The Eagle Valley News looks back at some of the stories that made headlines in 2020.
• Although they can no longer provide their volunteer taxi service due to COVID-19, the Eagle Valley Transportation (EVT) was still doing its part to help seniors in need. EVT president Malcolm Makayev said the society’s drivers have been delivering low-cost meals to seniors for the past eight weeks. Makayev said EVT has been working with local non-profits to identify those in need of a meal, drawing a list of clients from the Eagle Valley Community Support Society and Meals on Wheels, which had to shut down as most of their volunteers are seniors.
The meals were prepared by Dawn Backs in the kitchen at the currently closed Sicamous and District Rec Centre.
• As businesses reopen during the pandemic, the Sicamous and District Chamber of Commerce set up to provide supplies making their operations safer. Using funds saved due to the cancellation of large public events, the District of Sicamous created a $40,000 business relief and economic stimulus fund which was being administered by the chamber.
The chamber put together a COVID-19 recovery kits with health and safety items businesses would need to stay up and running while the virus remains a pressing concern.
• Work on the Sicamous to Armstrong Rail Trail was continuing but without the support of significant grant funding. According to Shuswap Trail Alliance executive director Phil McIntyre-Paul, a $13 million infrastructure grant would have allowed the project to move forward into construction. According to a trail alliance press release, the grant application was not approved because the grant program was over-subscribed.
McIntyre-Paul said alternative sources of funding for construction were being investigated, while they had all the money needed to finish design and planning, which he said could be done this summer.
• Owners of boats that made up part of the rental fleet for the now-defunct Waterway Houseboats will receive compensation for earnings lost due to the destructive flood and debris flow of 2012. The flood severely damaged the Waterway’s property located on the shore of Mara Lake.
An April 2019 court decision found the provincial government, the District of Sicamous and private landowners partially responsible for the devastation. The houseboat company was awarded $2 million, but it proved to be insufficient to hold off its creditors and the company entered receivership and closed up shop in June 2019.
Also provided in the 2019 court decision was $333,353 in damages. That money will be going to the 63 boat owners now that the court has decided how to split it among them.