Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) held their board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7.

During the meeting there were discussions of rural bursary policy.

The board has decided to recommend schools to submit applications for an annual grant aid to students who are in Grade 12 and graduating.

Bursaries will be available for professions that are in high demand.

This bursary policy will come through regional grant in aid. The bursary will be split between all General Government contributors. The other option is to distribute the amount split among rural contributors.

The bursary is a way to help fill the void of professions lacking in the area and encourage students to consider these fields carrying on to post secondary.

Special considerations should be given to applications entering the following fields:

Medical fields of study, agriculture support fields, teacher, learning support programs, local government, business administration, land use planing, waste management, finance, or recreation management programs.

During the meeting, board made more recommendations about equal distributions of the bursary among students, and both public and private schools should be included.

RDBN Chair Mark Parker said there will be further discussion in an upcoming meeting.

Compressor station

The Regional District of Bulkley Nechako received notification that Coastal GasLink (CGL) intends to apply to the British Columbia Energy Regulator for permits to construct and operate a compressor station.

The proposed Segundo Lake compressor station consist of three 30 MW turbine driven compressor units, electrical and control buildings, boiler and air compressor buildings. The purpose of the compressor stations is to increase the capacity of natural gas through the CGL pipeline and is part of Phase 2 of their pipeline project.

CGL anticipates the compressor station will be constructed over at three to five year period, between 2025 in 2030. CGL stated that during construction, there will be requirements for equipment, material stock pile sites and space to house workers.

The proposed Segundo Lake Compressor Station is located off the Terser Lake Forest Service Road, east of Tchesinkut Lake, between ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà Lake and Fraser Lake. The proposal has an 18 ha footprint on Crown land which has already been cleared and is currently being used to stockpile and as a laydown yard.

Chair Parker has written a letter to the B.C. Energy Regulator to request that no permits be granted for construction or operate the Segundo Lake Compressor Station without proper review.

There has been repetitive requests from RDBN regarding the impacts of the land use associated with pipeline facilities, including compressor stations on multiple occasions since 2014 during the environmental assessment certificate process.

The application also indicated that CGL mentioned that these were premature decisions made against the permit.

The board expressed concerns for the requirement of more information regarding the construction and operation of this proposed facility.