RDKB Town Hall Meeting
By Les Johnson
The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary held a town hall meeting last Thursday, February 7 at the community hall in Christina Lake. This was an opportunity for the public to meet and question those who make decisions about, and provide, services for the region. It was also an event where regional government comes to explain how things work, how things are decided, where the money is spent, and what has been done and is planned for the future.
I’m told that in previous years there were up to 100 people in the audience but this time only about 20 showed up. Facing them were: John MacLean, CAO of the RDKB; Larry Gray, Chair of the Board; Al Stanley, Director of Environmental Services; and Grace McGregor, Director of Area C. The small crowd did not let them off easy, questions were asked throughout the two-hour session.
To start, John MacLean gave a 25 min. PowerPoint on how the local government is structured and works. He faced questions about why Rossland doesn’t show as being in the emergency services and what about hospital services. About 29 min. into the video Grace McGregor explains how you can go online to answer a poll about the ‘new hospital’.
Following that was an explanation of the financial plan for 15 min. after which the director of environmental services, Al Stanley, gave us the news that about half the unattended transfer station will be closed as of May 1. He used words such as astonished and nightmare describing the issues and problems with those stations.
He then launched into an explanation of waste management financial issues and how the organics diversion efforts lead to lower costs down the road. When he explained about the milfoil control program he faced questions about increased spending not preventing increased infestation. Also covered was the Kettle River study, invasive species coming up the Columbia River and the woodstove exchange program.
Grace McGregor explained why efforts and money are being spent towards a community forest. She also warned to expect a wastewater survey coming in the mail.
It was a two-hour meeting and space and time prevent us from covering everything here but you can watch and listen to the whole thing or just whichever part you want in the video above. If you click on the YouTube logo you will be taken to the YouTube channel page and in the description you will find a set of links to various spots within the video so you don’t have to search.
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