Aside from passing by quickly, December 2020 was full of Zoom meetings for me. Typically I have one or two Zoom meetings a month but the higher COVID-19 restrictions that came into play in November forced many of the committees I sit on to switch their meeting styles to Zoom access. I’m quite happy that this has happened as I find it easier for me to participate in a Zoom meeting from the comfort of my home office rather than having to bundle up, warm the car and drive somewhere for a physical meeting. Although I still prefer face-to-face physical meetings, in the colder months, Zoom meetings work for me.

My Meeting Schedule

In the month of December 2020, my calendar had a total of 11 events on it. I (so far) have not missed any (two are scheduled for after the date I am writing this blog). However, there was one meeting scheduled I was not aware of for one of my committee appointments, which I missed. Hopefully, that won’t happen again. Here is a closer look at my meetings for the month.

Town Council Meetings

Wednesday, December 2 - 9:00 AM - Special Meeting of Town Council
Monday, December 7 - 7:30 PM - Regular Meeting of Town Council
Monday, December 21 - 7:30 PM - Regular Meeting of Town Council

Regular Monthly Committee Meetings

Thursday, December 3 - 5:30 PM - Princeton Museum Society (their first-ever Zoom meeting) *
Tuesday, December 15 - 3:00 PM - Princeton Healthcare Steering Committee (Zoom meeting)
Wednesday, December 16 - 5:30 PM Princeton Arts Council (their first-ever Zoom meeting) *
Thursday, December 17 - Interagency (Zoom meeting - called early due to no quorum) *

Other Activities

Tuesday, December 22 - COVID Parade of Light *
Thursday, December 24 - COVID Parade of Light *

Coming Up

Tuesday, December 29 - COVID Parade of Light
Thursday, December 31 - COVID Parade of Light
(These parades are to thank front line workers and to give residents of Ridgewood Lodge and Vermilion Court something to enjoy during the season. My wife, Brenda joins me at each of these).

* - denotes meetings attended alone. All others include other members of the Town Council and/or Town Staff.

A Closer Look At Town Council Meetings

It was during the December 7, 2020, Town Council meeting that we deferred the request for approvals and budget for the Business Facade Improvement Grant Program (Policy No. 003-2020) until January 18, 2021, Regular Meeting of Town Council. The Grant Program will permit local downtown businesses to access a fund that will help them offset some of the costs associated with building facade improvements. There are guidelines that have to be met and eligibility requirements are available through Town Hall. It’s one way Town Council is supporting beautification efforts undertaken by local business owners.

At the December 21, 2020, Town Council meeting a Development Permit (No. 2020-02 DP) was approved. It is for exterior and interior improvements currently underway at the Princeton Post Office building. In addition to changes to the box lobby entrance (including a new wheelchair ramp), there will be a new glassed-in entrance on the alley side of the building to permit access to apartments being built on the second floor. When I moved to Princeton in 1986, the second floor of the building housed various professional services including a lawyer's office. A small parking area will go in along the alley and roof access. All changes will fit into the existing visual look of the building.

Health Update

It was at the end of November when I received notice from VGH that I am now sitting on a Wait List for my upcoming kidney operation (I have a tumour growing on the side of my right kidney). Although the urologist in Vancouver had told me a couple of months ago that the tumour is growing, it obviously isn’t urgent. I am also still waiting for dates from my cardiologist in Kelowna for a cardiac MRI and another CT scan. While I completely expected at least one of those to be scheduled sometime in December, that did not happen. As I have been doing for most of the delays in these procedures is that I have taken advantage of the extra time and continued to build my heart strength with my walking, stair climbing, and weightlifting routines. I am also working very hard on keeping my sodium intake as low as possible.

In Conclusion

As you can see, it has been an active month for me and that doesn’t include the work I’ve been doing with my home-based business (www.looseink.ninja) and the home-based business I help Brenda with. I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and hopefully, 2021 will see changes in COVID-19 protocols where we can all get together more frequently to discuss matters of interest. It has been rather challenging to have reduced physical contact with people as we honour social/physical distancing and various closures to the public. It has not made our jobs as elected officials any easier and I thank those of you who have been patient and understanding of the guidelines issued provincially that we must follow.

This was a much lighter month for meetings for me. Out of nine that were scheduled, I attended five of them. One I missed due to a time conflict, another one was missed due to technical difficulties, and two others canceled. Regardless of what may appear to be not that much work for me during November 2020, there were meetings I attended where a lot of things were accomplished. Here is a breakdown of my month for you.


Regular Meetings


Monday, November 2 - Town Council, Town Hall


This meeting came with a 65-page agenda package. The big items that were taken care of included the authorization to use funds from nine different reserves for projects that were completed in fiscal year 2020. There was also a need for the council to authorize funds to be put into four different reserves for future use.


Another item of business was the adoption of the Sewer Connections and Regulations Bylaw No. 992, 2020.


Monday, November 16 - Town Council, Town Hall


During this meeting, a decision was made to send a thank you letter to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The ministry had recently announced that the Town of Princeton was to receive $1,013,000 through the COVID-19 Safe Restart Grants for Local Governments program.


Special Meetings


Monday, November 9 - Special Meeting of Town Council, Town Hall


Although I was a few minutes late for this meeting (had a telehealth doctor appointment) Town Council authorized a Town of Princeton Christmas Light and Holiday Decorating Contest. Both businesses and homeowners can participate with prizes offered for both categories.


