A process begun over the slower civic pace of summertime concludes this week with conversations featuring councillors Deb McIntosh and Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff.
With a less frequent schedule of council meetings, all six Castlegar councillors have been asked by the Castlegar News what’s been on their minds of late.
Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff thought first of an environmental topic.
“Recycling is kind of dear to my heart,” she began on August 18, referring to a development publicized a week earlier at a public meeting in City Council chambers. Multi-Materials BC, an Ontario-based outfit that had taken control of much of B.C.’s recycling in mid-May of this year, had come up shy in its performance as far as some (including Heaton-Sherstobitoff, a vocal critic) were concerned.
“I’d been advocating for us to send letters to the Minister and to MMBC. We did get a response from Minister (Mary) Polak, the Minister of Environment,” said Heaton-Sherstobitoff. “She finally agreed, the recycling program through MMBC doesn’t fit our needs. She’s calling it inadequate for our community.”
The MMBC operation was not without merit in the councillor’s opinion, and likely represented an improvement in many parts of the province. She just felt that the existing system in Castlegar, one she described as “progressive” didn’t need any adjustment.
“Now we can have an open conversation about what we need, that our residents, getting back to money, aren’t paying more for recycling than what they did prior to May.”
To clarify, Multi-Materials BC has not been squeezed out of the picture. They have, apparently, been instructed to engage in dialogue with various communities and be open to making some changes.
“We’re not the only community in the province that has issues,” said Heaton-Sherstobitoff. “For communities like us, we’ve actually gone backwards.” The councillor lamented the MMBC process for what she felt is a complex arrangement, with not all materials taken care of.
With what looks like a healthier scenario on the recycling horizon, Heaton-Sherstobitoff focused on another field she’s heavily involved with, that being health care.
A recent highlight in Heaton-Sherstobitoff’s opinion was a June report to the West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital Board by consultant Jim Gustafson. The report, commissioned by the City of Castlegar made recommendations including:
1. Adoption of a strategic plan;
2. Establishing a multi-year capital bud
get that addresses the health care needs of
the WKBRHD;
3. Preparation of a financial plan showing
different scenarios for capital projects and
subsequent property tax implications;
4. Requesting Interior Health initiate a plan
ning study for the WKBRHD in 2015;
5. Discussing the Board’s purpose and role.
“Twenty eight out of 30 communities, or areas that we approached were in favour of going ahead with the planning process,” Heaton Sherstobitoff declared.
‘Does this mean a new Castlegar-located hospital?’ she was asked.
“To have a conversation about what the region needs for acute care,” she explained, “...which is a new hospital, right?”
The councillor got ready to wind up the conversation by promoting the creation of more facilities for seniors.
“We have an aging population and we need more places that are affordable,” Heaton Sherstobitoff concluded. “That’s a provincial sort of thing, but we need to start some kind of dialogue in our community.”