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COUNCIL MATTERS: Rossland City Council Meeting, February 3, 2025

Sara Golling
By Sara Golling
February 4th, 2025

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING: 6:00 PM

This meeting was immediately preceded by a Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting at which Council discussed the DRAFT 2025 – 2029 Financial Plan – and tax and RDKB requisition increases. For the important parts of that discussion, please see the separate article – to be published soon.

Here, see the declassified motion to not renew the Gold Fever Follies lease agreement; a decision on funding the Natural Control Alternatives bear-proof bins; what the Age Friendly program does, and more.

Present: Mayor Andy Morel, and Councillors Stewart Spooner, Craig Humpherys, Eliza Boyce (remote), Jeff Weaver, Lisa Kwiatkowski, and Maya Provençal.

Staff: Chief Administrative Office Bryan Teasdale, Deputy Corporate Officer Cynthia Añonuevo, Chief Financial Officer Mike Kennedy, City Planner Stacey Lightbourne, Executive Assistant Rachel Newton, Manager of Operations and Infrastructure Scott Lamont and Deputy Operations Manager Josh Solman.

PUBLIC INPUT PERIOD:

Bill Lund spoke to criticize the City’s handling of the decision to terminate the Gold Fever Follies’ lease agreement for performing in the Miners Union Hall. He stated that Council’s “actions and inactions” were the cause of the public outcry, and he provided a handwritten statement (in cursive) to Jeff Weaver, on the back of a poster.

DELEGATION: Housing Needs Assessment

Lisa Moffat of “Resilient Planning” presented interim findings for the housing needs assessment, and indicated that she hopes to have a draft action plan ready in March or April.

Morel commented that the City has suggested to RED that providing staff housing would be helpful, but there has been no interest. Moffat said she asked workers at RED how it would affect them to have staff housing, and they said it would relieve stress, and make them feel safer, and have more money for food and other necessities.

Moffat has other interviews coming up with seasonal workers and seniors.

REFERRAL FROM PRIOR DELEGATION:

Natural Control Alternatives (NCA) had requested additional City support for operating the bear-proof dumpsters, including staff time and an increase to $7000 to cover any shortage in funding. After lengthy discussion, the original motion to allocate up to $7000 in the 2025 budget to cover shortages FAILED without a single vote in favour.

Spooner said that Rossland is already paying for garbage removal, and he thinks the NCA bins are used by “too many tourists.”

Provençal did not agree that the service is used by tourists, and supported providing additional funding if needed, but did not support adding staff time.

Weaver disagreed with both, saying, “we have no idea who uses the service,” and would not support any additional staff time for it.

Boyce was concerned that the bins are a duplication of service, and that it diverts green waste from the curbside pickup program.

Humpherys shares the concern about not knowing who uses the service, but he supports the program to the current extent.

Morel noted that there seems to be no correlation between the bear-proof NCA bins and the number of bear incidents, so he thinks it would be better to have more households equipped with bear-resistant bins.

Weaver then moved to continue NCA funding of up to $5000 per year to cover potential shortages, this motion CARRIED with only Spooner and Boyce opposed.

POLICY REVIEW:

1. Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) Resident Directed Grants (ReDi) Grant Review Policy, as amended for greater clarity

A motion to adopt the policy as amended CARRIED unanimously.

2. Personal Expense and Travel, as amended to streamline forms and reduce staff workload formerly required to update links.

A motion to adopt the updated policy CARRIED unanimously.

BYLAWS:

The three bylaws below enable future development of some private property at Redstone, while ensuring the best alignment of the Wagon Road, preventing interference with the sewer line, and retaining parkland. Council gave them first and second readings in December, and held a Public Hearing in January, at which no one spoke.

1. Official Community Plan Bylaw # 2845: Motions to give this bylaw third reading and to adopt it both CARRIED unanimously.

