07/17/2026
July 1st, 2026 Canada Day Celebration - Lebourdais Park Speech
Welcome – On behalf of the Cariboo Regional District we welcome you to these Canada Day Celebrations.
We recognize and Celebrate Indigenous Peoples and their Traditions in this beautiful land we all call home.
Canada Day is a Special Celebration of our Country and while we may not always get things right, we strive to always be better.
We are a true multicultural country, recognizing all First Nations who are stewards of this land and continue to steward this land despite adversity.
I am personally, Proud & Grateful to have been born and raised in this country we call Canada.
We welcome many peoples with different cultures, beliefs and backgrounds to our shores.
We welcome the disenfranchised, we welcome trained and untrained, we welcome the rich and poor, from all the many different shores to Canada.
As Canadians we strive to be tolerant, fair, resourceful, Quiet in Reflection and Fierce when Necessary.
We ARE the True North Strong & Free!
Enjoy these Canada Day Celebrations
- Barb Bachmeier, On Behalf fo the Cariboo Regional Distrct
Kosta's Cove Changerooms
In August and September of 2024 we recieved some funding to build changerooms at Kosta's Cove.
The walls were built on a trailer at a private residence and then brought to the Cove for Assembly.
The concrete was installed by the EH Team (Tyler Burgess), with donations from several businesses incuding gravel from Unted Concrete.
We rounded up about 15 volunteers from the Ten Mile Lake Community to put the building together with the roof being installed a week or so later.
We made sure that there was a storage room for some small supplies for our maintenance contractor, JD Larson, so that he can keep the park maintained for everyone's enjoyment.
Photos are of the day the volunteers went to work putting this project together.
The blue building is the final project.
The Parkland Recreation Commission has worked hard to bring this project together and I commend them for all of the efforts they put in to making Kosta's Cove the best it can be.
Enjoy!
Kosta's Cove
Kosta's Cove is a unique place with Swimming, picnicing in the picnic shelter, and has a 9-hole Disc - Golf course just up from the Beach area.
There is a new dog park area to the right as you walk towards the Cove / Swimming area. There are trails on both sides of Bjornson Road, hopfully with more trails in the works this year.
Come out and enjoy the Cove's amenities year round.
The Parkland Recreation Commission will be hosting the 2nd Annual International Festival at Kosta's Cove, Saturday, August 15th, 2026 between 3 PM and 7 PM. Last year there were so many food vendors from many dfferent natonalities it was amazing. They had cultural dancing and music to go along with the dancers.
If you want to be a part of this festival as an International Vendor or Dance Group please contact Claudia at [email protected] or call and leave a message at (250)991-9404
Theft at Kosta's Cove
It is unfortunate that thieves feel that they are entitled to our maintenance person's tools.They were removed from the storage at the back of the New Changerooms. These tools were donated by community members and we feel it is disrespectful to take things that are provided for the beneft of all the residents of the area. We would appreciate the return of these tools, the tool box, and the garbage bags, no questions asked.
Items that are missing are:
1 - Toolbox with a drawer at the bottom (silver in colour)
2 - claw hammers
1 - ball hammer
2 - crescent wrenches
1 - pair vice grips
1 - pair tin snips
1 - flat head screwdriver
1 - phillips screwdriver
1 - robertson screwdriver
1 - box of garbage bags
These items are important for our maintenance person to look after Kosta's Cove for all of the residents and guests who use this property.
RCMP File #20265445
If anyone has nformation please contact the RCMP non - emergency line with the File # at (250)992-9211
To contact Parkland Recreation Commission:
[email protected]
(250)991-9404
New Trail Signage at Claymine Trails
Claymine Trails are a beautiful place to go for a walk. The low mobility sections are in relatively good shape at this time. Section One has a bit of w**ds coming through but there is a plan in place to take care of this in the fall when the Herons have left their nests. If you want to visit the nesting site please do so in a respectful and quiet way so that they do not become stressed.
Bouchie Lake Ball Diamond
The Bouchie Lake Ball Diamond is receiving some much needed upgrades this year, 2026 and next year, 2027.
So far, the sprinkler heads have all been replaced with new updated ones. Some of the old heads were several inches under the ground, so completely ineffective. They found all of the heads with a metal detector. They replaced the solenoids just to make sure there were no issues.
When I spoke with the contractor, he said they could not find any leaks so that is good news, meaning we will not have to replace the irrigation lines.
They pressurized the system to 50psi and were planning to put an inline pump to raise the pressure to 105psi to make sure there were no leaks.
After replacing the irrigation heads they applied some w**d and feed to the fields to spruce up the grass.
The plan for next year is to bring in some topsoil, reseed the outfield and fix up the infield.
With all of the decommissioned Ball Diamonds around the Quesnel area, Adult ball is limited to a field at Barlow Creek. Many groups are approaching the Bouchie Lake Recreation Commission to use this field. I have heard from many people myself. In one of my earler newsletters, people were playing ball in the snow for a fun winter activity.
