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Regional district briefs
Posted On 27 Apr 2015
- 2014 Cultural Report presented
- Fire services agreement
- Specialized 9-1-1 text capacity
- Support for Northwest Invasive Plant Council
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The 2014 annual Cultural Report was received. The annual Cultural Report contains 2014 and 2013 data on visitors, staff, volunteers, and operating budgets. Overall attendance for the eight funded sites increased by 16 per cent over 2013. Total visitation was over 179,000 for all sites. A total of 59 staff and 30 summer students were employed in 2014 and 335 volunteers donated their time. Nearly 4,000 school children visits were recorded, down from 9000 the year previous as a result of job action in schools.
The Golden Raven program continues to be the successful marketing umbrella for the eight funded sites along with Barkerville Historic Town and Fort St. James National Historic Site, who pay to participate. The partners cross-promote each other at their sites with Golden Raven signage, apparel for their staff and brochures with cost-saving coupons from each facility on display.
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The regional district has finalized a five-year fee for service agreement with Canfor for fire protection services for the Isle Pierre sawmill. Under the terms of the agreement the regional district, through Beaverly Fire Rescue will provide firefighting assistance when requested for fires deemed beyond Canfor’s firefighting capabilities. The value of the five-year agreement is $10,000. Additional fees may be applied depending on the resources required to assist in a particular emergency.
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The regional district’s 9-1-1 system will soon offer enhanced access to emergency services for the deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech impaired community through a specialized text message system called Text with 9-1-1. This specialized text messaging system means any person in our region who has pre-registered their cellphone for the service will be able to communicate with police, fire and ambulance call-takers via text during an emergency.
Text with 9-1-1 works differently than regular texting and there are very important things people need to know in order to use this special text service.
In order to access the service, callers must:
• Pre-register their cellphones with their wireless carrier (done through a national website: www.textwith911.ca )
• Dial 9-1-1 like any other caller in order to establish a voice network connection that will trigger an alert to commence a text session
• Call from a community where the service is available
The regional district will be working with E-Comm, the Regional District’s 9-1-1 call-answer service provider, to ensure a variety of public education materials are made available to local organizations in order to increase awareness around the service,
how it works and what to expect in the event someone needs to contact 9-1-1. The regional district will be working with E-Comm to provide more information to residents once the service comes online in the coming weeks.
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The regional district has approved a $25,000 grant for the Northwest Invasive Plant Council. The Northwest Invasive Plant Council (NWIPC) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing the spread of invasive alien plant species in Northwestern British Columbia. The grant comes in the form of Community Grants in Aid from each of the seven electoral areas, splitting the $25,000 evenly.
