A lot is happening in Canal Flats right now as we are moving toward the summer season.

At the May 12th council meeting, council received the first draft of our Emergency Plan. This plan was created in co-operation with the Regional District of East Kootenay and Canfor to assist the village in case of emergency.

We have hired an Emergency Co-ordinator whose role is to implement the plan and keep it updated as well as maintain contact with Provincial Emergency programs and East Kootenay Regional District emergency representatives.

The position also includes providing assistance when it comes to training staff on emergency operations and updating them on emergency operations.

At the last council meeting on May 26th, Jean Horton of Focus Engineering provided an update on the Water Capital Project.  The water line is completed to the north end where it will tie into the Eagle’s Nest portion of the system.

We are currently going through the Archeological Assessment process and some sites have been found to be highly sensitive areas. Further assessments need to be done in order to determine how to proceed without disturbing the sites. This will result in some delays and the completion is now estimated to be early October rather than July.  It is quite common to have a major capital project run into unexpected delays.  On the positive side, however, we are still well within the budget.

The other big agenda item was the third reading of the Roads and Traffic Bylaw which was rescinded at the last meeting of April due to a number of residents voicing concerns regarding some of the changes.

A number of these residents attended the last meeting as well and gave more feedback which council took into consideration during their debate.

Some of the highlights include: the weight restriction for parking on the boulevard has changed from 5,500 kilograms to 23,000 kilograms to accommodate loggers bringing their empty trucks home as well as school busses; and parking of recreational vehicles as well as boat and ATV trailers will be allowed on the boulevard between May 15th and September 30th.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who took time out of their busy lives to attend the meeting.  We so appreciate all of the comments and feedback that was given to us, and I hope this will encourage others to come out as well.

Ute Juras is the mayor of Canal Flats and can be reached at 250-489-9070 or by e-mail at ujuras@gmail.com .