Rhona Martin your Director for Area E of the CSRD

06/08/2026

06/08/2026

It's GoByBike in BC! What better place to participate than the beautiful Shuswap?

Cycling in BC is more than just fun, it's a movement! Every ride reduces greenhouse gases, supports healthier communities, and showcases the power of riders across the province.

How do you bike in the Shuswap? 🚴‍♂️🌿

05/30/2026

I have just been notified that the Malakwa Recycling depot is not able to open today as the bins are full.

Staff at the CSRD will update me when the site has been serviced and is able to reopen.

I apologize for the inconvenience

05/27/2026

Hi everyone

The CSRD is in the process of doing a Regional Parks Plan.

Part of this work involves public engagement in the Electoral Areas.

There are three events planned for Area E

June 8 from 1 - 3 at the Sicamous and District Recreation Centre

June 8 from 4:30 - 7 at the Malakwa Park

June 9 from 4:30 - 7 at the Swansea Point Fire Hall.

The intent of these is to hear from the public regarding CSRD parks and how they see development taking place in the future.

Some of you may remember the planning process that helped develop the many parks we have now.

In regard to Yard Creek Campground

Myself and CSRD Staff had a meeting with BC Parks to discuss the situation.

This meeting resulted in correspondence being sent to BC Parks offering to put some funds in to upgrading some of the Yard Creek facilities with the hope of being reimbursed at some point. We requested that Yard Creek be put on the reservation system in order to build up the usage of the park thereby increasing revenue. Also I have asked if there could be some way that we could find a way to make the Yard Creek water system a permanent source of water for the Malakwa Volunteer Fire Department.

We are waiting for their response.

So to be clear these meetings are not about Yard Creek they are about CSRD Parks and Trails.

05/22/2026

With no local newspapers available in the rural area it’s very challenging to make sure that notification is received by everybody.

The best way to determine what is going on is to check the CSRD website. All meetings are required to be posted. The May board meeting was advertised that it would be held in Malakwa.

It seems as though the post that I put forward the other day is generating a lot of conversation. That was my intent.

I am not planning to sneak something in. I am wanting people within my electoral area to be aware of what is being proposed and that they will have the opportunity to say yes or no before anything is placed on their property taxes. That is the Democratic way.

I am seeing post about people not receiving anything for their taxes. Perhaps you’re not aware that every year 911 emergency communications is something that is paid for by your property taxes. There’s financial support given to the Shuswap SPCA on our behalf as animals from electoral area E do wind up at the Salmon Arm SPCA. You may not use the library, but there’s many people within the community that do and there are taxes collected to help support it. As far as fire protection goes, some of the comments that I’ve heard are correct.It is very expensive and that is because we do not have the population or the taxation base to reduce it and as we keep growing, that will help lower the cost. There are specific specified area taxation services, such as the anti-whistling at the Cambie Solsqua Crossing and the anti-whistling at the Taft road crossing, and those properties within that specified area are the only ones that pay. We all pay taxes towards the hospital and although that funding is not for the operation of the hospital, it is for 40% of the capital cost when new buildings or equipment are needed.

Once again, the CSRD is not trying to sneak anything in, we are bringing information forward and you as individuals will have the opportunity to say yes or no, and everybody is entitled to their opinion there is no right and wrong.

05/21/2026

Today I had the honour of showcasing some of the hidden gems in Electoral Area E of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District to members of our Board of Directors and staff.

We started at the Sicamous and District Recreation Centre where we were given the grand tour by Justin and Cal. It made me very proud to hear comments from my board members about how well maintained, and how clean our arena is. We are very fortunate to have such a fine facility located within our communities.

We spent the afternoon in Malakwa where Heather and Terry Milton were able to spend time talking about their sustainable family-owned cattle ranch and butcher shop that will also soon be able to slaughter on site. The facility is first rate and we are so fortunate to be able to access top quality products right here at home.

We had a quick stop at the beautiful historic Malakwa suspension bridge which is a must see within the community.

Our second tour was with Scott and Konnor McCuaig (father and son) at Performance PolyTeK Custom Tooling and Excel Tent Trailers.
So many amazing products being manufactured right here at home. They employ about 14 people right close to home.

Our third stop was at CKMP where we were welcomed by Carl, Shelly, and Marshal and were treated to some of their home grown beef. They are doing amazing work promoting responsible, snowmobiling, and backcountry recreation along with many other things.

