By Lyonel Doherty, Times Chronicle
The following are Oliver town council briefs from the Sept. 26 meeting.
More paramedics
The Town has learned that paramedic resources will be expanded in the community.
The BC Ambulance Service informed council that Oliver is one of 31 communities that will receive more permanent full-time paramedics.
“This will create more permanent jobs in these communities and will help stabilize our paramedic staffing (to improve coverage and responsiveness),” said Leanne Heppell, executive vice-president of BC Emergency Health Services.
Heppell said the Oliver station (the on-call daytime ambulance) will be converted to a fully-staffed “Bravo” unit that will operate seven days a week (11-hour day shifts).
“This conversion will result in the addition of four new permanent full-time positions in Oliver,” Heppell said.
Goose hunting continues
Once again, Oliver town council will approve the issuance of six hunting permits under the Town’s goose management program.
The Town is accepting applications for six exemptions to the Good Neighbour Bylaw to allow permit holders to discharge firearms within the municipality for the purpose of hunting Canada geese.
Permit holders will follow all existing regulations and receive permission from affected landowners before discharging a firearm. In particular, goose hunting will be focused around the Oliver Airport and Tucelnuit Lake.
The Town of Oliver began the program in 2010 to reduce the number of urban geese that have a negative impact on water quality and public health.
Oliver is age-friendly
The Town of Oliver has been added to the list of World Health Organization (WHO) network members.
Council has directed staff to finalize this process and continue working through its Age-Friendly Plan by submitting at least one age-friendly practice per year to maintain WHO membership.
In a letter to Mayor Martin Johansen, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam congratulated the Town for becoming an age-friendly community.
“Making communities age-friendly has been identified as one of the best ways to help older adults remain healthy and active, while enabling them to be and do what they value,” Tam said.
No new detachment
The Town of Oliver has received correspondence from the BC RCMP just in case the municipality wants to construct a new or renovate an existing police detachment.
In a letter to council, Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald has asked the Town to notify the BC RCMP if the municipality is considering building a new detachment or planning major renovations.
“Many municipally owned detachments across B.C. are reaching their end-of-life cycle,” he said.
But Mayor Martin Johansen told the Times Chronicle that the Town is not looking to build a new RCMP detachment or renovate the existing one.
He explained the letter from the RCMP was sent to all municipalities to clarify the process should a municipality be considering the construction of a new detachment or renovation of an existing detachment.
