By Mayor Ute Juras

Village of Canal Flats

Welcome to the year 2017!

I hope everyone had a good start to the New Year. There is certainly no slowing down for council.

We are working hard to get the next Five Year Financial Plan into place. Council is presented with the difficult challenge of providing services to the community, keeping infrastructure in acceptable condition and trying to keep the village sustainable after losing a major employer and tax contributor without imposing a burden to the taxpayers.

In addition, our assessments went down which also means that we have fewer taxes to collect unless we raise the tax rates. This is never a very popular option, but we have the responsibility to keep our water running, toilets flushing, roads passable and so much more.

A large part of the Five Year Financial Plan process includes incorporating our Strategic Plan into the budget. Priorities identified by council include diversifying our economy, plan land use proactively, maintain key community infrastructure, explore other revenue sources and focus on being well managed. The full report will be available at the village office in the near future.

You will also see some activity at the beach this year including final touches to the playground and the construction of new washrooms.

There have been some concerns around the condition of our winter roads. Council reviewed the Snow Removal Policy at the last meeting and has made some revisions, which will come back to Ccouncil at the next meeting to be adopted.

Public Works also provided some clarification on the issues this winter. They are working very diligently to keep our community safe and, at the same time, keep our roads intact in order to protect our tax investments. I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to slow down and drive to the winter conditions.

I would also like to thank those residents with snow removal equipment who helped their neighbors and friends by clearing driveways and back alleys. The good news is that this is only temporary and within a couple of months we will have clear roads and walkways once again J.

This is also the time of year when the Columbia Basin Trust calls for applications for their Community Initiatives and Affected Areas Funding. I am pleased to report that the money available for Canal Flats has increased from $30,000 to $40,000 this year. If you belong to a non-profit organization with a project that fits the guidelines of this program I would encourage you to take advantage of this program. For more information on the program contact the Regional District of East Kootenay.

Finally, a reminder that all council meetings, including the budget deliberations, are open to the public. Attending the meetings is a great way to stay informed and have your questions answered.

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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