2. Zoning Amendment Bylaw # 2844: Motions to give the bylaw third reading, subject to the following conditions, and to adopt the bylaw, both CARRIED unanimously. The conditions are:

  1. The developer is responsible for all costs of the land swap and road closure process;

  2. The developer will provide a Statutory Right of Way for trail and sewer as required to make a better alignment for the sewer and the Green Link trail;

  3. The developer will dedicate a road to the City “as generally shown on Map 2.”

  4. The developer will build the new aligned Wagon Road with the following criteria:

  • There must be minimal vehicular interactions with the Wagon Road (and/or driveway crossing);

  • If re-aligned, the Wagon Road must maintain shallow gradient, continuous and separated from properties and the road;

  • The Wagon Road must be built to standards for a Type 1 Trail in the subdivision bylaw;

  • The Wagon Road must be separated from the road and private properties by a landscaped buffer;

  • Any road crossing must be well designed to facilitate safe crossing;

  • The developer will maintain public access on the Wagon Road during subdivision construction, where possible, ensuring public safety.

3. Road Closure Bylaw # 2846

A motion to give the Road Closure Bylaw third reading CARRIED unanimously.

DEVELOPMENT VARIANCE PERMIT:

The owner of 2535 McLeod Avenue wishes to build a garage, and seeks a front setback variance from four metres to 0.6 metre. Considering the limitations imposed by the steep slope, the location of a pre-built driveway, and a Statutory Right-of-Way, Council agreed with the request; a motion to grant the variance CARRIED unanimously

REQUEST FROM SCOUT PROPERTIES (for Rossland Scouts):

A failure in communications resulted in the failure of the Scouts to apply for a Permissive Tax Exemption within the time required; the parent organization, Scout Properties (BC/Yukon), which would have submitted the application, did not receive the notices and is now seeking a one-time grant in the amount of the taxes that will be payable — $5,512.

Spooner asked, “Why is this the City’s responsibility?” and Kwiatkowski concurred. Weaver said that the Scouts have had a permissive tax exemption for ten years; it would be bad politics to just cut them off today.

A motion to grant the request CARRIED, with Spooner and Kwiatkowski opposed.

MID-TERM STRATEGIC PLAN REVIEW:

Council reviewed the 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan, as amended to update its priorities and clarify some terms.

During discussion, Spooner noted that the amended plan contained language that seemed to limit Council to reviewing only the “top ten” actions, and moved an amendment to say that Council will review “the actions in the Plan.” That amendment CARRIED.

Boyce moved to add language to “explore options to support and enhance” child care in the community; that also CARRIED as an amendment.

Boyce also suggested adding an item to identify “pain points” for residents interacting with City Hall and to improve efficiency. Provençal said she thinks efficiency is built in; Teasdale said he thinks the City is efficient, but must also follow policies, laws and regulations that take time and cannot be circumvented. Spooner said he thinks it’s better to be diligent than to be efficient; and Weaver noted that “pain points” is an ambiguous term. The suggestion was not pursued and did not become an amendment.

A motion to approve the updated 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan as amended CARRIED unanimously.

FOR INFORMATION ONLY:

Regional Age Friendly Year End Report for 2024:

Rossland, Warfield, and Trail each contribute $20,270 to fund the regional Age Friendly program. The report includes this statement: Delivering communications and information to seniors is important as it facilitates social interactions and knowledge of local resources. The Age Friendly program has a dedicated phone, email, website and Facebook page to offer a central ‘hub’ for seniors looking to access information on local resources, events and programs.”

The report also includes this information: In 2024, the Age Friendly program offered the following activities:

12 regional teas/lunches for seniors, rotating venues between the three communities with a total of 544 participants with fairly equal participation from all three communities …

14 joint activities in partnership with Trail & District Public Library and Lower Columbia Better at Home program with a total of 425 participants; activities included seniors mini golf, bocce, chair yoga, health and wellness sessions, gardening, trivia, and movies at the Royal Theatre

The 2nd annual ‘Seniors Health & Wellness Fair’ in partnership with Better at Home, Trail & District Public Library, and the City of Trail with 220 attendees, including 40 vendors

All joint activities were offered at no cost to attendees, as were most Age Friendly events. Lunches had a fee to offset costs, yet generated the greatest interest. All lunch spots filled within an hour of registration opening (holiday lunches filled in less than 10 minutes).

