Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick attended the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) annual conference last week, but it was a much different affair than normal, most of it being conducted by Zoom and other media.
The Mayor told Council at their last regular meeting that it was pretty clear to him that the real value in the UBCM was the ability to network with other municipal leaders and members of the provincial government.
“While the resolutions are important, it’s about the networking, talking to other communities about what’s going on,” he said. “I think everyone would agree that it was somewhat wanting. But it was still a valuable week.”
McCormick attended video conferences last Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Before UBCM began, he had several meetings including with BC Transit and Teck.
The Teck meeting was mainly to talk about three to five issues currently underway with Teck in Kimberley.
“It was an excellent conversation,” McCormick said. “Many don’t realize that Teck is still a vital part of this community despite the mine closing 20 years ago. They are our second largest tax payer.”
As for BC Transit, McCormick says that there is considerable work being done on getting an EV bus pilot program into the area.
“Judging from the conversation, it will be a bit of a long haul,” he said. “Metro ares tend to get first dibs on pilots. We are trying to get them to divert a pilot out here.”