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What is The Social Planning Council?

Activities:

o Monthly Meetings: Attend meetings with guest speakers from within the community &/or presentations at each meeting. We currently meet the fourth Monday of every month (excluding summer) at City Hall with light lunch by donation.

o Facebook & Email Group: Utilize the network on Facebook. Start discussions, learn about & share upcoming community events, projects and meetings. If you don’t use Facebook, then join the email network instead.

o Inform City Council: The SPC provides reports to City Council regularly and the City keeps the SPC informed. Use the network and have your voices heard.



Strategic Direction of the Social Planning Council of Williams Lake & Area:

o Poverty Reduction and the local Living Wage Campaign.

o Community Collaboration and Networking.

o Retention and Succession of residents within the Area.



Community Social Planning:

o Supports communities in building an integrated approach to complex problems that take into account social, economic, and environmental concerns.

o Maximizes the effectiveness of often scarce resources by working to reduce duplication, overlap and competition.

o Provides an ongoing forum for communication, coordination and conflict resolution.



Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Mark Totten is coming to Williams Lake May 13 - 14, 2010

The Communities that Care Project is bringing Mark Totten, a keynote speaker on evidence based prevention programs to Williams Lake May 13th and 14th.

For more information on Totten and Associates please visit http://www.tottenandassociates.ca, visit the CTC blog at http://www.ctcwilliamslake.blogspot.com/ or contact Project Manager Carrie Sundahl at ctc@williamslake.ca, or 250-392-1844

Important Notice - Monthly Meeting Day Changes

Our monthly meeting day of week is changing. To accommodate more of our members our monthly Social Planning Council meetings are moving to the 4th Monday of each month. Our next scheduled meeting is on Monday May 17, 2010.

Note: there are no scheduled meetings in July and August.

Access Williams Lake Update

Important update - Access Williams Lake online community resource directory website

The following web page address is now live and available to accept new entries from non-profit community organizations. Please visit http://accesswilliamslake.org/update.htm to fill out the online form.

The website is scheduled to launch mid June.

Highlights from our March 18 meeting

1) Mary Forbes on behalf of the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society gave a fun and interactive presentation on bottled water which included trivia questions (with a colourful talk show host), “taste tests” of bottled, City, and well water, and a draw for a free PBA free stainless steel water bottle. Mary is available to give these presentations to other groups within the community by appointment and can be reached by calling 250-398-7929. The handout entitled “Toxic footprint off bottled water” is available by emailing spc-coordinator@xplornet.com and will soon be available at www.ccconserv.org

2) Communities that Care Project Update:

a) The Spencer West event at TRU on February 22 (after his presentation at Williams Lake Secondary) was well received and attended by invited community members.

b) On February 24, Anahim Lake held a public forum and two CTC programs were chosen for the community: Positive Action which is a school based program (Kindergarten - Gr. 12) designed to improve academic performance and reduce behavioral problems, and Parenting Wisely which addresses family management problems.

c) Carrie has been in contact with Mark Totten who is a consultant and keynote speaker on evidence based programs and developing community prevention strategies. There is a possibility of bringing Mark to Williams Lake to give a workshop and the logistics are still in the discussion phase. For more information on Mark Totten and Associates his website is: http://www.tottenandassociates.ca

3) Diana presented serious concerns about the EPCOR power plant chipping and burning creosote soaked railway ties.

Four issues are of major concern: The ties are being stored behind the Station House Gallery, these ties are leeching into the creek below, the toxins present potentially serious health concerns (Rob Higgins and Marten from TRU are currently investigating these further), and the ties are combustible and catch on fire on a regular basis.

There are currently 20 rail cars sitting there and the ties are being chipped into sawdust to be burned. Emissions from the plant have not been monitored or inspected since 2001. Chips that have combusted stay burning/smouldering for months at a time. The homes upwind from the area are experiencing air quality issues, and an ash pile on the creekside of Soad Creek Road most likely also contains remnant of these toxins.

The CCCS is working with the Ministry of Environment about the leeching and burning concerns. City Council has asked CN to not give anymore ties to EPCOR although they have no legal recourse to stop the burning of the ties.

Update since March 18 – The burning of creosote soaked railway ties at the power plant have stopped.

Highlights from our February 18, 2010 meeting

1)The Social Planning Council is holding the Community Focus Group for the new community resource directory web page on Monday, Feb 22, 11:30 am – 2pm (lunch) at City Hall (rsvp appreciated but NOT required). This is to determine how our local website will be setup – everyone from the community is welcome to attend. RSVP appreciated, but NOT required.

2)Communities That Care Project update

a)Anne Burrill presented The Williams Lake CTC Community Assessment Report, which is now an official public document available on the City website (see link below). The report has been presented to City Council, and will be presented to the School District next week.

The Community Profile presented in the report is a very valuable public tool that everyone is encouraged to use. It is the first time all historical and demographic factors are in one document and the uses are endless. The CTC is also able to present to groups who would like more details.

b)Carrie is currently working on the Action Plan and researching potential programs for Williams Lake. In Anahim Lake they had 31 people attend the CTC Community Assessment Report Public Forum and are now working on implementing recommended community programs.

View the CTC Community Assessment report at
http://www.williamslake.ca/files/4/CTC%20Community%20Profile%20Final%20-%20Feb%202010%20web.pdf

The CTC Williams Lake Project blog is now live at http://www.ctcwilliamslake.blogspot.com/

Contact Us

The Social Planning Council is made up of volunteers from the community. Many of us work in social services agencies or also volunteer for other organizations.

Our Mailing Address is Box 20045, Williams Lake BC V2G 4R1

To reach the Society Coordinator Jessica Dunn please email spc-coordinator@xplornet.com or call 250-243-2126

To reach the Communities that Care Project Facilitator Barb Jones please email communitiesthatcare.wl@gmail.com or call 250-305-4838

To reach the THRIVE Williams Lake Project Manager Anne Burrill please email annelburrill@gmail.com or call 250-267-7211

To reach the current SPC Chair Larry Stranberg please email happytrails@cfdccariboo.com or call 250-392-3626