New Water Pump for Gold Bridge and other items: October 2012

Gold Bridge Water System Improvements

$45,000 has been approved under the Regionally Significant Project (RSP) Fund have been approved for federal Gas Tax funding by the Gas Tax Management Committee, composed of representatives from the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), Infrastructure Canada, and the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.

Canada's Gas Tax Fund provides stable, long-term funding to local governments to help them

build and revitalize public infrastructure. The UBCM administers the Gas Tax Fund in BC, in

collaboration with the governments of Canada and British Columbia.

The funding for Gold Bridge will allow a badly needed, larger pump to be installed so that residents will have an effective water system and will allow opportunity for growth in the system.

Link to SLRD press release:
http://www.slrd.bc.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?NewsID=300


Will the Spruce Budworm be back next season???

The answer is yes, the big question is how severe will next years defoliation be?

Lorraine Maclauchlan,  Forest Entomologist, Thompson Okanagan Region gave us a presentation on the Spruce Budworm on September long weekend.  You can see information on that presentation on this blog at this link:  http://www.debbiedemare.com/2012/09/woodstore-exchange-and-other-items.html.

Lorraine promised information once they had done some egg mass sampling and here it is:

Summary of fall 2012 egg mass sampling surveys in the Gun Lake area
Western spruce budworm (WSB)
No. Sites	Predicted 2013 defoliation by WSB
4 sites	light defoliation predicted
18 sites	moderate defoliation predicted
6 sites	severe defoliation predicted
Broad geographic location	Detailed Location	Elevation (m)	# eggmasses per 10 m2 foliage	Predicted defoliation for 2013
Downton Lk	S side Downton Lake - 14.5 km Bridge R Main	837 m	214	severe
Downton Lk	S side Downton Lake - 10.5 km Bridge R Main	851 m	25	light
Goldbridge	S side Downton Lk - 2 km Bridge R Main	909 m	52	moderate
Goldbridge	Start of Bridge R Main	916 m	21	light
Goldbridge	1 km Hurley	724 m	58	moderate
Goldbridge	4 km Hurley	951 m	102	moderate
Goldbridge	2.5 km Hurley	828 m	153	severe
Goldbridge	Goldbridge - Start of road to Bralorne	808 m	77	moderate
Goldbridge	Goldbridge - Bralorne Rd	949 m	117	moderate
Goldbridge	0.5 km Kingdome Lake Rd	1,073 m	95	moderate
Goldbridge	Goldbridge - Bralorne Rd	1,078 m	208	severe
Goldbridge	Hurley R Rd near Bralorne	978 m	76	moderate
Gun Lk	1.5 km Slim Cr Main	875 m	130	moderate
Gun Lk	3 km Slim Cr Main	876 m	129	moderate
Gun Lk	Lajoie Cr	877 m	55	moderate
Gun Lk	6.5 km Slim Cr Main	1,042 m	151	severe
Gun Lk	8 km Slim Cr Main	1,165 m	160	severe
Gun Lk	Sumner Cr	1,160 m	115	moderate
Gun Lk	off Slim Cr Main	1,182 m	53	light
Tyaughton Lk	0.2 km 5 Mile FSR	894 m	155	severe
Tyaughton Lk	0.2 km 5 Mile FSR	1,029 m	121	moderate
Tyaughton Lk	5 Mile FSR	1,115 m	37	light
Tyaughton Lk	Tyaughton Lk Rd - S end Tyaughton Lk	1,011 m	64	moderate
Tyaughton Lk	Tyaughton Lk Rd - N end Tyaughton Lk	1,143 m	132	moderate
Tyaughton Lk	Tyaughton Lk Rd - Cinnabar Cr	1,118 m	96	moderate
Tyaughton Lk	Mud Cr	1,176 m	60	moderate
Tyaughton Lk	Mud Cr	1,112 m	85	moderate
Tyaughton Lk	Tyaughton Lk Rd - N of Tyaughton Lk	1,209 m	72	moderate

Lorraine says:   " To summarize briefly, there seems to still be a population present in the area and defoliation will continue in 2013 in many of the same and a few new areas.  Most sites came out as moderate with about equal number predicting light or severe defoliation for 2013.

As of now I still cannot say anything about our budget for 2013.  Therefore, whether or not MFLNRO will entertain a spray program in the area is still questionable.  I am going ahead with the assumption we will be spraying (arranging meetings with First Nations, submitting plans to MOE, delineating DRAFT spray blocks etc). "

Debbie's Note:  Please remember that any spraying done by MFLNRO would be on crown land.  I am interested in hearing your thoughts on this so please feel free to email me at demare87@gmail.com, also any questions you have, I will get Lorraine to answer and publish here.

School Board meets at Gold Bridge School

The School Trustees of the Gold Trail School District met at the Gold Bridge school.
Two other important points came out of that meeting for me:
1. The school field is in terrible condition.  As a result of that meeting, I have committed $5,000 SLRD Area A funds to partner with a funding application to the School Connections Fund. This fund is primarily intended to link local government and school districts to work on projects that benefit both the public and students.  At this writing, I am uncertain if the School District has moved this application forward to the funder.  A local person has donated used of excavator and operator and also the Parent Advisory Committee has committed volunteer labor.  Fingers crossed!!!
2. Planning for the future of the school must be done by the community.  School District may partner but cannot initiate this.  With 4 students and challenges continuing around this aspect of our community, this is something we need to work on.  If you would like to be part of a small committee to work on this let me know.  Jim MacArthur (current School Trustee Lillooet) said to call him as well.  We will need to find funding and hire someone to help facilitate, involve community and come up with a plan.