The Regional District of Fraser-Fort George is looking for funding to support a housing needs assessment for the region. Recent changes to provincial legislation require local governments to undertake a Housing Needs Assessment by April 2022, and every five years thereafter.
The assessment will look at key areas of local need, including affordable housing, rental housing, special needs housing, seniors housing, family housing, and shelters and housing for people at risk of homelessness.
The assessment will focus on the seven electoral areas of the regional district. The Regional District is seeking funding from Northern Development Initiatives Trust and UBCM. 9-1-1 call answer contract extended
Contract extended
The regional district board approved a two-year extension to its contract with E-Comm for 9-1-1 call answer services. E-Comm dispatchers will continue to be the first voice that residents in the region hear when they call 9-1-1. Once it is determined whether the caller requires assistance from police, fire or ambulance, E-Comm transfers the call to the appropriate responding agency.
The extension sees call answer service provided by E-Comm until the end of 2022. The regional district is exploring options to manage call answer services internally following the completion of the contract with E-Comm.
Waste from agricultural plastic to be reviewed
The regional district is lending its support to a study of the waste generated by agricultural plastics. Agricultural plastic waste is an industrial waste generated through farming activities and has no established stewardship programs set out in the provincial recycling regulation. The first step is understanding how much agricultural plastic waste is currently generated within the region and so the study will look at estimating volumes of plastic used on farms in the RDFFG.
The results of this study will be used to determine realistic costs for running a pilot recycling program in the region. The study is being conducted by Cleanfarms Inc.
Community Grants
The Board approved the following request for Community and Recreation Grants:
$25,000 to Mackenzie Search and Rescue for building upgrade
$500 to the Summit Lake Community Association for volunteer appreciation
$1000 to support the Bulkley-Nechako Regional Transit System