The Month of December Was Filled With Activity

​You know what they say…busy people get things done. Well, since my election to Princeton Town Council I can honestly say that there are busy weeks and there are even busier weeks. December 2018 was no exception. I found myself attending public functions on behalf of Town Council as well as with other members of Town Council and a few committee meetings as well.
 
Town Council Meetings
 
There were two regular meetings of Town Council during the month. The first one, on the 3rd, was when we approved adding the iCompass video management system to the Town of Princeton website. Essentially, once the system is up and running, with a camera and associated interfacing, public Town Council meetings will be available for public viewing at home. This was actually an item that more or less became one of several issues discussed during the election campaign a couple of months ago. The December 17 Town Council meeting was much shorter due to the fact that there was a light agenda. All business was taken care of in about 20-minutes.
 
Public Appearances
 
December 4 was a full day for many of us on Town Council. It started with the Transit Open House at the Library Meeting Room. The discussion was centred on connecting Princeton residents with a proposed inter-city bus that will run from Penticton to Kelowna. Those in attendance were far more interested in a route that connects Princeton with Hope and the Lower Mainland. That was probably not expected by those organizing the event and has given Town Council something to think about.
 
Later on the same day was the big announcement that Telus will be bringing their PureFibre service to Princeton. It is a major undertaking where Telus is bringing the infrastructure and will provide a major upgrading of internet services to the community. This was a project that had been in the works with the previous Town Council and I was pleased to see a couple of them at this event to take the much-deserved credit for getting the ball rolling on this project. Telus estimates that the PureFibre system will be ‘live’ during 2019.
 
On December 7 I joined other members of Town Council for the annual Staff Christmas Luncheon. It brought together Town Council, management, staff and employees for a casual lunch prior to the Christmas holiday. I sat with some of the town crew and arena staff and we all had a great time. I can honestly say that the ‘team dynamic’ extends through all departments that join together at Town Hall.
 
Committee Meetings
 
As I am still getting to the full cycle of meetings of the committees I have been appointed to represent the Town of Princeton on, I did attend two new ones in December. On the 5th I drove to Keremeos to sit as an alternate at the Similkameen Valley Planning Society (SVPS) meeting. This was a ‘homecoming’ of sorts for me as I have been involved with the SVPS in the past. There were some familiar faces and a couple of interesting presentations related to tourism and marketing. On December 19 I attended my first Princeton Arts Council meeting. Again, this was familiar ground for me and some familiar faces sat around the table. There was a lot of interest there for the Arts & Culture Committee that is being formed by Town Council.
 
The only other committee meeting in my schedule for December was the monthly Princeton Health Care Steering Committee (PHCSC). It was a good meeting and the first one I was to write the news release for. I expected a lot of revisions the following day but that was not the case. Everything went smoothly with minor changes.
 
Looking Forward
 
The next month is already filling up with scheduled events. In addition to regular Town Council meetings there will be a few committee meetings and an important trip to Kelowna in the latter part of the month. This will be for a two-and-a-half-day series of sessions and workshops aimed at ‘newly elected’ and ‘returning elected’ officials. I’ve heard a member of Council in another community refer to this event as a ‘boot camp’ and I’ve started doing the same. I expect that once we complete the month of January, things are going to start to move a whole lot quicker.