North Central Local Government Association 206—155 George St., Prince George, BC V2L 1P8 Tel: (250) 564-6585 Fax: (250) 564-6514 Email: contact@nclga.ca Web: www.nclga.ca

CONNECTORCONNECTORCONNECTOR Remembrance Day is just around the corner, I hope that you are able to

make the time to take in a service or ceremony in your community.

Our staff recently toured Quesnel on a site visit for our upcoming 2013 Convention. They report that the Committee is already formed and hard at work. The venues are going to work out very well. The plan is to use the Quesnel Seniors’ Centre for the business sessions. Arena 2 will be used for the tradeshow and meals (the setup will much the same as it was in 100 Mile House). The great thing about the venues in Quesnel is how convenient they are - they share a large parking lot.

By the time you read this newsletter, I will have attended my first UBCM Board Meeting as a member of the Executive. All five of the Area Association Presidents sit on the UBCM Board for the year they are in office. I’m looking forward to seeing UBCM from an inside view point. This year we have very strong representation from the North on this board, with 8 members being from the NCLGA Region.

I would like to thank Art Kaehn who spoke on behalf of NCLGA at the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission hearing held in Prince George. We believe the Commission was interested and listening and we look forward to seeing their final recommendations. Thank you to everyone who took the time to travel and present at these hearings.

Another item that NCLGA is following closely is the proposed reduction in Greyhound bus service across the north. NCLGA has sent a letter to the Passenger Transportation Board outlining our concerns.

Best wishes to Mayor Karen Anderson of Hudson’s Hope who is retiring soon. We enjoyed working with you these past four years.

I’m looking forward to attending the next NCLGA Board Meeting coming up the first week of December. The Executive will be touring two unique medical facilities in Prince George. A special thank you to Murry Krause and Olive Godwin for arranging tours of the Central Interior Native Health Society and the Blue Pine Clinic.

PRESIDENT’S CORNER No. 111 November 2012

 Mitch Campsall NCLGA President

UNIVERSAL DESIGN HOUSING SUPPORTED BY NEW INCENTIVE PROJECT

A $60,000 grant from the BC government SAFERhome Standards Society will fund a 2-year pilot project to make housing more accessible for all BC families.

The Universal Design Housing Pilot Project will provide developers of low-rise, multi-unit housing with $600 for each unit they design in accordance with the SAFERhome 19-point standards, when they provide matching funds.

Universal design housing offers the flexibility to use built-in design features without the need to undergo costly renovations later, as accessibility features can be added more easily and inexpensively during initial construction.

Design standards include: ♦ Slightly larger doors ♦ Fewer tripping hazards ♦ Reinforced walls ♦ Easier to access light switches/plugs

http://www.saferhomesociety.com/

UBCM GOLD STAR RESOLUTION WINNER

Congratulations to the District of Tumbler Ridge! They won a UBCM 2012 Gold Star Award for their resolution “Transient Worker Data Collection.”

Only four Gold Star Awards were given out. When you consider the number of resolutions debated at UBCM it is quite an honour to be chosen as one of the winners for excellence in resolution drafting.

UBCM began the tradition of the Gold Star Award in 2003, with NCLGA following suit in 2006.

A list of previous winners can be found on the UBCM website: www.ubcm.ca/EN/main/resolutions/

It is interesting to note that there has been a winner from the NCLGA Region in 9 out of the 10 years that the UBCM Gold Star Award has been in existence. This reflects very well on the skills our member communities have in crafting resolutions.

Congratulations Tumbler Ridge !

NCLGA CONNECTOR # 111 November 2012 - Page 2

GISCOME MODULAR SCHOOL BASELINE 20 STUDENTS

The community of Giscome, east of Prince George will soon have a new modular school to replace its elementary school that was demolished this summer.

This facility is part of the government’s $10-million Modular School Replacement Pilot Program to renew aging infrastructures in Rural BC.

Giscome Elementary was built in 1957 to serve families in a town growing rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s. In 2009, the Prince George Board of Education voted to close the school due to its deteriorating condition and declining student enrolment. After consultation with residents, portable classrooms were put on site so students could continue to learn in their community, instead of travelling to Blackburn Elementary in Prince George.

