The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention took place in Penticton in late September this year, bringing mayors and ministers from across the province together to discuss municipal affairs.

Nakusp Mayor Karen Hamling and councillor Ulli Mueller took part in meetings all week including meetings with B.C. Ambulance, the ministry of transportation and the minister of forests.

“I thought it was a good UBCM,” says Hamling. “The ministers were a lot more available than they have been in the past and that’s a big part of going there.”

When talking with the minister of forests the mayor learned that PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company handling the Pope & Talbot bankruptcy, has put forth a proposal to the minister regarding sureties, but there is nothing being proposed for those under Bill 13.

“I did want him to understand what the concern is with people with Bill 13,” says Hamling. “A lot of [contractors] paid a lot of money for the rights to log a certain area, and now that’s gone. Interfor is not dealing with any of those. PricewaterhouseCoopers is not recognizing any charges under Bill 13, but they are recognizing and are offering to repay the sureties and pay back up to $2.4 million.”

The mayor says they’re prepared to pay back the sureties which they’ve determined at $211,000 and they will put money into a pool to pay unsecured debts. It’s the minister’s decision whether or not to accept this agreement.

“He’s going to get back to us again,” says Hamling. “There’s hope that we’ll get some funding back which is the big thing.”

In meeting with B.C. Ambulance Hamling was asking for a commitment from them to take part in a new fire hall. Currently the ambulances are stationed on 7th Ave. near Broadway and Hamling says B.C. Ambulance wasn’t sure when the lease is up, so they are going to get back to her about the possibility of making a commitment for a few years down the road. She also spoke to them about training for ambulance personnel and about getting funding for that training.

The mayor also met with representatives from the Ministry of Transportation to discuss where the Needles bridge is in terms of progress. She was told at this point it’s too expensive but it’s still in the long term plan for projects to be completed. The bridge was initially in a five-year plan but a few years ago was moved into the 10-year plan. She also touched base on the issue of ferries at Galena Bay. She was told it was one of the ministry’s top priorities to get a bigger ferry. It takes at least two years to build a ferry, so it’s still unknown when that ferry will be in the area. She also made sure the new ferry schedule would be maintained and the ministry assured her it would.

Mayors from Trail, Castlegar and Nelson, along with Mayor Hamling, also met with minister Murray Coell of advanced education to discuss a $1.8 million funding cut to Selkirk College’s budget. They talked to him about the funding and how important it is for Selkirk College. She also spoke with the minister about a grant applied for under the Community Development Trust program which Nakusp applied for in June.

“I’ve heard rumours that it’s not working very well,” says Hamling. “They put it out too fast. It’s the first time they’ve done this particular [program]. I’ve had conversations with the guy in charge and he’s admitted they need to streamline the process a bit.”

She says she was hoping to provide people with jobs in July with help of the grant but even now there’s nothing that’s become available.

One issue the mayor was excited to talk about was how the government is extending the Towns For Tomorrow program. It used to be for populations under 5,000, but they’ve expanded the program to include populations under 15,000.

“There’s going to be $15 million in 2009 and $20 million in 2010,” says the mayor, adding initially the program was a one-year initiative but it’s been continued for an additional two. The towns above 5,000 will receive 50 per cent of the grant money and will have to provide the other 50, whereas towns under 5,000 will keep the same ratio of 80 per cent provided by the province and 20 per cent from the community. Hamling says they’re also developing a new application form which will be only two pages. The turnaround time for applications has been reduced to a maximum of 60 days.

That was the bulk of what was accomplished and learned at the UBCM, but Hamling and Mueller sat in on many presentations and met with a lot of people to get ideas for what could be done within the village.

“The part I like about it is that I get a chance to talk to other communities and other mayors and find out how they’re doing things,” says Hamling, “you get a lot of information off them.”