All of these businesses began with somebody’s dream which resulted in years of hard work to create the successful products to showcase the world.

Thank each and everyone of you for taking the time out of your busy day to share what you have with our board of directors and our staff.

We ended the day with a quick little jaunt on the rail trail, it was perfect. The sun was shining. Many people were using it. I am so proud of the work put into creating this amazing opportunity for the North Okanagan Shuswap Region.

Thank you to Jennifer Sham for all your hard work in arranging this board tour day.

05/15/2026

Clean. Drain. Dry. Every time.🌊

Make it part of your routine every time you move watercraft or equipment between bodies of water.

🧽 Clean off plants, mud, sand and debris. Rinse or wash your boat and equipment away from storm drains, ditches or waterways.

💧 Drain bilge, motors, containers, coolers, lifejackets and other gear. Pull the plug! All drainage holes, valves or other devices must be left open or unplugged.

☀️ Dry everything completely before entering new waters. Leave compartments open on boats and equipment.

It only takes a few minutes, but it helps stop aquatic invasive species from spreading into our lakes and rivers.

Learn more about simple prevention steps: https://ow.ly/tAJ150YZP17

Explore Sicamous Sicamous & District Visitor Centre City of Salmon Arm Salmon Arm Tourism Shuswap Watershed Council Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society

05/12/2026

05/12/2026

Even if the spring feels mild, dead grass from last season is dry and can ignite easily. The Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC) measures how easily fine surface fuels like grass and needles can catch and carry fire, and spring values are often high. The FFMC varies by region and topography, so conditions across B.C. may not be the same.

When it comes to grass fires, wind matters more than temperature. Wind dries fuels quickly and drives how fast a fire can spread. If it's a windy day, it's not a good day to burn.

Before any open burning:
📱Check whether burning is permitted in your area at gov.bc.ca/fireprohibitions
👀Never leave a fire unattended.
💦Have an adequate water supply and a hand tool, like a shovel, within reach at all times.
👉🏼When you're done, make sure your fire is fully extinguished and cold to the touch.
💻Review gov.bc.ca/saferburning to learn more

05/12/2026

Good morning

This morning, I would like to talk to you about gathering places.

Located within Area E of the CSRD we have three separate locations.

The gathering place for Swansea Point is the Hall that is connected to the Swansea Point Fire Hall. It is supported through taxation and those properties within the Swansea Point Fire Protection area pay for it. It is a beautiful hall that is maintained with great pride.

In the Cambie Solsqua Area we have the beautiful historic Cambie Hall. If the walls could talk, they would tell some great stories. This Hall is owned by the Cambie Hall Association. It is run and maintained by volunteers. Currently there is no financial support provided through taxation. As volunteers age and move away, it has become at times a struggle.

In order to support the operation of this beautiful facility, it is my intention to take to referendum in the fall. A question to people in a specified area regarding financial support to Cambie Hall.

To provide $15,000 to the Cambie Hall association it would cost a person with a property assessed at $450,000 with Land and improvements approximately $60 per year.

These funds would cover the cost of insurance, utilities, including propane, and perhaps a small portion for administration.

Moving along to Malakwa, for those that are new to the area, you may not know that we lost our Hall several years ago. A heavy snow load collapsed the roof.

For approximately 15 years, the Malakwa Community Centre Association has been leasing the former Malakwa Elementary School. The funding for this lease has come from the CSRD through a funding envelope called the economic opportunity fund. This is not secure funding, and although we have been very fortunate to have been able to access these funds over this extended period my worry is at some point in time the answer will be no.

The school building in Malakwa houses our Post Office, the Eagle Valley Community Support Society which also operates the food bank, the baby clinic through Interior Health is held there, the library is open once a week open to everyone, volleyball has been held for all ages. Okanagan College has held courses there and the forest industry has booked the gymnasium to provide training to their contractors.

As a gathering place, the School building is all we have now. It’s used for community meetings. It’s used for celebrations of life for community members that have passed away. It’s used for weddings and happy times.

There’s opportunities for so much more

To provide the $80,000 required through taxation it would cost a person with a property assessed at 450,000.00 land and improvements approximately $200.00 per year.

I know this is quite an increase to taxation, but if we do not have this building, I can’t imagine the impact on our community.

This is the start of the conversation and I hope to hear back from you.
Please if you have questions I would like to hear them, and I will try my best to provide the answers you require.

This is all about building community and building capacity and everyone’s help as needed.

Respectfully

Rhona