Columbia Basin Trust announces several updates to its Board of Directors, including the appointment of Rick Jensen as Chair and the retirement of current Chair Greg Deck. Local businessman, Michael Delich, has also been appointed to sit on the Board of Directors and is the lone representative from the Elk Valley.
“It is an honour to serve on the Board of the Columbia Basin Trust and I’m proud to follow Ev Cutts, a previous Fernie representative,” said Delich in an email to The Free Press.
Delich was appointed for a one-year term, which will expire in December of 2016.
Delich is originally from Rossland, but has been in the Elk Valley for 25 years.
From Cranbrook, Jensen is replacing Deck as Chair as of January 1, 2016. He joined the Trust Board in 2013 and served as Vice-Chair in 2015. He is the Chair of New Dawn Developments, a director of New Dawn Restorations, President of the Canadian Institute of Excellence and a director of Columbia Power Corporation. He has also served as President and CEO of Panorama Mountain Village.
The Trust also thanks and extends its best wishes to Greg Deck, who is now retiring. From Radium Hot Springs, Deck has been on the Board since the Trust’s inception in 1995, serving as Vice-Chair from 2008 to 2012 and Chair from 2013 to 2015.
“On behalf of the Trust’s Board and staff, I would like to thank Greg Deck for his contributions to the formation and growth of the Trust,” said Jensen. “For over 20 years, he has been an instrumental part of this organization and has dedicated his efforts to the well-being of our region and its residents.”
“I’d like to thank Greg Deck for his years of dedicated service and leadership as chair of the Trust, and for all the help, sound guidance and advice he has shared with me personally as a resident of the Columbia Basin and in my work as an MLA and minister,” said Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett.
The Trust’s 12-member Board consists of individuals appointed by the provincial government: six from the five regional districts and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, and six others. All directors must live in the Basin.
The Board meets five 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 Nelson on Feb. 12, 2016.