Radium Hot Springs resident Greg Deck is the new board chair of Columbia Basin Trust (CBT).

He replaces long-time board chair, Kimberley resident Garry Merkel, who last week retired after serving as chair since 2006, and as a board member for 18 years.

Merkel was instrumental in the formation of the trust, first as part of the committee that negotiated with the Province of B.C. for the establishment of CBT, and then as a founding member of the board. He served as vice-chair from 1995 to 2006.

“On behalf of CBT’s board and staff, I would like to thank Garry and acknowledge his many contributions; his input and leadership over the course of 18 years has been invaluable. Garry’s impact on CBT-and through CBT, on the Columbia Basin-cannot be overemphasized,” Deck stated.

Deck, the founding mayor of the Village of Radium Hot Springs and soon-to-be mayor of the Mountain Resort Municipality of Jumbo, has been on the board since CBT’s inception in 1995, serving as vice-chair from 2008 to the end of 2012.

Nakusp’s Laurie Page, who joined the board in January 2012, is taking over as vice-chair.

“Greg helped found CBT and throughout the years has provided expert guidance and leadership to CBT, as well as to other local governments and organizations,” said Merkel. “In Laurie’s year with us, she has provided significant direction to the board and has stood out through her outstanding efforts as a community volunteer. I also welcome Rick Jensen to the board, and am pleased I can leave the governance of CBT in such capable hands.”

Jensen, a Cranbrook resident, is president and CEO of Panorama Mountain Village, board chair of New Dawn Developments, and is a director of New Dawn Restorations and president of the Canadian Institute of Excellence.

Other board members include Denise Birdstone (Ktunaxa Nation Council), Wendy Booth (Fairmont Hot Springs), Kim Deane (Rossland), Gord DeRosa (Trail), Cindy Gallinger (Elkford), Am Naqvi (Nelson), Andru McCracken (Valemount), Paul Peterson (Burton) and David Raven (Revelstoke).

Merkel may be retiring from the board but his schedule will remain full. He is currently treaty negotiator and advisor to the Ktunaxa Nation Council; sits on the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology; is chair, Tahltan Nation Development Corporation; co-chair, Ministry of Forests Practices Advisory Council; and board member, Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation.

He holds a Bachelor of Science, Forestry (with Honours) from the University of Alberta and an Honorary Degree of Arts from the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, and is a registered professional forester.

He has managed various local, provincial, national and international projects for government, industry, Aboriginal organizations, schools and communities. He has been involved in creating many corporations, associations, governance structures and foundations.

Along with being the first Mayor of Radium Hot Springs, serving for 18 years, Deck was also a Regional District of East Kootenay director for that period, ending with six years as chair. He continues to sit as a founding director of CBT, a director of Columbia Power Corporation, a director of Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation and a director of the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s BC board. He and his wife Meaghan have operated a tourism business in Radium since 1980.

Laurie Page is a veterinarian in Nakusp. She and her husband Bill Sones have operated their business, Nakusp Veterinary Clinic, and raised two children since moving there in 1990. She is past chair of Arrow & Slocan Lakes Community Services and has worked on projects involving affordable housing, seniors’ services, youth empowerment and supporting mental health. As chair of the Nakusp and Area Development Board, she is currently facilitating community engagement, organizational development and projects to enhance the area’s economic self-sufficiency.

Rick Jensen became president and CEO of Panorama Mountain Village Inc. in February 2010. For the past 15 years, he has been the board chair of New Dawn Developments Ltd.-a large construction development company in the East Kootenay-and is also a director of New Dawn Restorations Ltd.

For the past 20 years, he has been the President of the Canadian Institute of Excellence Inc., an educational company that delivers management training, personal development and creative thinking skill development through seminars and personal training. He was a director of Crestbrook Forest Industries Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tembec, until Crestbrook was wound up into Tembec. In addition, he was Mayor of Cranbrook from 1983 to 1990, has been involved with numerous community groups-including being on the Board of the Cranbrook and District Hospital-and for seven years served as a director of the Regional District of East Kootenay. He moved to Cranbrook in 1976, where he and his wife Marguerite raised their two children and are actively involved with their five grandchildren.

CBT’s board meets six times a year in communities around the Basin. The public is invited to attend in order to meet the directors and ask questions about the organization’s work in the Basin. The next meeting is in Revelstoke on Friday, January 25, at 4 p.m. at the Hillcrest Hotel (2100 Oak Drive).

For more information about the board, and to read highlights and minutes from Board meetings, visit www.cbt.org/board.

For information about other Directors on CBT’s Board, please visit www.cbt.org/board.

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