The new modular Giscome Elementary will continue to accommodate students in kindergarten to Grade 7. In contrast to portables, modular classrooms are a permanent solution for school space and have a 40-year life span. They feature bright, open designs with high ceilings and windows for plenty of natural light and cross-ventilation. The Giscome modular will also utilize BC wood as much as possible.

Modular schools are also being created in Nisga’a and Nechako Lakes.

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PARAMEDIC STUDENT SPACES The Ministry of Advanced Education has provided an additional $276,800 to fund student spaces in the Justice Institute’s Primary Care Paramedic Program. This will allow new program offerings in Prince George and Trail, in addition to the previously funded programs in Port McNeill, Smithers, Dawson Creek and Kamloops. Fifteen full-time seats will be offered in Prince George which will support the BC Ambulance Service’s paramedic recruitment and staffing needs.

CARBON OFFSET AGGREGATION CO-OP RECEIVES CONFIRMATION OF FUNDING

The next phase of government funding for the Prince George based Carbon Offset Aggregation

Cooperative (COAC) means that more companies that operate diesel trucks and heavy equipment will be going green in BC. The cooperative

will receive funds that will allow the retrofit of 100 trucks a month. This will result in the elimination of over 20,000 tonnes in GHG emissions and the saving of over 8 million litres of diesel fuel usage in the next year. COAC represents 35 member companies province wide from industries such as logging, trucking, general freight and road building, along with local governments.

L-R Minister Terry Lake, Zoe Younger COAC, MaryAnne Arcand COAC, Minister Shirley Bond & Minister Pat Bell.

INFRASTRUCTURE COSTING GUIDE LAUNCHED BY SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Written for practitioners and participants involved in urban growth management decisions at the city or regional scale. Contact Patricia Gordon, SCI Cities Network Director pgordon@icsc.ca or visit: www.sustainablecities.net/our-work/services/infrastructure-costing

RDFFG Chair Art Kaehn, RDFFG Directors Lara Beckett, and Kevin Dunphy, MLA Shirley Bond, Education Minister Don McRae, Mackenzie Mayor Stephanie Killam, and RDFFG Director Warren Wilson.

PREVENTING FALLS ON STAIRS A factsheet on preventing falls on stairs is available from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Many falls can be prevented with good planning and strategies..Prevention starts by keeping in mind that there are risks when people use stairs. For more information and tips visit: www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/adse/adse_001.cfm

NCLGA CONNECTOR # 111 November 2012 - Page 3

FORT ST. JOHN HOSPITAL GRAND OPENING Premier Christy Clark officially opened the Fort St. John Hospital and Peace Villa which will provide families and seniors expanded hospital and residential care services inside a new $301.8 million facility. The new Fort St. John hospital and senior care facility, in concert with the hospitals in Chetwynd and Dawson Creek and the two diagnostic and treatment facilities in Hudson’s Hope and Tumbler Ridge have the capability to provide a full range of health care services to serve the regional population. The new and modern state-of-the-art facility is a 23,000 square meter building that includes an expanded emergency room and ambulatory care department, an intensive care unit, larger operating rooms, endoscopy suite and a birthing center. The project, which was completed on time and on budget, is the first of its kind in the North. A very diverse collection of professionals had collectively

planned, tested and built not only the new 55-bed hospital, but also the two new residential care facilities that house 123 bed spaces. The Peace River Regional Hospital District partnered with the Province and Northern Health by contributing $98 million to the project. Chair Goodings, on behalf of the Peace River Regional Hospital District, also introduce ‘AURORA’, a one-of-a-kind art piece depicting the Aurora Borealis that commonly display their mystical light shows in skies across the Peace Region. ‘Aurora’, is mounted in the main stairwell of the hospital and is intended to bring healing energy; create a calm, contemplative moment; and strike a balance between abstraction and literal representation into the hospital. The piece was created by BC artists Cheryl Hamilton and Micheal Vandermeer, from hand-blown glass elements highlighted by light emitting diodes focused through dichroic glass lenses. The resulting effect gives the illusion of dancing northern lights.

~ FORT STJOHN

The Energetic City