Council Matters: Rossland City Council Meeting, September 9, 2024
By Sara Golling
The Rossland Pool – discussion and a motion; a ‘big financial hit coming’ for the Columbia Pollution Control Centre; organics, and becoming more bear smart; another music venue in the works
Present:
Mayor Andy Morel and Councillors Stewart Spooner, Craig Humpherys, Eliza Boyce, Maya Provençal (remote), Jeff Weaver and Lisa Kwiatkowski (remote).
Staff: CAO Bryan Teasdale, Deputy Corporate Officer Cynthia Añonuevo, Executive Assistant Rachel Newton, Chief Financial Officer Mike Kennedy, Manager of Recreation & Events Kristi Calder, City Planner Stacey Lightbourne, and Deputy Manager of Operations and Infrastructure Josh Solman.
Public Input Period:
The public gallery was packed and overflowing. Most people were there to voice their support for keeping the 93-year-old Rossland pool serving the community as long as possible. Seventeen people spoke, emphasizing the pool’s value to the community and the importance of young children being able to learn to swim close to home, stating that swimming is an important life skill and part of public safety. Former mayor Kathy More noted, “We have a lot more children in the community than we used to, and they should all be able to learn to swim.”
One person said, “Our pool is such a gem– part of our 15 minute city.” Another said she uses the pool frequently, and “It’s such a happy place!”
Someone mentioned the carbon cost of driving to another community to use a pool.
Some attendees said they want to form a group to raise funding to extend the life of the pool.
One woman said that the pool “made my summer manageable.”
Some people spoke about the heritage value of the pool. One woman asked, “How many other people here swam in that pool in 1957?” Another spoke of its value as a place right in town to cool down in the water, increasingly important as climate change brings more heat domes – “Heat is a killer,” and not everyone can drive to a lake or river.
Several young people stood up to testify about their use of the pool and how much they value it.
Another resident spoke about “spiritual violence” and now pervasive it is, and about the role of “alcohol digestion” in that form of violence. She provided staff with some written materials on the topic.
Several people also spoke in support of the application for an entertainment endorsement for the Old Firehall Tavern, expressing enthusiasm for having another local venue for live music. The City had received one message opposing the application from an adjacent resident, on the basis that they feared the music would be too loud, and that patrons’ vehicles would block their driveway and walkway.
Delegations:
1. Tourism Rossland: Executive Director Andras Lukacs brought Council up to date on recent activities and current plans. He outlined the benefits of tourism to the community, including the economic contribution (he cited a figure of $32 million, but acknowledged that much of that benefits the region, not just Rossland).
Lukacs outlined the objectives of Tourism Rossland: to increase visitation and spending here in period that are usually slow for tourism; to continuously improve Rossland’s “visitor servicing and experiential quality”; and “Build a compelling and authentic destination.” He spoke about the Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding, and listed projects in Rossland that have benefited from some RMI dollars, including the downtown washroom, the Rossglen gazebo, some trail remediation, and winter transportation projects.
Lukacs also outlined the financial figures for Tourism Rossland, which are included in the Council material for the meeting for interested residents.
2. Bear Smart: Indea D’Aigle, Rossland Bear Smart Task Force chair, reported on the results of two surveys, one canvassing residents’ opinions on the curbside collection program and management of organics, and another for reporting bear incidents involving the organics bins (there were five such incidents reported). D’Aigle reported that a large percentage of respondents would prefer organics collection and processing within Rossland, rather than having the material trucked to a distant location.
Weaver asked whether she had found any community in bear country with a communal composting facility; she answered, yes, Banff. She explained that a problem for a local communal collection bin is that the RDKB would not be willing to accept material from an unattended communal bin because of high levels of contaminants and noxious weeds.
D’Aigle was hoping for a resolution to go ahead with the organics plan.
Referrals – Request for Council decision:
Rossland Outdoor Pool: A motion to receive the Rossland Recreation Master Plan Implementation Committee White Paper on the Rossland pool, and adopt its recommendations CARRIED after discussion.
The recommendations are to “phase out the pool due to high costs, seasonality, and feasibility concerns while saving for decommissioning and to further explore possible alternative seasonal (summer) water-use facility or amenity options within the City and with the neighbouring communities of Warfield and Trail.”
Discussion included noting that the motion did not preclude a group of residents from working to see if they can raise sufficient funds to help prolong the active life of the pool.
Spooner commented that Rosslanders are “passionate about what we do” and also about new things we want, such as pickle-ball courts, but that we must pay for what we get – and it can add up. He outlined the process the committee went through to produce the white paper and its recommendations, and all the factors the committee considered, and said he could not do anything but support the recommendations.
Kwiatkowski expressed gratitude to the committee for their work, and noted that the discussion is not about the value of the pool, but about the taxpayer base we have. But, she said, she doesn’t want to “leave any stone unturned” in seeking to keep the pool open as long as possible.
