The District of 100 Mile House has voted to send a letter of support to the BC Cancer Society.
During the May 6 council meeting, the district received a letter written by MLAs Lorne Doerkson, Rosalyn Bird, Tony Luck, Ward Stamer and Peter Milobar addressed to First Nations, municipalities and regional districts requesting their support and advocacy for the redesign of the Kamloops B.C. Cancer Care Centre.
"Currently, the proposed Kamloops Cancer Centre differs slightly from other provincial cancer facilities in terms of being designed as a site with two different locations, one of which will be overseen by the local health authority and the other site overseen by B.C. Cancer; neither of their data and information software work with each other and lastly, the Kamloops centre will not include a PET-CT scanner," the letter stated.
The letter goes on to state they have brought this to Health Minister Josie Osbourne's attention, and request recipients respond to their MLAs with any letter of support by May 22 to present the letters en masse to Minister Osborne at the B.C. legislature before the end of session.
Coun. Donna Barnett agreed with the letter, saying the Cancer Care Centre in Kamloops should be under the B.C. Cancer Society and not under Interior Health. District of 100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney said that Osborne had been digging her heels in on this project.
"Josie has basically said that, do you want this done, or do you want it delayed? Because if we change the format now, it's going to get delayed," Pinkney said.
The motion to send a letter of support passed unanimously.
New events announced during Mayor's Report
Some new events were announced during the Mayor's Report.
Barnett said on July 5, Fun in the Park will take place alongside the South Cariboo Pickleball Association's Duck Race. In addition, the District of 100 Mile House will be co-sponsoring the event. Barnett said it should be a real fun day. July 21 and 22 will be the annual general meeting for the B.C. Trappers Association at the 108 Heritage Site.
There will also be a 50th anniversary celebration for 100 Mile House on July 26 at the 108 Heritage Site.
Agreement executed with B.C. Transit
The District of 100 Mile House council unanimously voted to execute the annual agreement between the district and B.C. Transit.
Currently, B.C. Transit serves 100 Mile House with two bus routes, as well as Health Connections services to Williams Lake.
Pinkney asked when the prohibition on raising rates due to conditions over COVID funding would expire, with Tammy Boulanger, the Chief Administrative Officer, stating that it would be in the spring. Boulanger added that there was a backlog of fare reviews.
Pinkney said that they would love to change the fare, and also added that if there had been a private business with a small van, it would get more ridership and more on-demand business with less taxpayer subsidy.
2024 Annual Report available for public inspection
Council voted to make the 2024 annual report available for public inspection.
The annual report is a legislated requirement where the municipality must report on the previous year's progress as well as objectives for the coming year.
Pinkney praised the report, calling it "beautiful" and thanked district staff for doing the report. Pinkney had also wondered if they could see how many people read through the 2024 annual report.
Boulanger told Coun. Dave Mingo after he asked whether or not the link to the report would be posted on the social media site it would be. She added that people will have the opportunity to comment, and then they will come back in a following meeting to adopt the report.
Council schedules public hearing regarding zoning amendment application for 532 Horse Lake Road
The District of 100 Mile House has set June 3 as the date for a public hearing regarding a zoning amendment application for 532 Horse Lake Road.
Pinkney left District Council Chambers during the discussion due to a conflict of interest.
The application is coming from Cariboo Geographic Systems for Larry Pinkney and requests changes to the District of 100 Mile House bylaws to allow for residential use on part of a commercial property on Horse Lake Road.
Community Services had commented that the district will require a storm easement along the north side of the property.
In the description, applicant Larry Pinkney said that the property was presently vacant and that there had been a statutory right of way in favour of a municipality for sewage purposes, and he wanted to build a smaller single-family house. Agent Nigel Hemingway was at the Council meeting and said that they were proposing the same as what they had "right now" and that they wanted to convert it to a residential duplex to conform to other properties in the Blackstock area.
