With 2013 in mind, I waited anxiously for June to arrive yet it has flown by and with it, the worry of possible flooding. Grateful that issue didn’t materialize, however, the month hasn’t been without challenges.

June started with the open house regarding West Fernie restructuring plans that elicited very heated debate from those not wanting to join Fernie. An expressed sentiment was that Fernie wasn’t doing enough to help financially. It is not up to our taxpayers to bear this burden, Regional District Director Mike Sosnowski has worked hard and long to negotiate and procure 84% funding for the project. This is big assistance as he’s still working to find more, but in this day of government cutbacks it is very difficult. What’s important to understand is that West Fernie residents have the choice of whether they will accept this assistance or end up paying 100% of the costs. This will happen in the near future as public health, environmental and property safety are big concerns due in part to a lack of community sanitary sewer and storm water system and insufficiencies of the existing water utility. The only way to upgrade this servicing is to hook into the City of Fernie servicing utility. Although there are some compliant septic systems, the majority are not safe and at some point will be mandated into compliance. The real choice is not whether you should join the City but whether you will have this service now at an assisted cost or later at your full cost.

Camera surveillance was another hot topic and despite personal opinion, Council voted to turn down this service despite the many months of work and research done by staff. Surveys showed businesses wanted the cameras downtown but residents spoke up in droves stating they didn’t believe this was necessary, that it violated their privacy and that it would send a message that Fernie wasn’t a safe place to live. Several businesses downtown have surveillance cameras and some are pointed out on the street, I believe this is perfectly legal.

The City held its annual long service awards and this year’s recipients are all exceptional individuals who have dedicated many years and will continue to offer many more to our corporation. They are Bruce Lennox 10 years, Tom Hopkins 15 years, Dave Kurschenska 20 years, Byron Sarabun 35 years and Vern McGarrigle 40 years. Congratulations to all.

Thanks go to Courtney Baker, Gail Adams, Vanessa Croome and Julie Comette, for all the work organizing the dumpster bin painting. Also many thanks to Hal Anderson of South East for allowing the bins to be painted, we couldn’t have done it without Hal agreeing to this. I can’t forget to thank the many artists that are involved in doing the actual work, the mock-ups look amazing and so I am sure the finished product will add a lot to our town. Thanks also to City workers and staff for their assistance with this project. This is something that I believed in for years but it wasn’t until Courtney and Gail joined me in this venture that I realized it could become reality. Courtney especially has been remarkable in leading, Gail, Julie and Vanessa’s help has been invaluable, thank you ladies for turning a dream into reality.

After years of meetings, the Official Community Plan has been adopted. A dedicated group of volunteers representing every sector of the community is responsible for poring over the document, deleting and adding what is appropriate and specific to Fernie now. A big shout of thanks goes to staff especially Bruce Lennox and Suzanne Gerard. To the volunteers, you spent a great deal of your time to work on this plan and it is sincerely appreciated. I don’t think residents unfamiliar with this process can understand the amount of hours of personal time you dedicated to this so thank you again for all of your good work.

A presentation by CP Rail Mike LoVecchio was fruitful; Mr. LoVecchio is in support of our request to have crossing arms at 13th street. A decision will be made by CP engineers based partly on amount of vehicle traffic that goes over that crossing. Counters have been placed to get a number, although with school not in session 13th street is not as busy as it normally would be.

Another contentious issue is the vendor policy. Businesses downtown are speaking out in regards to food vehicles situating themselves in close proximity to them. Council has determined that they will designate a space on First Avenue where the trucks can position so as to be visible and not be too far from Second Avenue. This, of course, could impact their business however, as always, Council needs to listen to concerns, take in all points of view and come to a compromise that can work for everyone.

Mayors and Area A director met with the Minister of Transportation Todd Stone and Minister Bill Bennett and other Transportation staff from Cranbrook and Victoria to discuss concerns of Highway Three. My concerns were in regard to the narrow Lizard Creek bridge that experiences frequent accidents, the intersection at the Ski Hill, crossings at 5th, 7th and 9th Streets and at the intersection turn into Riverside. Also, adding a flashing warning light to 13th Street making traffic aware of the oncoming stop light as many people say there are too many vehicles that run the red light there. 9th street is scheduled for a push light this summer as this crosswalk is very busy, other signed crosswalks will be removed along the highway so that people don’t get a false sense of safety as most drivers don’t stop. I brought up the uneven road along the rock cuts as did Mayor McKerracher.

This month hosted events such as:

– the Legion Veterans Dinner
– the Community Choir Concert
– Rumble in the Rockies

– Island Lake Soiree
– Tourism Fernie AGM
– BC Mobile Medical Unit Tour

– Freedom Climb Benefit Concert
– Sparwood and Elkford Parades

– Museum Curator’s Retirement
– Economic Development Workshop for Local Leaders
– The Fernie Academy and Fernie Secondary School High School Graduations

– The Intense Fernie 3 Bike Race
– Fernie Roll and Sole festival

I got to nail a floor board in the new Nevados Restaurant which was particularly meaningful as this used to be the Diamond Grill and was my first paid job as waitress at age 15. It was a privilege to speak at some of the events and it was definitely my pleasure to attend them all.