By Mayor Ute Juras

Village of Canal Flats

Summer has come and gone in a blink of an eye. I hope everyone had a great time with friends and family and enjoyed all this beautiful area has to offer.

Unlike the hustle and bustle this valley experiences in the summertime, the municipal world slows down somewhat during the summer months. However, council did manage to keep busy.

Council adopted the final draft of the Tilley Memorial Park Plan. We are looking at having an official unveiling during the annual Fall Fair this October.

We are already in the process of implementing one of the recommendations coming out of this plan which is a nature playground being constructed this fall. One of the purposes of a plan such as this is to be ready for any grant opportunities that come up. Having a good plan in place shows that we are ready to go and will be helpful when applying for grants. Council would like to thank the community for their participation in the surveys and the open house. A special thank you to Councillors Delorme and Marcil for all the work they did as champions of this project.

Last spring the province rolled out the Rural Dividend Program, which assists rural communities to reinvigorate and diversify their local economies. The program is providing $25 million a year over three years. Funding streams are divided into three categories; Project Development ($10,000), Single Applicant ($100,000) and Partnerships ($500,000).

Since our Economic Development Liaisons are still working on recommendations for council and no specific project has been identified yet, council decided to apply for the $10,000 grant during this intake and was successful in receiving it. In addition, we have requested to be considered a “Special Circumstance” under this program, which considers communities with a significant economic downturn and hardship due to the loss of a key economic driver.

One of the advantages of being a “Special Circumstance” community is not being limited to the intake periods. We have not yet been confirmed as a “Special Circumstance” community.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to reflect.

It has been a year since Canfor announced the closure of the Canal Flats Mill operations. It was a devastating blow to our community but thanks to a lot of helping hands we are still hanging in there. We did not lose a large number of residents, in fact, people are moving to Canal Flats and, according to some sources in the real estate sector, there is a lot of interest in our little community.

We have seen some growth in business and the school numbers are holding their own. Thanks to the generosity of Columbia Basin Trust, the province, the City of Cranbrook and the Regional District of East Kootenay we have been able to take charge in planning for our economic future.

In addition, there has been an overwhelming outpour of other communities offering their advice and experience. Most of all, council would like to thank the members and businesses of this community for participating in the surveys and programs of our Economic Development Liaisons this past year.

We are an awesome community and we will continue to work hard together to keep this village moving ahead.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions/concerns (Phone: 250-489-9070, E-mail: [email protected]).

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