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Mayor reviews village progress as 2013 comes to an end

The mayor of Keremeos summarizes village activity for 2013

 

As the year comes to a close, I would like to look back at what has been a very busy year.

Some of the projects undertaken this year include:

- Completion of a core review, resulted in some staffing changes as well as the reallocation of responsibilities within the organization.

- The Official Community Plan (OCP) was reviewed and updated.

- On-going work on an asset management plan.

- A new parks by-law, together with updates to the municipal ticket by-law addressed public demands for greater control of our public spaces, and added the RCMP to the list of delegated by-law enforcement officers.

- Another citizen’s survey was conducted and the results were considered as part of our strategic planning and budget sessions.

- A new Village of Keremeos website is up and running, and provides local residents with information on emergent issues.

- Village staff undertook the administration of the reader board.  Unfortunately, it malfunctioned and we encountered some difficulties in obtaining replacement parts.

- A dyke master plan will add to our efforts to be proactive in regards to community safety and emergency preparedness planning.

- Providing a safe and reliable water infrastructure is paramount to council and we were able to support the Keremeos Irrigation District by obtaining grant money to help with construction costs of a water reservoir.

Regional Collaboration

Working closely with our neighbors in the regional district is very important and makes services affordable to our residents.  We will be adopting a service agreement with regional areas “B” and “G” to provide on-going financial support for the operation of the Community Resource (Information) Centre. Other regional projects include:  fire department; recreation centre; swimming pool; landfill site; library, regional hospital district; and the community forest.

Similkameen Valley Planning Society

The Similkameen Valley Planning Society, (SVPS) which I presently chair, is a great example of what can be achieved by pooling our resources.  A website has been developed (www.similkameenvalley.com) for the whole valley with the goal to attract visitors from around the world.  A new valley wide tourist guide will be published in April of 2014.  Both projects have been recognized as a template for tourism strategy development in B.C.

The development of a water plan for the valley is going into phase two of this multi year endeavor. First Nations involvement in all these projects is crucial and working with the Lower Similkameen Indian Band has been a great experience.

I would like to thank council, staff and all those individuals and agencies who have been involved in making this another successful year.  I look forward to working with all of you in 2014.

In closing, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.