• Two School District #83 trustees resigned, citing dysfunction among the board as a primary deciding factor.
Barry Chafe, who represented Sicamous-Malakwa, and Jenn Wilchuk, who represented Carlin-Sorrento, both tendered notices of resignation to the board in advance of the April 12 regular meeting.
• District of Sicamous council agreed to pursue proposals for the construction of a portable washroom facility estimated to cost about $89,000.
Last month, council approved the purchase of a portable stage unit for $154,907, with the intention of purchasing a portable washroom that could be used in tandem with the stage at events.
• A break and enter turned what was once an idyllic family summer getaway in the Shuswap into a source of stress and concern.
• With her face bright red and holding back tears, school board chair Bobbi Johnson acknowledged failure over the school district’s transfer of more than $10.5 million in surplus operating funds into capital funding projects in the past five years.
The money was used, in part, to fund the new $9 million District Education Support Centre and a $1 million building at the school district operational works yard in the Salmon Arm Industrial Park.
• Calgary resident Kathy Fink returned to Shuswap Lake to open her secluded, boat-access-only cabin for the season, only to find the cabin’s door kicked in and numerous items stolen. The same had occurred at two neighbouring cabins.
• There was a willingness among Sicamous residents to accept the proposed amalgamation of the community’s public schools provided the school district followed through with the renovations at Eagle River Secondary to make it happen.
Those renovations, estimated to cost $1.4 million were identified by a task force of school district staff, parents and others as what would work best to transform Eagle River into a kindergarten to Grade 12 school, and allow for the closure of Parkview Elementary, as recommended in the school district’s long-term facility plan.
• Sicamous’ new water treatment plant was online and on budget.
The Mara water facility was operational as of late December 2015 and, as council learned in April, construction costs appeared to be within the $7.9 million budget.
• The district was informed it would receive one-time funding from a provincial Public Safety and Community Hazard Mitigation Funding initiative to the tune of $33,333. The funds were earmarked for a $50,000 hydraulic conductivity assessment of the Sicamous Narrows.