Although there is still work to be done, Clearwater and District Chamber of Commerce has made progress over the past year, President Jon Kreke reported during the organization’s annual general meeting on April 4.

Possibly the most important change was coordinating with Information Wells Gray so that all the staff at Wells Gray Info Centre are from the latter organization. Having some of the staff from the Chamber and some from IWG did not meaningfully improve the service to the public and created extra work for Chamber members, Kreke felt.

Much the same board of directors was voted back in, with the addition of Robert Beaudry as a new director.

Special guest speakers at the AGM were District of Clearwater chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx and director of finance Wes Renaud.

The two gave a presentation on the municipality’s budget, including the 5.5 per cent tax increase planned for this year.

“We’re quite busy with prospective investors right now,” Groulx said, speaking in her role as the District of Clearwater’s economic development officer. Unfortunately, she could not disclose any details.

Road maintenance is the biggest single item in the budget.

During the spring, most roads in the municipality are restricted to 70 per cent of axel load.

The cost of operating the Sportsplex is shared 60/40 with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, with Clearwater picking up the bigger share.