A memorial plaque will be installed outside City Hall to commemorate (from left) Dalvir Nahal, Patrick Nicol and Bob Spiers, councillors who all passed away while serving their terms. (Submitted photos)

By Liam Verster

City Hall

Vernon council approves plaque for former councillors and new paperless policy

Nov 30, 2022 | 5:00 AM

The City of Vernon is moving forward with two motions brought forward by one councillor.

Kari Gares had proposed having a plaque installed outside City Hall to commemorate Dalvir Nahal, Bob Spiers and Patrick Nicol.

All three passed away while serving a term on Vernon council, and Gares wanted to honour their memories and their “tireless work in volunteerism and philanthropy.”

She noted the original idea was to establish a memorial for Nahal, but chose to expand the idea to include others that passed away while in service to the city within recent memory.

“We could go further back [in history], and here’s why I did not: I was either not alive, or [not] old enough to know past mayors or councillors who died during their elected term,” Gares explained at the regular meeting Monday, Nov. 28.

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“For me to bring something forward like that, that would incorporate those individuals, I wouldn’t be true to myself because I wouldn’t know. With Councillor Nicol, Councillor Spiers and Councillor Nahal, I’m very much aware as to who they are, the commitments they made to their elected position, and, of course, the commitments that they made to the community as a whole.”

She specifically spoke about Nahal who, despite fighting cancer, still attended council meetings and did her work while also using her position within the community to raise money for community organizations and individuals.

“Those are extraordinary situations where somebody, in my personal opinion, went above and beyond their call of duty, if you will,” said Gares.

“Because not all councillors or mayors use their point of influence to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars for their community. That’s very specific and that’s very unique.”

Gares acknowledged that the names of past mayors and councillors, including that of her grandfather, are displayed within city hall, but stated having a plaque mounted on the rock face outside would be more accessible to the public outside work hours.

It was noted that there is a plaque in honour of Nicol in Polson Park, that was installed on direction of Vernon council to commemorate his work organizing Canada Day celebrations. However, Gares suggested installing the plaque at City Hall’s Spirit Square as that is where they primarily served the community in their positions.

The plaque would cost $5,000 to commission and install, and Councillor Akbal Mund questioned spending taxpayers dollars on this, saying it could be easy to raise funds through community donations to fund the project.

However, he noted installing a memorial would be beneficial to the memory of these individuals, and while he would be happy to raise money outside the taxpayer contributions, he does support the idea.

Councillor Brian Quiring, who like Mund had worked with all three individuals, suggested planting a tree in Nahal’s memory, but was also in favour of the original plaque proposal.

Councillor Kelly Fehr voiced opposition to the proposal, saying spending taxpayer money was not suitable for this venture. He also said he struggled with not having a set criteria for those who would be honoured in a plaque paid for by the city. Councillor Brian Guy echoed Fehr’s statements.

The motion to approve and fund the plaque from a yet to be determined source was approved with Gares, Mund, Quiring and Teresa Durning voting in favour.

The plaque will include an inscription reading ‘”What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments but what is woven into the loves of others” -Thucydides.’

Gares’ second motion to establish and implement a sustainable use paper policy specifically for Vernon council was also discussed at Monday’s meeting.

She stated, while staff is doing a lot to reduce the use of paper and it is recyclable, they still go through lots. However, creating a policy will show they are committed to establishing a framework to reduce paper use that will extend to future councils.

Gares noted moving even more into the digital sphere may prove to be challenging to some, but will end up having financial and environmental benefits.

The proposed policy would see council agendas, orientation packages, reports, documents, and committee documents not printed out for meetings. There could be some exceptions for specific documents, such as the budget binders, that could be granted if needed.

It would also ensure the paper that is used by council is eco-paper made out of previously recycled materials.

The motion also called on staff to create a timeline to address the overall paper usage and make adjustments where possible to reduce paper consumption.

Council voted unanimously in favour of the paper use policy.