There was also the authorization to transfer up to $30,000 from the Economic Development external promotion budget to the Christmas Light budget. The move will permit the purchase of new Christmas lights for the downtown core.


Other Meetings


Tuesday, November 17 - Princeton Healthcare Steering Committee - Zoom Meeting
Wednesday, November 18 - Princeton Arts Council, Riverside Centre *


Canceled Meetings


There is a funny story in here somewhere. While sitting through a long and involved Arts Council meeting, the discussion moved to the future possibility of holding meetings virtually. I already attend Zoom meetings, so it seemed like a natural direction to go. However, in the discussion, I made a point of explaining the importance of meeting face-to-face (COVID protocols being followed, of course). The following morning the BC Provincial Health Officer (Dr. Bonnie Henry) announced a new wave of restrictions including the elimination of all social group activities which meant meetings on my calendar (the two noted below, in particular) had been canceled for the time being.


Thursday, November 19 - Princeton Museum Society, Princeton Museum - x
Monday, November 23 - Princeton Exhibition Association (AGM) - x


* - denotes meetings attended alone. All others include other members of the Town Council and/or Town Staff.
x - canceled


Health Update


There's not much new to share related to my health issues. I can tell you that earlier this month I set another personal record at Miners Climb. This time I managed to go up and down it a total of EIGHT times. That's 1,968 stairs traveled. I'm still walking and lifting light weights daily on the days I don't visit Miners Climb. I have more tests coming up in December to determine what my heart strength is at this point and I anticipate a possible prescription change if the results are favourable. Otherwise, I'm just working on building my heart strength.


In Conclusion


Will December see the return of meetings or am I going to be able to attend more online and just sit in front of my tablet with just my PJs on? Time will tell. One thing is for sure, Town Council will continue to meet as provisions have been made in the provincial orders to permit local governments to continue to function provided COVID-19 protocols are followed. 

Although we all ended up going to the polls late in the month for a provincial election, October 2020 officially marks the halfway mark of the four-year term I was elected to in the local municipal election of 2018. It has been a very busy two years for Town Council and I have to admit it does not feel as if time has flown by. It feels about right that we are at the midway point of this term and that there is still a lot to be done. But for now, I will focus on what this month has been like for me. To be honest, it has been not what I would consider very busy for me, but it has been a steady month of activity. My ghostwriting work (my career) has been keeping me writing daily and my ongoing recovery program to build my heart up has filled my days. Fortunately, most of the meetings I attend as a member of the Town Council are in the evenings or during the day where I can work my writing or walking around the hours required.


Here is a look at my meeting schedule for October 2020. There were a total of 11 meetings on my calendar. I missed two of them due to technological issues. These were online meetings and for some reason, I could not get into either of them. 


Regular Meetings

Monday, October 19 - Town Council, Town Hall


It was at this meeting I was appointed as the alternate to Mayor Coyne on the Board of the Princeton & District Community Skills Centre. I had a role on this board several years ago representing the Chamber of Commerce (I seem to recall). It will be good to be actively involved with this group once again.


Also at this meeting Town Council granted permission for the annual Halloween Fireworks Display to take place on October 30 at the Princeton Airport. The actual motion read:


"That conditional approval be granted to the "Halloween Family Fun Night" planning committee to hold a fireworks display on Friday, October 30, 2020, at the Princeton Airport. The conditional approval is contingent on the compliance with the Kamloops Fire Centre's fire danger rating assessment for the Merritt Fire Zone, a site assessment by the Princeton Fire Department prior to the event, and the attendance of the Princeton Fire Department at the event."


Special Meetings

Wednesday, October 7 - Strategic Planning Meeting, Town Hall
Thursday, October 8 - Strategic Planning Meeting, Town Hall


Both of these all-day meetings focused primarily on working on plans to further the top town priorities of infrastructure (water/sewer) and housing. 


Wednesday, October 21 - Committee of the Whole, Riverside Theatre


This meeting was planned to permit delegations to make presentations to Town Council. With current COVID-19 protocols, regular meetings of Town Council are closed to the public. This prevents delegations from making presentations and a special meeting was determined to be a logical solution. We heard from three different groups - the Princeton Pickleball Players, the Glenview Park Committee, and Princeton Ground Search and Rescue.


Other Meetings

Thursday, October 15 - Princeton Museum Meeting, Princeton Museum *
Sunday, October 18 - Car/Truck Rally with BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson and Boundary-Similkameen BC Liberal Candidate Petra Veintimilla, Hillside Farms, Oliver *
Tuesday, October 20 - Princeton Healthcare Steering Committee Meeting, Zoom Meeting
Wednesday, October 21 - Princeton Arts Council, Riverside Centre *
Monday, October 26 - PXA Meeting, Riverside Centre *


* - denotes meetings attended alone. All others include other members of the Town Council and/or Town Staff.


In Conclusion

It is still pretty much "business as usual" for me on Town Council. There is not much movement to date on my kidney operation although I did speak with a urologist in Vancouver early in the month. While the tumour has grown slightly, he figures he can cut it out robotically and save the kidney. That won't happen until January or February now but it buys me time to keep strengthening my heart. I'll keep you posted as best I can on progress but for now, as my local doctor says, we're in a holding pattern. Thankfully, the work I am doing as part of the Town Council is not in a holding pattern.