Weaver pointed our that the motion (Option #1) is not a motion to close the pool; it’s a motion to keep it open, but without major investments. He said he had made notes about the costs of pools in other places, and the resulting tax increases, and he doesn’t want his legacy to be saddling the community with a huge tax burden for the future. He wants Rossland to begin discussing the distinction between “core” services and “nice to have” services. He pointed out that we will not have the choices that were open to our parents.
Boyce said she is excited to see all the support for the pool, and wants people to have an opportunity to work for it. She acknowledged that the change rooms are deficient by today’s standards, especially accessibility standards, but noted that there is nothing more inaccessible than having no pool at all. Provençal agreed with Boyce, as did Humpherys, who said, “but we’re going to have to pull together in a limited time frame.”
Lightbourne clarified that the motion is to keep doing what we’re dong right now.
Teasdale noted that “we’re going into our budget cycle” and will be developing our financial plans for 2025 and on; there will be discussions about service levels.
Kennedy commented that the pool is subsidized by about $80,000 per year.
Calder noted, “We can still operate it, until, we can’t.”
Morel pointed out that Rossland taxpayers will soon face a substantial increase in taxes for the Columbia Pollution Control Centre (sewage treatment plant – required upgrades), and that we will be having an infrastructure study soon, and a better idea of upcoming costs for core services. He favours continuing efforts to see what can be done to keep the pool running, but doesn’t want to just “kick the can down the road” for future councils.
Bylaws:
Recreation Fees and Charges Bylaw # 2837:
A motion to adopt the bylaw CARRIED unanimously.
2025-2026 Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw # 2840:
Motions to give the bylaw first, second, and third readings each CARRIED unanimously.
If adopted, the bylaw for 2025 – 2026 will provide two-year exemptions for Golden City Manor, the Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society (for the housing units above City Hall), the Rossland Seniors Association, Visions for Small Schools Society (Seven Summits Centre for Learning), and the Rossland and District Search and Rescue (for Bay 1 at 941 Black Bear Road).
Unsuccessful applicants for permissive tax exemptions were: Canadian Legion #14 (2081 Washington Street), Rossland Child Care Society (Golden Bear), and an application to exempt the land around the Catholic Church (the building and the land it occupies are exempt by statute).
Other Requests for Council Decision:
1. Development Permit Application – 932 Redstone Drive:
A motion to issue a development permit for construction of a triplex on the property CARRIED, subject to the dimensions and siting of the building, as well as its final form, character, and exterior design and finish, all complying with the material submitted, and also subject to payment of a landscape performance security deposit of 125% of the “estimated value of the elements shown in the Landscape Concept Plan to be reviewed and approved by the City.”
Spooner stated that he appreciates the increase in density.
Boyce commented that she viewed the area, and it seems a bit short on trees; this resulted in discussion and a motion directing staff to investigate how best to encourage planting trees with new construction. The motion CARRIED.
2. Development Variance Permit – 2285 Seventh Avenue
A motion to grant the variance, allowing the front setback to be reduced from four metres to 3.3 metres to allow a sunroom to be built on top of an existing non-conforming carport, CARRIED unanimously.
3. Liquor Licence Application: Old Firehall Tavern Entertainment Endorsement
A motion CARRIED unanimously to recommend approval of the entertainment endorsement, allowing live entertainment at the venue from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, subject to the condition that the applicant place “No Parking” signs in front of vehicular and pedestrian accesses to the adjacent property at 2050 First Avenue. They City had received one message from one neighbouring resident objecting to the potential for loud noise and interference with access, especially during the snow season.
4. Liquor Licence Application: Redstone Resort Permanent Patio and Occupancy Increase
A motion to recommend allowing a permanent patio, with an increase in capacity from 50 to 97, CARRIED unanimously.
5. Municipal Cheque Register Report for August, 2024
A motion to approve the municipal expenditures for August,2024, CARRIED unanimously.
REPORTS (FOR INFORMATION ONLY):
Council perused the six regular monthly reports:
Building Permits
Building Permit Inspections by Type
Step Code Energy Rebates
Public Works and Water Production
Eye on Water
Bylaw Compliance.
The RCMP report was also in the package.
MEMBER REPORTS:
Only Morel had anything to report; he had attended a Liquid Waste Management meeting, and said that work is beginning on the Columbia Pollution Control Centre – with an estimated cost of $75 million; “a big financial hit, but also a big improvement in what goes into the Columbia River.”
Morel also reported that the intense rainfall event in August resulted in a spill of 75,000 litres of raw sewage into the Columbia River; the Minister of Environment had to be notified.
Morel, Spooner, Provençal and Teasdale will attend the Union of BC Municipalities convention this coming weekend; Morel and Teasdale have been asked to give a presentation on the City Hall and Rossland Yards project.
The meeting adjourned, and your reporter walked home in the dark, thinking with amusement about the transcription software that provided running text on screens while some people spoke during portions of the meeting. It converted “Kelowna Airport” into “colon airport”; “in attendance” became “intelligence”; “tax” was converted to “packs”; “organics” showed up as “panics”; and “habituated” became “obituary” — arguably the most apt error of the lot.
