Prince George, B.C. – Murry Krause has weighed in on his new role as president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).

The long-time Prince George city councillor officially landed the role during the organization’s annual general meeting in Victoria last week. It is the first time a member of Prince George City Council has held the job.

“It feels good. I’ve been on the executive now for about eight years and I’ve worked my way up the chain,” he told 250News. “I was vice-president last year so I was acclaimed this year. Nobody ran against me so I’m very pleased.”

Krause, who will serve a one-year term, says his priority is to provide a voice for local governments across the province.

“And so it’s really about recognizing that we at UBCM have to be supportive and responsive to as many of those needs as possible.”

He said one of the most universal challenges facing all communities is infrastructure needs and noted they received some good news on that front last week.

“Certainly we were very pleased that the Province indicated that they will be supporting the new infrastructure grants to the level they had before,” said Krause. “So it’ll be 50% from the federal government, 33% from the provincial government and 17% from local governments.”

He said other provinces haven’t been as supportive and noted it will provide a nice boost to community’s province-wide.

“It makes it much more doable and achievable for smaller communities that just don’t have the resources and of course it helps the City of Prince George.”