A regular council meeting of the Village of Burns Lake was held in council chambers on Nov. 4. Present at the meeting were Mayor Luke Strimbold, councillors Frank Varga, John Illes and Wes Hart, as well as chief administrative officer Sheryl Worthing, clerk Cameron Hart and three members of the village staff. Councillor Chris Beach was in Victoria, B.C., but participated in the meeting through a conference call.
Councillors passed a motion to proceed with the grant application to Northern Development Initiative Trust to continue the Business Facade Improvement Program for 2015. The Village of Burns Lake applied for the Business Facade Improvement Grant in 2013 and 2014, being successful in both applications. Six businesses in town have taken advantage of this program so far, and four of them were provided with grants up to $5000 to improve their business frontage.
Council also authorized staff to negotiate and sign an agreement with TechNorth Solutions Inc. In March 2014, village staff had issued a request for proposal for IT services. The bid was advertised at Lakes District News and was opened to all public to submit a proposal. However, only one submission was received - from North Tech Solutions, the village's current IT provider. Currently, the village pays $4765 for IT services per month, including services for the village office, public works yard, roads and streets, arena, water SCADA system and the sewer SCADA system.
During the meeting, the mayor talked about how "well attended" the Halloween party at Lakeside Multiplex was on Oct. 31. The event was followed by a fireworks presentation, donated in part by Lake Babine Nation. Strimbold also attended the Ootsa Lake Bible Camp Dinner and Auction, and said the event had a "record turnout."
Councillors agreed that the Village of Burns Lake should send a letter of congratulations to elected chief and council of the Burns Lake Band, as well as the elected councillor during Wet'suwet'en First Nation's by-election.
Erwin Tom was the elected palling councillor for Wet'suwet'en First Nation. Also running were Gerald Tom, Vivian Tom, Rochelle Turner and Grace Turner. Lawrence Lewis and Felicia Erickson administered Wet'suwet'en First Nation's by-election.
Councillors also agreed to help out during the Christmas tree light up event in Burns Lake by handing out hot chocolate. The event will take place at Pioneer Park on Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m.