Action taken to complete goals within the Village of Radium Hot Springs was recently reviewed in the 2015 Annual Report.

At the regular the Village of Radium Hot Springs council meeting on July 15th, mayor Clara Reinhardt and chief administrative officer Mark Read provided the community with an outline of the 2015 year’s progress and objectives to help set the 2016 priorities.

There was also an update on the 2014 Services and Operations report and the Progress Report.

“The annual report this year is a report of work that’s been done and (it provides) the status of the village on April 1st of this year, so as far as the goals and objectives, this new council, hasn’t had a real chance to set any new ones,” explained Ms. Reinhardt after the meeting. “We went into budget and picked some direction, so we made some big decisions moving forward, like moving forward on the replacement of our existing community hall — but other than that, most of the items in this report are based on the goals and objectives of the previous council.”

Mr. Read added the council would be discussing its priorities during a strategic planning session this fall.

Staff and council will use the opportunity to identify the direction that council will take in the future.

“The very first goal and objective for 2015 is to have a strategic planning exercise so that we can move forward,” explained Ms. Reinhardt.

In addition, there are future plans to construct a new public works storage and workshop facility for about $350,000.

“But that is something that was in the five-year plan before,” she added. “The new item is initiating the process for the new (community) hall and our ongoing work that we’ve identified is to get more multi-use trails close to Radium because that’s a big draw for a lot of tourists. We want to make sure that we have some kind of access to multi-use trails, and that’s an ongoing partnership with the Greenways Trail Alliance as well as working together with the Ministry of Environment.”

There are also plans in the works to replace the 1996 Class A pumper fire truck and breathing apparatus air compressor, which is required to maintain insurance.

The upcoming objectives for 2016 will be identified during the 2015 strategic planning process.

Although there was limited attendance and comments from the community, Ms. Reinhardt believes the village is moving in the right direction.

“The business of the village is being run efficiently,” she concluded. “We’re doing a lot of work with the resources we have, we try really hard to stay (on the) cutting edge. Our water treatment and our sewage treatment are really new technology, and I think that for the most part, (people) they’re happy with the way we’re running things.”

To read the Village of Radium Hot Springs Annual Report online, visit radiumhotsprings.ca.