A budget surplus means renovations are moving ahead at Vernon’s RCMP detachment. Council gave the green light Monday for $37,200 to be spent on upgrading the detachment board room and interview rooms. The renovations to the board room will cost about $17,600. “We want to bring it up to a more professional standard for training and the weekly media (press conference) sessions are there,” said Insp. Steve McVarnock, officer-in-charge of the detachment. The remainder of the cash will go towards installing the latest in technology in the interview rooms. “We want to get digital audio recording in there,” said McVarnock. “It’s clear and crisp and it takes less storage.” Currently, the detachment is using VHS and cassette tapes for interviews and there is always the fear they will be lost or damaged.“We have had a few cases where the tapes are garbled and have come apart and the member loses their interview,” said McVarnock. The money will come from an estimated $62,000 surplus in the RCMP budget. The surplus comes from filling staff positions with junior members, who have lower salaries than senior officers. “What the inspector is asking for is reasonable because there is a savings within the RCMP budget,” said Coun. Barry Beardsell.
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