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Pemberton rallies through flooding

Council Briefs: Committee appointments determined following municipal election
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COME TOGETHER Pemberton residents showed up en masse to help fill sandbags during the heavy rainfall on Dec. 10. Photo by Dave Steers

The water came and the water went, and thankfully left Pemberton with little in the way of lasting damage.

Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman said he was happy with how village staff — from the public works department all the way through to the front desk — responded in the face of last week's floods.

"It went right through the organization," Richman said.

"But the damage was minimal, it was mitigated, and came and went pretty easily."

Richman also wanted to thank the people of Pemberton, who showed up en masse to help sandbag when the water started to rise.

"Within minutes there was dozens of people out there sandbagging when the sand arrived, and carried on right until late into the evening," he said.

"It was typical Pemberton style. The community jumped out and made everything happen very quickly... and there was even singing."

Nevertheless, there are still some effects being felt in the area.

On Dec. 16, part of the Duffey Lake Road was down to one lane with alternating traffic, while the In-SHUCK-ch Forest Service Road was open, but for 4x4s only.

Within the village the flooding was only a concern in isolated areas, including a few homes in the Glen and a number of units in the Pioneer Junction complex.

PEMBERTON AND LIL'WAT TEAM UP TO ADDRESS COMMON GOALS

At the Village of Pemberton (VOP) regular council meeting on Dec. 16, mayor and council agreed to the VOP's participation in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) First Nations-Municipal Community Infrastructure Partnership Program (CIPP).

"The idea is to bring an aboriginal and non-aboriginal community together on common infrastructure goals, and (the FCM) helps facilitate how we work together, how we move through the process," Richman said.

"Lil'wat has already passed a resolution that they're on board, so now once we get together we'll identify the goals that we'd like to explore together... we're really hoping that it's a springboard to working with Lil'wat, and get a lot of these common goals realized together."

Councillor Jennie Helmer and the VOP's manager of operations and development services will serve as Pemberton's "Community Champions" for the program.

The CIPP was launched in 2010 in partnership with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Pemberton and Lil'wat were selected from over 100 applicants to participate in the 2015-16 program.

COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS DETERMINED

Also at the Dec. 16 meeting, mayor and council sorted out their respective committee appointments:

Jennie Helmer: Finance Committee, Cultural Roundtable, Emergency Planning and Operations, Pemberton Lillooet Treaty Advisory Committee, District Agricultural Advisory Committee and Pemberton Valley Trails Association.

Joanne Molinaro: Finance Committee, Municipal Insurance Association of BC and Pemberton Valley Utilities and Services.

James Linklater: Winds of Change, Pemberton Valley Dyking District, Pemberton and District Library board, Pemberton Valley Utilities and Services.

Karen Ross: Finance Committee, Municipal Insurance Association of BC, Recreation Advisory Committee

Mike Richman: Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, Pemberton Lillooet Treaty Advisory Committee.