebe decided to apply for this grant, and council agreed.