WEDNESDAY
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Ski Hall of Fame decision looming
OCTOBER 10, 2012 Vol. 117, Issue 194
110
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Page 12
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
COLOURFUL CHARACTER
Wildfire protection grants prove too costly for taxpayers
Disaster assistance team set up for district First time Red Cross has joined forces with a B.C. community BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
Millions of dollars of provincial grant money has been turned down by the regional district for wildfire protection this year as the costs to taxpayers would be too high, says the board of director’s chair. Larry Gray said there is money for wildfire prevention to reduce the amount of standing fuel in the forest surrounding most West Kootenay Boundary “Should we be and communities, but taxing our the cost to attain residents, it would be nearly $1.5 million to even for the Regional District 25 per cent of Kootenay amount, Boundary (RDKB) taxpayers. to pay for It’s too steep of mitigation on a price to be borne Crown land by a thin and which belongs already taxed tax base, Gray said. to the In June, 2011, the province?” cost sharing formula, previously LARRY GRAY funded entirely by the province’s Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative, but administered by UBCM, was changed to require municipalities to contribute 25 per cent of the cost fuel management planning (over $100,000). “Should we be taxing our residents, even for the 25 per cent amount, to pay for mitigation on Crown land which belongs to the province?” he said during a recent Fruitvale village council meeting. “In the past we turned down money we had actually been granted last year. The rationale for not going after the money was simple.” The amount of forest fuel mitigation necessary overall for the RDKB would be $6.1 million, with the regional district being required to cough up its quarter share of around $1.5 million.
See MINISTRY, Page 3
TIMOTHY SCHAFER PHOTO
Another splash of colour was tenderly layered by Janis Woods on a piece of wood destined to be included in a work of art for the Handmade By … store on Bay Avenue. Woods is part of a team of artists who deal with varying degrees of disabilities and produce works for sale to the public in the store, open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
You could say it was a disaster waiting to happen. The search is on for people in Greater Trail to staff the West Kootenay’s first personal disaster team. The Regional District Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) and the Canadian Red Cross are looking to secure a half dozen volunteers to join the newly-formed Personal Disaster Assistance Team supporting electoral areas A and B, the villages of Fruitvale, Montrose, Warfield and the City of Trail. It also marks the first time the provincial Red Cross has partnered with a B.C. community to provide service for those first 72 hours of disaster response. The Red Cross was approached by the RDKB— the current disaster response managers—earlier this year to partner on a new program. “To develop a more disaster resilient community by developing partnerships with other agencies … is a great way to build capacity in a community,” said Elysia Dempsey, community planning and response manager for the Red Cross in B.C. and the Yukon. She lauded the initiative and foresight of the RDKB for the undertaking. Working jointly with the RDKB and the Canadian Red Cross Disaster Management Program, the Personal Disaster Assistance Team would provide assistance to community members experiencing personal disasters such as a house fire or flooding in the first 72-hours post-disaster.
Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242
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