The Lytton hall and library were once housed in the same building, before a wildfire ripped through the village in 2021.
Image Credit: Thompson Nicola Regional District
January 22, 2024 - 7:00 PM
It's been more than two years since a wildfire wiped out the village of Lytton and governments have little to show for their rebuild promises.
Just before the new year, the village issued its first building permit since the fire, and now regional district director Tricia Thorpe is questioning whether it's worth effort to rebuild the village at all.
"I feel we are putting the cart before the horse," the Thompson Nicola Regional District director said at a Jan. 18 board meeting. The regional district was considering what to do with its burnt-down library and the insurance payout.
The regional district owned the land and the building, but leased some of the space as the village hall. The village was under a "rent to own" agreement, but the two governments will now have to renegotiate what to do with the land after a vote from the board, according to a staff report.
Thorpe, the lone opposing vote on negotiation, represents a rural area that covers a portion of the Fraser Valley and surrounds Lytton. Just outside the village, she also lost her home in the 2021 fire.
She first questioned whether it was in the regional district's best interest to consider giving the land over to the village before then questioning whether the village rebuild is viable at all.
Thorpe said Lytton is "barely able to function" after losing most of its tax base.
"Are we hitching our cart to a dying pony?" she said. "These are concerns and conversations that are taking place behind closed doors, and I think we need to address these issues head on, openly and pragmatically."
The rest of the board, including the mayor of Lytton, refrained from talking about the future of the village and whether it's worth rebuilding, but instead focused on the joint library and village hall property.
"I can assure all the board members here that we have made no decisions as to what we're going to be doing," Lytton mayor Denise O'Connor said of the future of the library property.
The board's vote did not actually decide whether it will hand over the property to the village. Instead, it simply gave staff the OK to negotiate with the village.
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