Burning regs

Category 2 and 3 open fires and fireworks will be permitted throughout the entire Kamloops Fire Centre due to a decreased risk of wildfires.
Category 2 open fires burn material smaller than two metres in height and three metres in width, or stubble or grass covering less than 2,000 square metres.
Category 3 open fires are larger than two metres by three metres, cover an area larger than 2,000 square metres, or burn more than two piles of any size.

Quiet week

I have not had much to report; the quiet before the storm. It would seem that Westbeach has some action on it. It is cool, the sun came out for a few days but freezing still happens. There is a slight increase with the traffic on the road; more pronounced when the sun comes out. This week appreciation for the North Shuswap First Responders, discussion of the SLIPP process by the participants,, Citizens on Patrol meeting in Chase 6 pm, Citizens on patrol meeting on the 14th at The Celista Hall, meet with Gateway manager and meeting with the Little Shuswap Indian Band.

5 people in a ballon

 I'm at a Mining Conference and for entertainment we were offered this and it was a small ballon Much like going into a womb....

More on Chamber & Contractors meeting

            Some details on the meeting last weeek. The Chamber was concerned that the Area F OCP is freezing development in Scotch Creek. Some of the concern is there is no action on provision of community utilities (water & sewage). The Chamber is as well concerned that the CSRD is basing bylaws on faulty science, that there is other opinions and reports that disagree with the current DFO information which has resulted on restrictions and allowances of development along the lake.

There is a need for boat launches in the area to allow accesses for those people who do not have property along the lake. Yet the Park study on boat launches allows only for 2 sites and both inadequate in s practical sense. DFO map on Char/Sockeye spawning areas is very suspect(where they spawn in the marina area). Apparently Char spawn around 341.0 4 metres below lake level so  how does a boat launch affect them? There is no mention of management options like when they could be used. Such as; Kamloops closes boat launches during high water to prevent erosion and impact on fish, could this not also be done pn the Shuswap. Our response from the CSRD is we have no way of qualifying who is right in the fish science department. We are the small fry in this instance and must take our direction from DFO there is no ability to argue the whys.

Development Permit concerns; the Chamber recommended that the CSRD maintain a roster of qualified RAR QEP’s, Wildfire Behavior Specialists, Geotechnical Engineers qualified to do slope hazard assessments, and hydrologists. We at CSRD cannot do this because we do not want to be endorsing certain specialists (what if we did not think they were good). We would prefer that a link be given to the associations attached to those professionals.

The Chamber also recommended that the CSRD staff implement development application time tracking and publish the results.  To be fair to staff it needs to track processing time for applications that are complete.  As an example, it could look like this for development permits:

                                                                          i.      Date application submitted

                                                                        ii.      Date CSRD staff request for missing documentation (if applicable)

                                                                      iii.      Date any missing documentation supplied (if applicable)

                                                                      iv.      Date reviewed by Board (if required)

                                                                        v.      Date DP issued

The CAO thought this would be a good idea and would look into seeing if this could be done.

The Chamber feels that RAR is bad legislation; and requested that the CSRD lobby government through UBCM for more reasonable, science based rules. It is unlikely the Board would support such a recommendation and there are changes coming about to deal with  RAR.

With limited ability of Board to move applications through the system quickly because of; the lag time between APC and the board meetings. Could the Board meet more frequently to help alleviate concerns over delays?  The costs of having more Board meetings is very high and finding meeting times for staff and Board members is difficult. The CSRD are much more open to include new items to the agenda(if it fits in the 7 to 10 window before the Board meeting).

Electrical Generation Options

                I found this very interesting as to the calculated financial costs each type of power generation cost.  Other costs such environmental (included in the description but not part of the bottom line), First Nation agreements and the cost on other resources; were not included.  Cola Fired Generation with carbon capture and storage- $81, Large Hydro dams was $85 per Mega Watt hour, Natural Gas- Fired generation & cogeneration mixed- $79 to $109, Run of the River- $58 to $200, Geothermal- $71 to $200, Wind- $95 to $200, Tidal-$227 to $824, Large Scale Solar $351 to $410, Wave- $480 to $824, and Nuclear is not included as any use of it, is against legislation how ever the question was asked and it was around $50 to $80.

                The cost we are paying right now is well below these costs.  Powers is exported out of the province and as well BC hydro is a net importer by 6- 7 %; electricity has very volatile pricing. BC Hydro buys power in the middle because of the night cheap available from Alberta. The plan presently to chop the power load growth by 2/3^rd. It is a the trade off and is a very aggressive policy, maybe it won’t work.  It will take 5 to 10 years, to reach that goal;  to be self sufficient is legislated by 2016.

Electrical Generation Options

                I found this very interesting as to the calculated financial costs each type of power generation cost.  Other costs such environmental (included in the description but not part of the bottom line), First Nation agreements and the cost on other resources; were not included.  Cola Fired Generation with carbon capture and storage- $81, Large Hydro dams was $85 per Mega Watt hour, Natural Gas- Fired generation & co-generation mixed- $79 to $109, Run of the River- $58 to $200, Geothermal- $71 to $200, Wind- $95 to $200, Tidal-$227 to $824, Large Scale Solar $351 to $410, Wave- $480 to $824, and Nuclear is not included as any use of it, is against legislation how ever the question was asked and it was around $50 to $80.There are other pros and cons such fuel access and longevity of power source.

                The cost we are paying right now is well below these costs.  Powers is exported out of the province and as well BC hydro is a net importer by 6- 7 %; electricity has very volatile pricing. BC Hydro buys power in the middle because of the night cheap available from Alberta. The plan presently to chop the power load growth by 2/3^rd. It is a the trade off and is a very aggressive policy, maybe it won’t work.  It will take 5 to 10 years, to reach that goal;  to be self sufficient is legislated by 2016.

More on the Expermental Tourist

Good Morning it is grey wet and it hovers around  6.9 degrees C the snow except where it was pile is almost all gone. It is for sure around the lake.

Looking and the whole area of the Thompson Okanagan as to somehow improve the attraction of people the area as a shared experience with the rest of the world. The word Tourism should maybe not used these days; as it indicates a person who only tours by, a person that does not invest their time or personality into the community. This is a radical change from what operators and businesses attitude towards people coming to share our area or space. It is about sharing and yes there is a financial reward for some but I would suggest that having people from other areas has a less tangible reward.  This reward is the appreciation of the beauty & nature of the area and the exchange of information to each other. The people at the Marketing Workshop cane from all walks of businesses and interests; golf courses, B&B, craftsmen, motels, politicians, First Nations, Donkey rescue service and grape vine yards and many, many more interests.

 Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) offers to clients to pick something that would show a package that would best show area. There are many different layers of marketing Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is a regional marketer and Shuswap Tourism is a community marketer and then Golf tours are anther marketer. The workshop was to interest people and businesses to consider how they could work together to bring people to the area. The type of visitors that are becoming more prevalent are those that want the experience; of the area, the people and the stories of both; they want to be part of that story too. In being part of our story they entice us into being part of that story and we all benefit beyond the exchange of barter. These people are called “experiential travelers” and are becoming the fastest growing part of the traveling community. They want to be part of the community for the time they are here, they do not want to just tour through, they want to experience the many different highlights of an area.