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Meet Montrose councillor candidates

Advance voting begins Wednesday Oct. 10 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
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General voting day for the Municipal Election is Saturday, Oct. 20.

Don Berriault

Hello, my name is Don Berriault. I moved here in 1979 from Manitoba, to work for Cominco during the construction spree. I have lived here since. I have been involved in the community from the beginning – helping at school while my daughters were there. I have always been a supporter and user of the library and have on their board for many years. In the late 1980 I moved up to municipal politics. I have won elections and lost elections over the years.

During those years on council I have learned about each of the different portfolios – so I have experience in all aspects of the village workings. I am a team player, and I have worked with each of the candidates vying for the position as mayor. I understand the issues ad the process.

From what I understand right now, the village is in and enviable place. We have no debt. We have work to do on our aging infrastructure, but we already have a plan. Some work has been started and we have everything in place, waiting for approval of grants so that the residents don’t have to shoulder the whole cost. As an example of this kind of pre-planning, the residents just had to cover 30 percent of the whole cost for the first phase of the sewer plant upgrades.

The senior housing project will be more of a challenge as we have to work with many other jurisdictions. We do have some property and it is properly zoned and ready to build on. Getting the other players for funding and planning will be the major challenge.

Thank you for your time. In closing I ask for you support as councillor.

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Cindy Cook

My name is Cindy Cook and I am seeking re-election as councillor for the Village of Montrose. I grew up in Montrose, raised our children here and continue to volunteer throughout the area.

During the last 4 years Council as a team, worked hard with other members of Beaver Valley Recreation. A few of our successes were a Recreation deal with Trail (this deal will come up for renewal during this next term), the BV Skate Park, hiking trails, and so many fun activities for all residents.

The Village has new LED lighting through the main corridor with the new high visibility crosswalk signs, and upgrades to our community hall were made. Work was completed on the water tanks and down at the Waste Water Treatment plant, and coming soon lighting in the Montrose park along the path.

Looking forward, the Village will continue to apply for infrastructure grants for both Water and Waste Water; this will be a top priority. Council and staff have had many conversations with other agencies about bringing broadband to the village. Council will continue to lobby for broadband, this is important for attracting families/businesses wanting to move to Montrose. Seniors housing has been identified as a priority by residents. I am excited about the possibilities, there are Grants available and I believe in terms of project readiness, Montrose is ahead of the game. Montrose council has always been proactive, and works well with partners and I believe with some hard work we could make seniors housing a reality in Montrose.

The Village of Montrose has always been a community with engaged residents, amazing volunteers and is a great place for everyone to enjoy. I will promise to continue to work as part of the team in the best interest of the residents if re-elected. I am very proud to call Montrose home, and would appreciate your vote for council on October 20, 2018.

Thanks for your consideration

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Royce Schmidt

I have been a Montrose resident since 2001…..My wife Janice was born and raised in Montrose…..I am 61 years old and work full-time at Walmart….My wife and I also operate an online promotional products business, Canada Fridge Magnets…..I previously served two terms on Montrose council from 2002 to 2008. And I was the Director of the Municipal Insurance Association of BC 2003 to 2008….

Montrose is a wonderful community and my “forever home”….I would like to re-join council so I can get involved in projects like economic development, infrastructure, seniors housing, recreation co-operation and broadband…..I see the village changing as younger families make it their home and want to work hard as part of the “team” that keeps things going…..

The recreation agreement with the City of Trail will come up again during the next term of council….It is important the we consider the needs of both recreation users and non users who pay a significant portion of the bill….

And as was a major focus of mine last time around, I want to do all I can do to keep our “regional hospital” up to date and at its present location….With an aging population and major industries close by, this is a must…..

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Paul Caron

I’m Paul Caron, long time Montrose, Fruitvale, and Trail native.

I am a team player and a good listener. I love the community we live in, it’s a great place to raise kids and I want to help keep it that way. I enjoy hard work and new challenges and I believe there will be a lot of both as a counselor of Montrose. As a first time counselor I want to bring enthusiasm and a progressive new outlook to our amazing village. I enjoy talking to people and listening to there concerns and seeing what I can do to help. I truly believe I will make a great counselor and would appreciate your vote.

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Lynda Bouthillier

Here are my reasons for running to be on council in Montrose.

We need change we need transparency I want residents of Montrose to fell if they have a issues they can come to me and we can sit and come to a solution.

We need more housing for the young families and the seniors because they were the ones that paved the way for us to carry on.

I want to see the Montrose Hall used more for young families and the seniors we have a beautiful park lets get together and maybe have some ball tournament for people we could the part for other sports too I am sure.

We need to keep on top of the shape of our roads and water and sewer. What we don’t want is this all come down on the residents and end up costing more money than had to be spent.

We also need to open the door to open village meetings people have to know what is going on and how we are spending they tax money.

We need for our residents to feel safe I am open to having block parents we don;t need to have crime starting in our village we should think about how or what can be done with the old elementary school.

We have to do something about the housing in Montrose we have property that could be used for low cost housing for seniors and young families. We need to find someone that can help with the financing.

I will listen and I will work hard for the residents of Montrose we need change we need fresh idea’s to move forward we have to have a open mind to the people.

We have to keep up with the rest of the communities when it comes to housing and what the residents need.

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Rory Steep

My name is Rory Steep and I am running to be re-elected to council for the Village of Montrose. My family has been in the village for approximately 65 years. My grandfather helped build the village, from many of the houses to the fire hall. My grandmother, parents, aunt, uncle and sister still live in the village. Other than to complete post-secondary education, I have essentially lived in Montrose my whole life.

As a teenager I fought for the village when the pool collapsed. In college I fought for the village when the school was closed. I will continue to fight for and support Montrose.

In my current term on council, I have participated in creating a SWOT plan for the village. This plan took input from the residents and highlights our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It has helped us make decisions for the village based on what the residents want and need. We have repaired a sluffing rapid infiltration drain at the wastewater plant, repaired and coated the upper water tower, had the crosswalk lighting improved, had a community garden installed and had the skateboard park completely redone. We also supported the Beaver Valley in getting a fair recreation agreement.

Going forward, we will continue to fight to get broadband in the Village, work at getting affordable seniors housing built and work to get a grant for our much needed wastewater treatment plant upgrades. We are a strong village and a proud village and we love living here.

I would greatly appreciate your support on October 20th, Please vote.