I have several topics of interest this month including:
Area C Parks Community Meetings
There are three upcoming meetings scheduled for Sept. 16 at Sorrento Memorial Hall, Sept. 17 at Eagle Bay Hall, and Sept. 18 at White Lake Hall.
All meetings start at 7 p.m. Please drop by and provide us with your suggestions and ideas to improve our parks
Shuswap Watershed Council
The Sorrento Community meeting has been re-scheduled to Monday Sept. 15 at Sorrento Memorial Hall.
The open house is at 3:30 p.m. and the main presentation/discussion starts at 6 p.m. We are looking forward to your input on the plans moving forward.
Nutrient Management Report
A new report, Agricultural Nutrient Management in the Shuswap Watershed for Maintaining and Improving Water Quality, has been posted on the Shuswap Watershed Council website (www.shuswapwater.ca).
This is an excellent and extensive educational review of the issues and the literature, and the report provides recommendations to the Shuswap Watershed Council for future initiatives designed to reduce pollutants and improve water quality.
Bryozoans in Mara Lake
Unusual colonies of bryozoans have been spotted in Mara Lake. These microscopic organisms, also known as “moss animals” are harmless, not predatory or toxic.
They look like large (up to 70-centimetre) gelatinous antler-like structures and they feed on other microscopic organisms. Follow up will be done to try to determine why this unusual situation has occurred this year.
Grant in aid policy
As per the recently revised policy, no grant-in-aid applications will be considered in the months of September, October or November this year, in view of the upcoming local election scheduled for Nov. 15. I think this is a good improvement to the policy.
CSRD Travel Expense Policy
There has been significant misinformation on the recent update to this policy. Here are a few facts to consider:
• Electoral area directors requested that this policy be updated at the February EAD Committee meeting.
• This policy applies to both staff and directors at the CSRD.
• A key reason for deferment was that no comparative information was provided, which made it difficult to ensure that our policy was in line with those of other regional districts. This information was reviewed at the Aug. 7 EAD meeting and illustrated several deficiencies in the draft policy.
• The directors made several suggestions to tighten up and improve the policy. A key change was that the policy must be reviewed every four years.
• The previous policy was over 30 years old; surely a deferment of one month to acquire additional information so as to improve the policy is a reasonable and appropriate course of action.
If you would like to suggest topics for future articles, or participate in our community advisory panel surveys, please contact me at pdemenok@csrd.bc.ca.
- Paul Demenok is the Area C director for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District