Aimee Watson acclaimed as RDCK Board Chair for 2026
Electoral Area D Director Aimee Watson was acclaimed as Board Chair for 2026 by the RDCK Board at this month’s meeting. Chair Watson has served as the RDCK Electoral Area D Director since 2014 and begins her eighth term as Chair.
Village of Nakusp Councillor and RDCK Director Aidan McLaren-Caux was elected as Board Vice-Chair for 2026 by the Board of Directors. Vice-Chair McLaren-Caux has served as a RDCK Director since 2022 and begins his second term as Vice-Chair.
The Board Chair and Vice-Chair are elected annually by the Board of Directors and serve a one-year term.
2026-2030 Draft Financial Plan
The Board continued its discussions on the 2026-2030 Draft Financial Plan, with presentations on Emergency Consolidated Services, Geospatial Information Systems, Building Inspection, and Planning & Land Use. The objective is to provide the Board an earlier review of the budget process to allow for feedback, questions, or requests. The final draft of the budget needs to be ready for adoption at the March 2026 Board meeting for submission to the ministry.
Click here to read the draft financial plan review.
Click here to review the 2025-2029 sub-regional budget presentations from last year’s engagement process.
Columbia Basin Trust Wildfire Grant
The Board authorized staff to apply for the 2025 Columbia Basin Trust Community Resiliency Investment Program, a grant from Columbia Basin Trust in the amount of $1,638,130 to build resiliency towards wildfire through education and wildfire risk reduction work. If successful in attaining the grant, the funds will go towards Youth FireSmart Education, incremental funding to support the delivery of FireSmart Farm and Ranch Assessments in all Electoral Areas, and prescription and fuel treatments based on current Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans.
Emergency Support Services Grant
The Board authorized staff to apply for the 2026 Community Emergency Preparedness Fund – Emergency Support Services (ESS) grant from the Union of BC Municipalities in the amount of $225,195 to support and improve ESS service delivery across the RDCK. If approved, this funding will support key program improvements, expand training options, and allow ESS teams to gather as a regional team more frequently. ESS is a provincial program delivered by local governments to provide short-term support to residents displaced by emergencies or disasters. Within the RDCK, ESS is coordinated regionally and delivered locally by trained volunteers to all electoral areas and municipalities, with the exception of Castlegar and New Denver, who administer their own ESS programs.
Just this month, the RDCK hosted a regional gathering to bring together volunteers for a day of community building, planning for the future, and acknowledging the many years of dedicated service by our volunteers. There are nine ESS teams in the RDCK, but always room for more people to volunteer. Interested residents can find out more information at www.rdck.ca/joinESS.
Director’s Reports
RDCK Directors provide monthly reports outlining what they have been working on. Click here to read the November reports in the Board minutes. Click here to watch the Directors’ Reports (03:59:55 in the video).
RDCK Quarterly Report
For the latest RDCK Quarterly Report, which details the current projects and initiatives of the RDCK, please follow the link.