News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By LeRae Haynes

Audrey MacLise from the Seniors Advisory Council made a presentation last night at a Committee of the Whole meeting at City Hall regarding Cariboo Lodge.

She made reference to a letter to City Council dated June 2010, which mentioned a presentation made to Council in April about the desperate need for seniors’ subsidized housing in Williams Lake.

The letter said that Cariboo Lodge was originally built by funds raised by seniors to provide subsidized housing, and that seniors in the community played a major role in supporting the operation of the facilities all along. “The Cariboo Lodge side was originally acquired to provide for the needs of seniors and we feel it is essential that the re-development of this site be restricted to seniors’ use,” the letter states.

The letter asked the City of Williams Lake to make the commitment to work with the community to create a workable plan for Cariboo Lodge.

Audrey said that there was some correspondence back and forth from the City of Williams Lake to the Seniors Advisory Council, but said that the City finally informed seniors that they were not prepared to make any plan regarding Cariboo Lodge at that point.

She said that City Councillor Geoff Bourdon contacted them recently and invited them to address the Committee of the Whole on August 31. “We wanted to know if they’re going to form a committee to work on a plan for Cariboo Lodge and allow the pubic to have a say, or if they’re going to make decisions behind closed doors,” she continued.

Local resident George Atamanenko said that it’s important for City Council to remember that Cariboo Lodge was fundraised and built by the community for seniors. “One of the problems is that this Council has been very secretive. They signed Heritage House away to Mental Health on a five-year agreement and that was very upsetting,” he said. “The idea for the presentation last night was to get them to set up a committee that includes a Council member, seniors and other people interested in seniors housing issues. We also need to have public meetings when ideas for the use of Cariboo Lodge come forward.”       

At last night’s meeting, discussion after Audrey’s presentation included the fact that Williams Lake Seniors Village has lowered their single unit rent, and that other facilities, such as apartments, should look into lowering their rents and making their facilities more senior-accessible.

Directors of the Seniors Advisory Council said that they are very disappointed with the way the meeting went last night. “We did get them to show their hand, though. They’ve always said that we must do something about this, and said, yes this is terrible for seniors, but when push comes to shove, they don’t agree with us at all,” they stated. “What we’re trying to do is make them have a plan and stop chipping away at that property.  In Williams Lake we built exclusively for the handicapped, the homeless and people with addictions, and we can’t build exclusively for the people who put their blood, sweat and tears into this town?”

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