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This past Council meeting saw
two delegations addressing Council. The first was Dennis Berarducci and
Brad Fox with the Revelstoke Grizzlies. They were there to not only
invite us to the season opener on Sept 9th, but also to tell us of the
new ownership of the Grizzlies and their commitment to both player
development and being part of the community. I know a lot of us look
forward to the hockey season starting and we all wish the team well. I
would also like to acknowledge all of the positive changes at the arena
over the past year and to thank everyone that was involved in making our
arena a better place.
We also had a very
informative talk from Paul Skelton and Don Simpson from Revelstoke
Mountain Resort. Paul gave a short presentation on all of the milestones
that were achieved over the last year with the last ones being an
assortment of environmental studies recently submitted to both City Hall
and the Province. They both talked about work that is presently being
undertaken like the building of 7 kilometers of road to the top,
continuous environmental monitoring, as well as cutting over 40 acres of
ski runs. They are getting closer to the goal of ordering and installing
a ski lift and we are all hopeful that the order will go in this fall
with construction again hopefully slated for the spring of 2007. They
also stated they are working toward pre-selling real estate this winter
and building construction starting in the spring. I have a new
appreciation of the job the team is doing to make this ski hill a
reality especially as I see some of what happens behind the scenes. It's
one thing to get approvals, but ensuring the project unfolds safely,
environmentally sound, and first quality are another and all are
paramount to a project that is successful and the town will be proud of.
Keep up the good work!
Having just finished a
week of Railway Days and taking in quite a few of the events it was
great to see so many of the events so well attended. I received many
good comments from both tourists and locals, and look forward to next
years event, which Roberto tells me will be even bigger and better.
Congratulations to all of the different groups that participated and
showed off our railway heritage.
I see the installation of
gates and lights at Mackenzie crossing is completed. The only thing left
to happen before full implementation is for Transport Canada to come and
do an inspection and send off the request to Ottawa to stop the
whistling.
I had an opportunity to
tour the new care cottages at Queen Victoria Hospital and to say I was
impressed would be an understatement. This is a state of the art
facility and one that really raises the bar as far as health care
services go. As you read this, people will have started moving in and
enjoying a whole new chapter in their lives. I would encourage everyone
if given the opportunity to take a look at these fantastic new places. I
unfortunately wasn't able to make the information meeting on Moberly
Manor and the scheduled upgrades but heard that these will be moving
forward shortly and opening up another new chapter in health care
services in Revelstoke.
The fire on Mt McPherson
has caused not only a lot of concern for people but also a real problem
for people with any type of breathing difficulties. I participated in a
conference call with Ministry people to get an update on what is being
done. This fire is the #1 priority in this area and they know full well
the concerns of both locals and the traveling public. This fire is
monitored everyday and if it moves to an established trigger point where
it can be safely accessed, a full suppression attack will occur. This
will include but not be limited to Air Tankers, 2 medium helicopters, 2
IA crews, and 1 20-person Unit Crew. But I think it is also worthwhile
mentioning that it is ground crews and mother nature that put out forest
fires and it is not uncommon for fires like this to burn for several
months before going out. What prompts action is if a fire becomes a
threat to life or property.
Mayor Mark McKee
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