Mayor defends trip

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: October 06, 2009 7:00 PM

Enderby’s mayor insists that a trip to Vancouver was a good use of taxpayers’ dollars. Dee Wejr and five councillors were at last week’s Union of B.C. Municipalities conference and the bill for travel, accommodations and registration was about $12,000. “There were lots of sessions we attended and lots of ideas we want to do,” she said. “There were five or six sessions every morning and we covered them all.” As an example, Wejr says she learned about Prince George addressing the problem of lighting along a wooded trail by hanging solar lights from trees. “What a great idea for our river walk,” she said. “It’s inexpensive and you hang them high enough so there’s no vandalism.” Another popular workshop for the Enderby delegates was water sustainability, particularly because the city is promoting low-flow toilets and installing meters. Wejr believes Premier Gordon Campbell’s speech to delegates was important as it highlighted the current financial challenges and how they impact communities. “Over the next few years, there probably won’t be a lot of infrastructure grant opportunities so we’re glad for the ones we’ve got,” she said. However, Wejr isn’t giving up hope that some provincial dollars may come flowing into Enderby. “He (Campbell) did say there is $1 billion in announcements to come so I hope we will be included in that.” Wejr and her council did not meet with any provincial cabinet ministers while in Vancouver.