The committee which will oversee the distribution of the Disaster Relief Fund in Cache Creek has been selected.
The members of the five-person committee were decided on at a special meeting of Cache Creek Council on July 14. They are Danalee Baker; Michelle Beckett; Clayton Cassidy; Wendy Coomber; and Gordon Daily. All of the members except Baker live in Cache Creek, and all five were on a list of “Names to be added for consideration”. Five other members of the public submitted their names individually for consideration.
Councillor Wyatt McMurray began the meeting with a motion that the committee be made up of five people, with the members to decide if they would like to appoint an alternate. The committee will have the authority to set its own guidelines, and is tasked with being fair and objective in its assessment of claims.
Several of the individuals who put their names forward did not reside in Cache Creek, but Mayor John Ranta stated—and Council agreed—that the majority of the people appointed should be residents of the Village. Staff will contact the appointees to congratulate them and suggest a date for a first meeting, and will write to the other volunteers and thank them for their interest.
“It’s going to be a very challenging job for the committee,” said Ranta. The Disaster Relief Fund currently stands at close to $270,000, but Ranta noted that there will be much more need than there is money available. “It will be up to the committee to identify those needs.”
Councillor David Dubois asked if Council should set an end date for the process, so that those on the committee know for how long their services will be required. Ranta replied that he did not want to set an arbitrary timeline that might lead to rushed decisions. “The committee will go on until the money runs out.”
The Mayor also noted that in his view the five people selected represented a good cross-section of people. Baker is with the United Way, Cassidy is with the Cache Creek Volunteer Fire Department, and Daily is with the Ashcroft and District Lions Club.
The Disaster Relief Fund is set to grow, as at least two more fundraising events are planned. On July 25 the Halston Pub in Kamloops is hosting a silent auction, 50/50 draw, and steak or chicken dinner between noon and 8:00 pm, with proceeds going to the fund. Two more Kamloops pubs will be holding fundraising events on August 28 and 29.
Cache Creek Beautification Society President Carmen Ranta addressed the meeting to remind people that there will be a welcome bingo and dinner for the Communities in Bloom judges on July 21 at the Community Hall at 5:30 pm. “It’s also a community resiliency celebration for the town,” she added, saying that all residents are invited to attend. The CCBS and the Communities in Bloom committee will also be hosting a lunch for Village staff and crew on July 22, with members of the crew being presented with certificates.
Mayor Ranta gave an update on the Stage Road reconstruction project. A claim for $83,050 of “recovery” work—which included fencing, asphalt, curb backfill, and the installation of a streetlight and base—was submitted to the Disaster Financial Assistance program, and has been approved, with DFA funding 80% of the total. The one recovery item they will not fund is hydroseeding, and Ranta indicated that he will ask Village staff to contact Stantec Consulting and Dawson Construction, who did the original Stage Road construction and are overseeing the rebuilding, to see if hydroseeding was part of the original project. If it was, he said, the Village might be able to get DFA funding for it.
Barbara Roden
