Influencing Creston

Creston and the Central Kootenay region have chosen leaders who are future-focused, practical and dedicated

Tanya Wall is the director for Area B in the Central Kootenay region. She and her partner, Ralph Casemore, share a lifelong love of the Creston Valley. — Photo courtesy Tanya Wall

We went looking for a sampling of the people who are influencing our Kootenay communities and were gratified to find that much positive influence comes out of the civic leadership offices. Through conversations and emails, we obtained some information about these leaders and their work in the Creston Valley.

1. Tanya Wall, the newest Regional District representative in the Central Kootenay region, spent six years on Creston’s town council and is now the director for Electoral Area B. She’s well positioned to do what she loves to do: support and promote business, the arts, environmental initiatives and economic development in her region.

Because Wall grew up in farming communities around Creston, she is particularly familiar with the priorities of the agricultural sector and is a staunch supporter of the Fields Forward Initiative. She also sits on the impact team for the Creston & District Community Investment Fund (CDCIF), which partners with Kootenay Employment Services and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism & Skills Training. The aim of the CDCIF is to encourage local investors to put small amounts into existing local businesses that need support to take them to the next level.

Wall was on the founding committee of the Creston Valley Public Art Connection (CVPAC), a new society which is partnering with the Castlegar Sculpture Walk. CVPAC has leased three pieces of outdoor sculpture for the Town of Creston and will include all art forms, including performing art. This art theme ties the communities of Castlegar, Nelson and Creston together, expanding art opportunities and establishing a regional attraction that changes from year to year.

2. Creston’s mayor, Ron Toyota, gave us a list of a few of the long-term projects that have been on his agenda through the past five years:

In 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding and Friendship was signed between our Town Council and the Lower Kootenay Band Council, and there have been more than 10 Community-to-Community forums since 2009. In December 2014, our two councils held a joint council inauguration at the Ramada Inn.

Our Physician Recruitment Program was formed in 2006, and in the last five years, five new medical doctors have moved to the Creston Valley to open their practices and commit to our Emergency Services department at the Creston Valley Hospital. In addition, several locums have provided short-term and long-term coverage to assist all our local physicians.

In June 2015, the Ministry of Transportation completed Phase 1 of our Highway 3 re-alignment with the opening of an important highway intersection at Railway Street and Pine Street. Phase 2 will see our heavy truck and vehicle highway traffic aligned onto Cook Street.

3. Lou Varela, the town manager in Creston, B.C., brings the rare and valuable combination of common sense, diplomacy and a straight-shooter attitude to her job. Information from Varela, summarized below, indicates that the Town of Creston’s administration is focused on both prosperity and quality of life for its residents.

Lou Varela has been the town manager—equivalent to a CAO—in Creston, B.C., since June 2011. — Photo courtesy Lou Varela

This year is an Official Community Plan review year for the Town of Creston, and the municipality is taking a fresh approach to involving the community in planning for local land use. The review focuses on four key themes: livability, prosperity, vibrancy and resiliency. Creston Valley residents of all ages are helping to define what those terms mean to them.

The Town is offering a dynamic range of ways for its citizens to express their vision for Creston, including guided kitchen-table discussions for assorted small groups, elementary and high school classroom activities and special sessions for seniors and young parents—everyone is invited to take part. The Town is also hosting an innovative scavenger-hunt-style survey that will get people out into the community to weigh in on more than 30 hot-button Creston issues, including trails and active transportation, urban agriculture and family friendliness.

Hundreds of people have already joined in the “Freshly Picked Future” OCP Review process. Many have contributed to a mosaic mural that the Town will unveil when the new Official Community Plan is adopted later this year.

4. Larry J. Binks, Area C director in the Central Kootenay, works to support economic and social development in the Creston Valley. Some of the matters that concern the RDCK director include: improving fire protection and safeguarding the environment; improving services like the library, skate park and museum; and supporting agriculture.

Ongoing projects that Binks is involved in include developing new options in local agriculture, making the Creston Valley Wildlife Interpretation Centre sustainable, protecting endangered leopard frogs and keeping grizzly bears away from orchards and livestock.

Binks chairs the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Treaty Advisory Committee and the Creston Valley Service Committee, and sits on the Arrow Creek Water committee, the East Kootenay Regional Hospital board and the Columbia Basin Trust board.