February

• Jackie Paul was on what she called “quite the journey.” Paul had her left leg amputated above the knee in November 2021. A month earlier, she’d suffered three aneurysms — which can be deadly — and was admitted to Kamloops Royal Inland Hospital. She underwent surgery to have stents put in and considers herself blessed to be alive. “The team… that is looking after me, from the physiotherapist in Salmon Arm to the team in Kamloops is amazing,” said Paul. “It’s very comforting… I’m not just left on my own to deal with this.” Megan Kitawaga and Jo Coffey, friends of Paul, started a Gofundme to help get her get “the most badass advanced prosthetic” that raised over $30,000 as of Jan. 28.

• A lack of rental housing, combined with the prevalence of short-term rentals, has some residents living in “inadequate or unsafe” housing, according to a report done for the District of Sicamous. In June 2021, the district hired CitySpaces Consulting to undertake a housing needs report. Long-term rental housing is hard to find any time of the year, and an increasing number of units being offered as short-term rentals is affecting the cost and availability of housing in Sicamous. Additionally, seniors looking to downsize and age in their community were noted as a group having a hard time finding suitable housing.

• The population in Sicamous rose from 2,429 in 2016 to 2,613 in 2021, a 7.6 per cent increase. Salmon Arm’s population rose by nearly 10 per cent since 2016, a figure Salmon Arm’s mayor deemed ‘perfect.’ In 2016, the city’s population was measured at 17,706 but by May 2021, when the most recent census was recorded, the total had increased by 9.6 per cent or 1,726 people to just short of 20,000 – 19,432. In terms of size of municipalities in B.C., Salmon Arm was ranked at 36, nestled between Cranbrook and Pitt Meadows. Sicamous was ranked at 172. Sicamous’ 7.6 per cent jump matches B.C.’s overall population growth of 7.6 per cent.

• Sicamous council wanted to keep commercial vehicles carrying dangerous goods off of Highway 97A. At council’s Feb. 9 meeting, Coun. Jeff Mallmes brought forward a motion to ask the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) to lobby the provincial government to designate the highway as a scenic route. Specifically, he sought to “restrict commercial transport, specifically the transport of dangerous goods, between Sicamous and the intersection of Highway 97A and Highway 97B (north of Enderby), until standard highway specifications are met to ensure the protection of the public, environment and critical infrastructure.”

• The Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) was against salvage logging in areas impacted by last summer’s Two Mile Road wildfire near Sicamous. An engineering firm hired by the CSRD determined proposed salvage logging at the site of the wildfire would increase the chance of a debris flow occurring. The Two Mile Road wildfire burned intensely above the Sicamous Creek mobile home park and as a result, there’s was already a high risk of a small debris flow.

• A collision on Highway 1 near Sicamous killed a woman and her child. The collision occurred on Highway 1 near Kerr Road around 9 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 17. A 45-year-old woman from Okanagan Falls was travelling eastbound when she lost control of her pickup truck and veered into the westbound lane and an oncoming semi-truck.

SicamousYear in Review