Scholarship Award & SILGA Appointment

Lake Country, BC – At the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) convention held in Merritt from May 4^th to 6^th, celebrating the community’s 100^th anniversary, Councillor Noreen Guenther was successfully acclaimed as the new SILGA President.

SILGA consists of 37 members and is represented by elected officials from cities, towns, villages, districts and 6 regional districts in the South Central BC.  The SILGA Board consists of a President, 1st Vice-President, 2nd Vice President and 6 Directors.

Councillor Guenther previously served two terms as Director at Large and one term as 1st Vice President on the SILGA Board. She was a Director at Large for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) and served as Vice Chair for the UBCM convention committee. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Okanagan Regional Library Board and serves on the District’s Public Art Advisory Commission, Parcel Tax Review Panel and Liquid Waste Management Plan Amendment Committee.

As President of SILGA Councillor Guenther says “I will continue to work hard on behalf of SILGA to present the issues and concerns of communities and their leaders throughout the region.”   Councillor Guenther trusts that SILGA resolutions send a strong and united voice to UBCM, the province and beyond.  Congratulations Councillor Guenther!

Mayor James Baker (Left), Councillor Noreen Guenther (Centre), and Councillor Barbara Leamont (Right) at the 2011 SILGA Conference in Merritt

Also this week, a $1,000 Community Safety Scholarship was granted to Lake Country Fire Department Lieutenant Eric DeGelder to attend Incident Command System Level 400 Training (ICS-400) at the newly-constructed Emergency Management Division’s disaster simulation centre in New Westminster.

Community Safety Scholarships were created to increase the level of response capability within BC communities by making advanced ICS training more accessible.  The Lake Country Fire Department provides a high level of training and certification to all paid-on-call volunteer firefighters; however the high financial cost and the need to attend the course at the lower mainland facility to access the technology required makes this course difficult to fund.

The ICS Level 400 course is the most advanced Incident Command training provided by the Justice Institute of British Columbia and builds on top of the ICS 100, 200, and 300 Levels of study.  ICS-400 uses immersive simulation technology to learn management in large and complex emergency incidents and explores methods for managing activities and resources in a supervisory role in both multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional settings. 

It has been Eric’s personal ambition to complete this advanced course and the Scholarship will cover the cost of the course travel, accommodation and expenses.  To date the Fire Chief and both Assistant Fire Chiefs have completed ICS 400. Lieutenant Eric DeGelder will be the 4^th Lake Country Fire Department member to complete this high level of training. Congratulations Eric!