A presentation to Keremeos Village Council by Fortis Manager Bob Gibney was cancelled at the Mar.19 meeting of Keremeos Village Council.
Council proclaimed April as Daffodil month after receiving a letter of request from the Canadian Cancer Society.
The Mayor’s request for $500 to be transferred from the council contingency account to the Education on Substance Abuse Committee account was also approved. The request was made in order to fund the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) program for 2012, an adminmistrative correction.
Council also approved the dispatch of a letter to MLA John Slater regarding the issues currently surrounding the Employment Program of B.C. in the Village of Keremeos.
The letter points out the loss of employment services anticipated under the new format, registering opposition to the reduction in service to a “satellite” condition, as well as opposing the realignment of Cawston’s services to Osoyoos rather than Keremeos. The letter requested a minimum level of service restoration to include a job board and computer access to be returned to the community.
Public Works Report
Conquergood Electric will retain the mandatory electrical operating permit on behalf of the village.
- Victory Hall has a new fridge in the kitchen and new dinner plates have been purchased.
- The budget must be finalized prior to continuing with village office upgrades.
- The new blower for the upper bench sewer upgrade is on order and is expected to be operating by late April.
The OK Mobile Home Park is the only property left to hook up to the upper bench sewer.
Council received the “Groundwater Under Direct Influence of Surface Water Assessment report at the Mar. 19 meeting. It concluded that the village’s west wells are considered at low risk of containing pathogens since river bank filtration seems to be effective in minimizing the risk of pathogens reaching the wells under current operating conditions and is acting as one level of treatment of surface water.
Question period brought forward several queries, including such topics as a request for the village to do a core services review, an inquiry about future tax increases, the village’s interest acquired from their reserve funding, and several questions about the proposed water reservoir.