Zebra and quagga Mussels were expected to be on the menu when members of Salmon Arm council met with Steve Thomson, provincial Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources.
Though no molluscs were to be consumed, council was hunting for answers on what is being done to ensure the invasive species is stopped from entering B.C. lakes.
“We need more information and public education, but also inspection sites,” said Mayor Nancy Cooper before heading off to this week’s annual Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver.
Thomson was one of three ministers who members of council were scheduled to meet at the conference.
Council had an appointment with Minister of Advanced Education Andrew Wilkinson to discuss Okanagan College’s proposed Learning Centre for Agriculture and its Downtown Community Campus.
Cooper said the main purpose was to give the minister an update on how planning is progressing.
The other minister on the list was Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
On the agenda was the highway at the west end of town and the Salmon River Bridge. Cooper said council was planning to encourage the ministry to keep working on upgrades.
Cooper said she would attend the convention for all five days, as would Couns. Louise Wallace Richmond, Tim Lavery, Chad Eliason and Kevin Flynn. Coun. Ken Jamieson was planning to attend for a couple of days and Coun. Alan Harrison wouldn’t be going, she said. Also attending was the city’s chief administrative officer, Carl Bannister.
“If we want to know where he is, he’s at the resolutions,” Cooper said.
Along with meeting with ministers, attending workshops and conversing with other municipal leaders, council would be paying attention to some of the 218 resolutions being presented.
Resolutions sponsored by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District focused on upgrading of critical accident zones on highways, the funding formula for public education and funding for nurse practitioners.
Cooper said they would also be paying attention to resolutions of provincial interest that are shared locally, such as ownership of rail corridors, the province’s BC Transit funding freeze, sustaining clean water sources and rail crossing safety regulations.