The Village of Burns Lake held their council meeting on Tuesday Aug. 15.
During the meeting, council discussed and decided Cut Point Fluid Management Ltd. will be awarded with the Lagoon Sludge Removal contract as part of the Sewage Treatment Facility Improvement project to remove sludge from the lagoons as the first step of improvements for one of the 2023 goals and objectives of the village.
The proposal is within the village budget and the project has positive environmental implications. Cut Point is the only contractor that came for a site visit.
Piano
Council decided to postpone the decision to house the grand piano owned by Lakes District Festival Association for a period of one year, allowing staff to assess the types of rentals possible at the St. John’s Heritage Church.
At the last council meeting on July 18, Martina Zechendorf, piano coordinator of Lakes District Festival of the Performing Arts made the request about their grand piano not being properly accessible at the Island Gospel Fellowship Church and wanted it to be relocate to a new location so more people could use it.
Fall fair
Mayor Wiebe will speak at the Lakes District Fall Fair on Saturday, Sept. 9, and will be at the main stage by 11:45 a.m. The Lakes District Fall Fair happens Sept. 8, 9 and 10.
Physicians
Joy Davy, recruitment lead from Northern Interior Rural Division has been asked by council to make a presentation at the Sept. 12 regular council meeting regarding developing a Recruitment Committee to attract physicians and nurse practitioners to the community.
Bill C-18
Lakes District News/Black Press Media requested the Village of Burns Lake to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram in support of local journalism because of Bill C-18. Council will ask Lakes District News to provide a report on it.
Bill C-18 aims to balance the fairness in the economic relationship between news businesses and online platforms by enhancing the bargaining position of news businesses relative to that of large and dominant digital news intermediaries. The Act would not apply to digital news intermediaries unless there is a significant bargaining power imbalance. The goal is to support news businesses to negotiate and receive fair compensation when third parties with a dominant market position monetize their news content in a market environment that has been disadvantageous to news businesses. In this way, the measures seek to support the continued production and widespread availability of news content.
The Link
Scott Zayac, executive director of The Link requested to council for a resolution to support the organization’s grant application to Northern Development Initiative Trust.
Zayac said, “The whole proposal is for three years which is about a $290,000 grant.”
He said, this grant will support initiatives that assist healthy, sustainable, resilient communities facing rapid and large scale economic development and associated social service readiness.
“The project that we’re proposing is a holistic approach to security and its programming and services will improve food security,” he said.
The new program and support at the food centre will improve community food systems and build individual skills and knowledge to meet food security needs. These new positions will also work with local businesses, organizations and First Nations to increase access to local food, reduce food waste, partner with local schools to increase food literacy skills among youths, organize and deliver food skills workshops, and provide individualized outreach supports to families, seniors, and individuals who live in poverty and face barriers to food security.
Zayac also said, “We have a Community Connections program that started from June 2023. We are no longer offering this program in Burns Lake strictly because of funding. So, we would if we get this funding from the start back program.”
Mayor Wiebe asked, “We have a lot of food producers now in Burns Lake. What’s keeping you from purchasing from local farmers?”
Zayac answered, “We have to set up time for local farmers to come to the food center and sell their products. We’d have to organize it, and meet with people. We also need to have paid staff on site to receive and store the food.”
Right now, The Link has a manager and support staff.
Zayac said, “We currently have six regular volunteers at the food centre - pre-covid, we had many more regular volunteers. We are always looking for more volunteers to help with food distribution and in the garden. We currently have one part time employee and are recruiting another.”