As the year draws to a close and we enter an election year there is cause for optimism on a number of fronts in the local political scene.
A couple of items were of note recently. First, residents of Arrow Creek now have fire protection. It is co-ordinated by Creston Fire Rescue, in co-operation with the Canyon-Lister and Wynndel-Lakeview fire departments.
This has been a long time coming, and it should have happened sooner. Several years ago, the chiefs of each of those fire departments went to local elected officials with a plan — they would work together to provide fire protection service throughout the Creston Valley. I was in the room when the presentation was made and it was interesting to see the eyebrows of some of those attending raise, mine included. There was a common belief that these groups would never work together, and certainly not by their own choice. That belief held that the fire departments were silos, with the chiefs, volunteers and communities they serve fiercely protective of their independence.
This a done deal, I thought. Then the Regional District of Central Kootenay fire chief threw a huge bucket of ice cold water on the plan. Not going to happen, he said, unless the RDCK is operating the fire service. Fast forward a few years and the original plan is finally coming to fruition. Area B director John Kettle hopes that Kitchener residents will agree to a similar contract to the one under which Arrow Creek is now protected, and volunteers in Area C are scrambling to get enough property owners to sign a petition so that they, too, can finally have certified fire protection in West Creston and on the Creston flats, again on contract. There is no reason to believe that recent developments in fire protection can’t also happen with other services. Might the conversation for a valley-wide water system begin next?
Another bone of contention between regional directors and the Town of Creston quietly died recently. After a consultant’s report about cemetery services was presented to the local services committee recently, Kettle reversed his threat to withdraw funding for the two cemeteries run by the town.
Last week, town council passed a motion that would have taken most observers by surprise. It directed town staff to work with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to redraw boundaries to put the town’s half — yes half! — of Erickson Street into Area B. In exchange, the town would bring some land to the north into its own boundaries. On the surface this might seem like much ado about nothing. But what it would do is put responsibility for Erickson Street into provincial hands, paving the way (pun intended) for much-needed work on the road. It has largely become a patchwork roadway in recent years, with the town being unwilling to spend the millions to upgrade its share of the road.
This possible solution has come to the formal discussion stage largely because of Mayor Ron Toyota’s efforts to have informal talks with provincial highways management. Here’s the problem, where’s the solution? That appears to have been the theme of the chats. If this town council can pull off the land swap idea it would be a huge feather in its collective cap.
Also not to be overlooked was a list of strategic goals for the Town of Creston. Specifically, one commits the town to pushing for a regional government, a single entity that would govern the Creston Valley (it’s far too early to start talking about boundaries), moving us away from the ridiculous situation where people on one side of a street are governed by the Town of Creston and neighbours on the other side get services from the RDCK, with decisions being made by an unwieldy government centred in Nelson.
I’m sure local politicians would point to other areas of co-operation, and even some where it isn’t happening, but for the most part their accomplishments have been positive. Come election day next Nov. 15, we could see some major changes. At least one regional director is vowing to hang up his political spurs and it appears doubtful that some of the incumbent town councillors will run again. It would benefit us all if newcomers stepped into an atmosphere of co-operation.
Lorne Eckersley is the publisher of the Creston Valley Advance.