Mayor Linda Brown is eager to explore community forestry and long-term development in her hometown of Merritt after returning from a recent conference.
Brown said she was busy networking at the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) event last week, and exploring Merritt’s potential to adopt a community forest program such as the one in Logan Lake.
“There are a lot of little forestry companies that are struggling this year, and the forestry industry is struggling,” Brown said. “Local forestry companies are saying that if they don’t get fibre, they’re pulling out. Our biggest mill only has one shift on now, and that gets shut down every now and again, so that is a worry.”
Brown said she saw SILGA as an opportunity to discuss forestry struggles in the Nicola Valley with a number of MLAs.
“Being able to talk to them about the problems we are having in Merritt and the lack of fibre [was valuable],” she said. “We’re getting a number of ears going to the minister and the premier regarding Merritt and the issues we are having. So I’m just going to continue to do that.”
It is not just the current state of forestry, Brown said she is concerned about the state of primary industry in Merritt overall.
Perhaps it is not surprising then that talks making communities “investment ready” for future development resonated with Brown at SILGA. She said the idea got her wondering — “what can Merritt be when it grows up?”
“I think when we look at our history, we have never really done any kind of prep as to what we want, who we want, where we want it,” Brown said.
She said Merritt can take the reins of its own future by planning what kind of development the community wants to see — and then going after them.
“And at the same time supporting home grown businesses and current businesses — we can’t grow without supporting what is in place here,” Brown added.
City staff have been working on streamlining development processes with the support of council by cleaning up bylaws and zoning, which Brown said is a good start.
“But I think we also need to look at … where do we want to be in 40 or 50 years? And then pursue that action instead of just waiting for it to happen. Go out and find the investment,” she said. “So we are going to have to put money in places we haven’t thought of before. And are we ready for that this year? No, not yet. But we certainly need to get ourselves ready for that position.”
Brown pointed to cannabis companies flocking to the Nicola Valley as an example of a municipality preparing for a particular industry.
“It was the previous council that actually set that in place in terms of determining that our M1 [light industrial] zoning would be readily be available for the cannabis growth,” she said.
Brown said intentional planning for future development will be part of the city’s strategic planning, set to get underway in the coming months now that the top spot at city hall has been filled.
“This is certainly something we will be looking at, and probably having a lot of little workshops etc. in the meantime to look at how we actually do this,” she said. “And at the same time looking at fostering First Nations relationships and looking at bringing in our [B.C. Provincial Nominee Program] entrepreneurs — there are so many little pieces that we need to make sure it works together.”
Brown’s goal to “grow Merritt” distresses some members of the community, she said, because “they don’t want this place to be a big city.”
“Well we don’t have the capacity to be a big city — we just want to be a healthy, growing, sustainable town,” she said. “We want to maintain quality of life, employment and all the other good things that come from growth. So that was one of the biggest takeaways for me.”