Humpherys commented on the fact that for some of the activities, a much larger percentage of the participants are from Trail, yet Rossland pays just as much. Morel noted that some Trail residents may have moved there from Rossland, and that the program is valuable as an example of regional cooperation.

Boyce commented that it seems to be an important program, and hopes that they can increase the number of events, to bring down the cost per event.

MEMBER REPORTS:

Boyce moved to remove the “Downtown sign” (Design Review) Committee; Lightbourne commented that the Design Review Committee supports staff in other matters, and that their help is valuable. She said that signage could be removed from the committee’s purview, but that would require a bylaw change.

Weaver said he can see that “it’s good to have these groups in place,” and he supports reviewing the committee’s mandate – “but not tonight.”

Boyce’s motion FAILED with no votes in favour.

Weaver attended the Hospital Board meeting, but said there was nothing to report from it.

Spooner attended a meeting on the issue of the proposed Record Ridge mine, and reported that an online public meeting will occur at some time yet to be announced. He reported that there was a summary of the issues, some not resolved; and that no decision has been announced yet.

Spooner also attended a meeting of the Recreation Master Plan Implementation committee. He said the group began with the pool but then realized that discussing one facility at a time was not optimal – the group decided to work toward an overall picture, including all fields and facilities, and try to envision the best combination for the community.

Humpherys also attended that meeting, as well as visiting the Columbia Pollution Control Centre (or, as he put it, with a grin, “the poo centre”) work-in-progress in his role as alternate representative.

Morel thanked Kwiatkowski and other volunteers for their work on Winter Carnival; he said he had never seen so many people downtown.

Morel commented briefly on RDKB meetings, saying that their focus is now on workplans and budgets. He noted that the RDKB manages over 70 services for its eight municipalities and five electoral areas, whose elected representatives are the 13 directors on the RDKB Board.

RELEASE OF DECLASSIFIED IN CAMERA MATTERS

Release of Request for Council Decision and Council Direction from the December 9, 2024 In-Camera Meeting Regarding the Gold Fever Follies Miners’ Hall Facility Use Agreement

The staff materials included a brief history of the Follies, and acknowledged that the Follies performances during the summer months enabled the City to qualify for some of the grant funding that turned the old unfinished attic space into a pleasant and usable space – the Lily May Room and Green Room.

Exclusive Use? Staff have repeatedly applied the term “exclusive use agreementto the 2022 – 2024 agreement.

But the former lease agreement included in the materials for the meeting did not actually say that the Follies had “Exclusive Use” of the Miners Hall during their season – the word “exclusive” was used only for choice of performances, fees, schedules, and managing their food concession.

In fact, the agreement provided appears to make it clear that although the Follies had extensive use of the hall, they did not quite have “exclusive use”: “The facility will be made available to The FOLLIES for the months of June, July and August each season, with the exception of various dates/times when the facility must be vacated by The FOLLIES for CITY purposes (stage props may remain in place). These dates times will be presented by the CITY prior to each season and may include (but not be limited to) 2 weekends each June for private facility rentals and various evenings for Council or other City meetings as needed.”

And, “The CITY reserves the right to cancel reservations as may be required to allow for special circumstances, or alter the dates listed above. The CITY shall give notice of such cancellations to the FOLLIES as early as possible.” …

Lisa Henderson of the Follies has explained that the Follies asked only that their scheduled shows not be cancelled to make room for other events in the performance hall.

The earlier agreement explained that the low rent charged to the Follies was a grant-in-aid.

The staff material suggested four different alternatives in their request for direction from Council, and each of those four included the words “negotiations with the Gold Fever Follies”.

The motion that Council passed said only, “RESOLVED that Council does not renew the Miners Hall facility use agreement for the Gold Fever Follies.”

THE COUNCIL MEETING ADJOURNED at 7:40 pm, and your reporter packed up and returned home to become an insomniac, with brain churning over massive infrastructure deficits, the enormous power given to mineral exploration and claim owners by BC statutes, cognitive dissonance about certain municipal priorities over others, the current state of inter-provincial and international politics, the effects of climate change, post-Covid condition, microplastics in our brains, and so on.

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