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December 14, 2012 The Columbia Valley Pioneer • 3
Valley NeWS
Regional district says no to Jumbo director
By Greg Amos
Pioneer Staff
The Regional District of east Kootenay is not
happy about the prospect of a having a non-elected
director on its board, and is making its displeasure
known to the province.
at its Friday, December 7th meeting, the 15-member
board unanimously passed a motion to send a letter to
Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
Bill Bennett expressing opposition to the fact that
the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality will
be allowed to vote at the regional district table without
neccessarily having an electorate in place to represent.
Under the letters patent that created the municipality
last month, Jumbo Glacier will gain the right to
vote at the board once the property within it reaches an
assessed value of $30 million, or as of January 1, 2017,
whichever comes first.
Canal Flats council stumped by Eagle’s Nest water
By Kate Irwin
Pioneer Staff
The Village of Canal Flats has reached an impasse
in the struggle to bring potable drinking water
to its Eagle’s Nest and Painted Ridge subdivisions.
The Eagle’s Nest Water System, which serves 62
properties in Eagle’s Nest and Painted Ridge, has
been under an Interior Health boil water advisory
since June 18th, 2003. This means the water for the
62 lots cannot be consumed without first boiling it
to remove potential waterborne pathogens.
The village council and staff have been debating
for more than a year how to bring a safe, clean source
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“There’s no assurance that that seat is anything more
than a ski resort company,” said Cranbrook director Bob
Whetham. “I think we’re in kind of dangerous territory,
to tell you the truth. This is a serious governance issue.”
“Panorama has been under construction for more
than 30 years, and I think it has two, maybe three dozen
permanent residents, and I don’t think this is going to be
any different,” he added.
Directors also questioned what would happen to
Jumbo Glacier’s seat at the table if the ski resort doesn’t
end up being developed.
“Whoever sits in that chair will be like a carbon
credit, I guess,” said District of elkford director Dean
McKerracher, who made his skepticism about provincial
carbon offset programs known earlier in the meeting.
Canal Flats director Ute Juras noted Mr. Bennett
had assured regional district board members in September
that a mountain resort municipality would not be
established unless he was assured the project would go
of water to the small group of residents and secondhome
owners, as they are required to do by the
Interior Health Authority.
However, the process is currently stalled due to a
lack of support from property owners for council to
borrow the money needed for upgrades.
“If we can’t borrow the money, we can’t move
ahead,” said Brian Woodward, chief administrative
officer and chief financial officer for Canal Flats.
“When we set out the original estimate a year ago, we
anticipated, based on previous estimates, a $700,000
to $800,000 cost.”
With a $400,000 provincial grant already secured
in 2007 to upgrade the water system, and an
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forward. Board chair Rob Gay, who represents electoral
area C, noted there was no mention of a business plan
during last month’s announcment, and questioned how
the mountain resort municpality would be represented
on the regional hospital board — an aspect that is not
raised in the letters patent.
In august 2009, the regional district board unanimously
passed a motion that any mountain resort municipality
should not be granted a seat on the regional
board until such time as they have sufficient population
to elect a council.
The lack of a tax base at the mountain resort municpality
means the regional district would need to charge it
directly for services such as solid waste collection during
the construction phase, explained chief administrative
officer lee-ann Crane. The resort developer would also
be charged for all costs incurred by the Jumbo Glacier
director until the time they become a voting member of
the board, she added.
estimate that the same amount again needed to be
borrowed to complete the project, all but two Eagle’s
Nest residents were in favour of moving ahead when
consulted last year, Mr. Woodward said.
But when the engineering report for the project
came back, pushing that estimated cost up to $1.64
million, less the grant money, those affected balked
at the cost doubling.
“I can only assume it’s due to cost,” Mr. Woodward
added. “To borrow that money would cost
property owners $1,100 per owner to pay off the
debt. That would be $1,100 every year for 25 years.”
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