There are a few more fields for little league Baseball available at Lebourdias Park, the West Fraser Timber Park and Barlow Creek.
In 2027, the Ball Diamond will not be available as a Dog Park as unfortunately, it would be unsanitary for people playing Baseball and urine will not be good for the new reseeded field.
The Bouchie Lake Recreation Commission is looking into another area of the grounds where dogs would be welcome.
CRD - Community Wildfire Resiliancy Project (CWRP)
I recently attended a CWRP Open House at the Arts and Rec Centre on July 14th, 2026. This year and possibly next year the focus will be on Electoral Areas - A, B, C, I, J, & K. The project was started in Electoral Areas - D, E, F, G, H, & L in the previous two years (2024 - 2025 or thereabouts)
There are four project phases (Slide 1)
1. Community Information Gathering
- provides important context about the communities within each Electoral Area
2. Wildfire Risk Assessment
- assess the local wildfire environment
3. Assess 7 FireSmart Disciplines
- Review existing community information and identify strengths and gaps
4. Develop Action Plan
- Proritized Actions framed around FireSmart Disciplines
Community Information Gathering (Slide 2)
- Community Attributes
- Values at Risk
- Human Life and Safety
- Critical Infrastructure
- Community Buildings
- Health Services
- Electric Power
- Communications
- Water Supply
- Culturally Important Sites
- Emergency Response Capacity
- Existing and ongoing interagency relationships
Wildfre Risk Assessment (Slide 3)
* 1km from structure density of 6 structures per square km
* Public land or CRD owned land
* No private land or First Nations reserve land
* Inportant note: Majority of Eligble Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) area already covered under a completed WUI WRR Plan (Wildfire Risk Reduction).
Slide 3 covers the 6 electoral areas in the North Cariboo and Chilcotin. Sections in yellow are some of the higher density areas that are near Public Lands. These are the target areas to be worked on.
I will be talking about Electoral Area B for areas of interest that may be a part of this project with some Ministry of Forest Staff, although it will just be as someone who knows Electoral Area B and some of the Access / Egress areas of concern.
This is not about vegitation reductionor FireSmartng Private Property. it is about how the agencies can work together to reduce the impact of Wildfires within the Cariboo Regional District on Public and CRD owned land.
Meetings & Events Attended
Canada Day Celebraton at Lebourdais Park - Wrote and read out a speech (above)
Attended Mary Sjostrum's Celebration of Life Event at West Fraser Centre July 4th, 2026. It was well attended by many people from the community and beyond. Mary was a force to be reckoned with and had the respect of Politicians of every stripe. She worked hard for her Residents in Electoral Area A. Mary will be missed.
On July 10th, 2026, I attended the CCRHD / CRD Board Meetings in Williams Lake.
July 14th, 2026, i attended the CWRP Open House as mentioned above. A lot of information and I will be following up.
Online Teams Meeting with John Babineau, Ministry of Transportation, Sarah Gaib, Ministry of Transportation, Nicole Audet Electoral Area A, and Myself, Barb Bachmeier Electoral Area B for a Cariboo Road Recovery Project Presentation. We went through the 5 Road Recovery Projects in Area A and the 3 Road Recovery Projects in Area B (Highway 97 at Cottonwood Hill, Knickerbocker / Blackwater, and the Quesnel-Hixon Road Projects)
The updates in Area B:
Highway 97 at Cottonwood Hill is progressing. They are continuing to drive the piles into the lower section below the road.
Quesnel-Hixon Road is not going to be rebuilt. However, Olson Road, Ahbau Creek Bridge, Greening Road, will be upgraded. Bids are in for these projects but haven't been awarded. Lhtako has been awarded the brushng along Olson Road to clear the Site Lines for traffic. There will be a new turning lane coming off of Highway 97 onto Olson Road from both directions for safety reasons that were Identified by the Residents of the area. There is a proposal to remove the Cottonwood River Canyon Bridge.
Knickerbocker / Blackwater Slide Area - Still waiting for this to be done. They have the Draft Drawings, possibly waiting for the Agricultural Land Commission to approve a small channel into ALR land for a Fish resting area as per DFO's request to mitigate the rock to be put into the Fraser River at the toe of the slide.
Calendar
Billy Barker Days July 16th to 19th, 2026
Billy Barker Day Parade July 18th, 2026 Downtown Quesnel. The CRD Northern Directors will be in the Parade
Joan Calihou Memorial at the Bouchie Lake Hall July 20th 2PM to 6PM (Long Time Resident of Bouchie Lake)
Minister Meeting for EMCR July 22nd, 2026 - Update on Emergency Response
West Fraser Tour July 22nd, 2026 Tentative
Forestry Forum - July 23rd, 2026 9AM to 4PM Signal Point - Wlliams Lake
Dave Laser 80th Birthday July 25th, 2026 at the Bouchie Lake Hall
Housing Solutions Table - July 29th, 2026 9AM to 10:30AM
Barb Bachmeier
Electoral Area B Director
Cariboo Regional District
[email protected]
250-255-0554
