Editor’s note: Regional Rundown is a new feature in the Valley Echo, in which we’ll offer each mayor and regional  district director in the Columbia Valley the chance to share what’s new in their community. This week marks Village of Radium Hot Springs mayor Dee Conklin’s debut in the column.

 

As the Mayor of Radium Hot Springs I would like to wish everyone, on behalf of myself and council, a very happy and prosperous New Year. We ended 2013 on a bang, literally! The New Year’s Eve Birthday party that Radium hosts every year was a huge success. Families came out in droves to skate, toboggan and sit around the campfire all while enjoying chili, hotdogs, and hot chocolate and of course, birthday cake! The Radium Fire Department once again put on a half-hour fireworks display that would be the envy of many towns and districts!

We in Radium had a lot to be grateful for in 2013. For example, many of our volunteer fire fighters became first responders; we installed two new playgrounds; we completed our official community plan and we also completed phase two of the Radium Pump and Jump bike park.

We had a strategic planning session with both council and staff working together on plans for the next five to ten years.

So what is up for 2014?

At the end of the year we sent out a survey to all of our residents about the wildlife in town (sheep, deer, et cetera) and asked them about their thoughts and experiences.

The data has being collected and a report will be out soon. We will then discuss future policies and potential actions.

One of our economic development strategies is to convert our seasonal population into permanent residents. We are well underway to achieving our goals as many second homeowners this year took the plunge.

As Tourism Radium is busy marketing our area, the village will be hiring an event coordinator whose job will be to develop a new program of events and festivals to help support our tourism efforts.

Also in 2014, we will continue to evaluate our facilities and programs for recreation, heritage and culture. We are still working on the community hall – what should we do with it? Renovate? Rebuild? The roof over the outdoor rink is still in the works! There are so many options that still need to be discussed.

On the safety front, depending on funding, we would like to undertake interface wildfire (forest fuel) mitigation work outside of our municipal boundaries to create defensible space. The priority will be protecting our key infrastructure including our water treatment plant, settling pond and hydro transmission corridor.

These are just a few things for 2014, and that doesn’t even touch on the work we are doing regionally.

Over the last few years, the five elected officials in the Columbia Valley have worked collaboratively on numerous projects. I will let one of my colleagues expand on that topic in the next Regional Rundown report. If anyone has any questions or wishes more information, please contact me at mayor@radiumhotsprings.ca.

 

Dee Conklin is the Mayor of Radium Hot Springs and can be reached at the village office at 250-347-6455 or by email at

mayor@radiumhotsprings.ca.