WEDNESDAY
S I N C E
APRIL 2, 2014 Vol. 119, Issue 52
105
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Hospital board adds to its savings
DIVER HEADED DOWN
Trail council would like regional group to cough up cash for improvements BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
The regional hospital board will inject another $2 million into its rainy day funds this year, but Trail council says it’s time to dust off the cash and start spending. The West Kootenay-Boundary Regional Hospital District (WKBRHD) was considering three scenarios for its budget this year, which included adding a halfmillion, $1 million or $2 million annual contribution to its safety-net. Currently, the regional hospital board has over $5.7 million in capital reserve funds, which is money set aside for use in the event of a financial emergency or for specific projects or improvements in the future. Trail council’s stance was less is better in this fiscally tight year and agreed that a $500,000 contribution toward capital reserve funds would suffice this time. “I am surprised to see it go back up to $5 million,” said Coun. Gord DeRosa, at last week’s governance meeting. “Because you can only save money for so long and pretty soon people who are waiting for that money to be spent are not getting the service that it was meant for.” However, the 30-member hospital board met a week ago and decided to allocate $2 million from this year’s $4.6 million budget to reserves, confirmed Stuart Horn, chief financial officer for the Regional District of Central Kootenay and hospital board treasurer. He noted that the motion did not carry unanimously. The extra capital could bode well for the regional hospital after the aging emergency room in Kootenay Lake Hospital received a modern makeover a few years ago, and Trail’s facility might be next on the list. See KEEP, Page 3
Regional help needed for skate park plan BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
GUY BERTRAND PHOTO
A diver from Northern Underwater Systems suits up beneath the Old Bridge in Trail. The crew was conducting the annual inspection of the bridge footings for the City of Trail. The goal is to determine, through visual and video inspection, if any erosion, shifting or other structural changes have occurred over the past year. See more photos on Page 2.
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With Trail council’s decision to maintain the skate park committee’s fundraising goal at a cool $275,000, the struggling but resilient group has been offered a glimmer of hope that could see the half-million dollar project roll forward sooner rather than later. After the city turned down an appeal by the skate park committee to reduce its lofty fundraising goal to a more reasonable $100,000, during the March 10 governance meeting, Trail council members landed an idea to approach the regional district for help with the long-awaited outdoor park. “The intent of the motion was to ask the RDKB if they would be willing to consider allocating some of the proceeds from the sale of the airport back to the skate park,” explained David Perehudoff, Trail’s chief administrative officer (CAO). See MONTROSE, Page 3
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