Council Matters: Rossland City Council Meetings, May 20, 2025
By Contributor
By Alina Konevski
A discussion on permissive tax exemptions, the costs of recreation facilities, concern about supporting an American artist, and a failed motion to reduce departmental budgets – all this and more in a what promised to be a fairly quiet meeting agenda.
PRESENT:
Council: Mayor Andy Morel and Councillors Stewart Spooner, Craig Humpherys, Eliza Boyce, Jeff Weaver, Maya Provençal and Lisa Kwiatkowski.
Staff: Chief Administrative Office Bryan Teasdale, Deputy Corporate Officer Cynthia Añonuevo, Chief Financial Officer Mike Kennedy, Manager of Operations and Infrastructure Scott Lamont, Deputy Manager of Operations, Executive Assistant Rachel Newton, and Development Services Clerk Kristen Spearman.
PUBLIC HEARING PUBLICATION AND SUBMISSIONS
Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2852 – 1345 Spokane St.
The evening opened with a public hearing on a proposal to rezone 1345 Spokane Street (also known as Black Bear Inn) from R1BB Single Detached Bed and Breakfast to R1-I Residential Infill. This would enable the owner to cease operation of the B&B and build a secondary suite instead. Council did not receive any written submissions on the matter, but one member of the public stepped forward to ask clarifying questions on behalf of himself and his landlord. These questions revolved around BC Building Code and bylaw requirements for secondary suites, such as fire walls, separation of breaker panels, addresses and parking. Staff responded and invited the resident to contact the building inspector for any further questions. That closed the public hearing.
REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL
Setting the stage for what proved to be a routine meeting but with some interesting discussion, there were no members of the public who provided input, and no petitions nor delegations.
POLICIES AND BYLAWS:
- Policy Review – Permissive Tax Exemption
Permissive tax exemptions allow Council to exempt certain qualified properties from property taxes at their discretion, with the impact being that forgone tax revenue is made up for by the general tax base. At the last Council meeting on May 5, Council requested staff to look at options to streamline application processes in a way that improves transparency, provides longer term certainty on funding supports, and makes it easier for the community to apply for exemptions. About $135,000 worth of permissive tax exemptions were granted in 2025.
Options to change the policy include either automatically exempting eligible lessees from property taxes, or requiring all lessees to pay property tax, but offering an offsetting grant-in aid. Staff requested to leave the policy as is since Staff and Council already plan to review all community supports that the City provides later in 2025 in order to develop an overarching strategy.
The motion CARRIED unanimously, with Boyce and Provençal commenting that it makes sense to leave the policy as is until there can be a broader discussion, and Spooner added that he would prefer to have lessees pay tax and for the City to offset that with a grant, if eligible. Provençal took the opportunity to reaffirm that she doesn’t think that groups that are leasing city space should be paying property tax.
STAFF REPORTS AND UPDATES
Development Variance Permit (2722 Pinewood Drive)
The evening consisted of not one, but two, garage-related variance requests on Pinewood Drive. The first sought to reduce the setback variance from 4.0 metres to 0.0 metres to allow for the expansion of a carport to fit two vehicles off the road. A motion to grant this request was CARRIED unanimously without comments.
Development Variance Permit – 2605 Pinewood Drive
The second sought a front setback variance from 4.0 metres to 0.36 metres to build a garage extension with a deck on top. This motion too was CARRIED with comments of appreciation for the detail of application.
Municipal Cheque Register Report for April 2025
Staff sought approval of the monthly municipal cheque register report, which details all payments by cheque and electronic fund transfer. A motion to approve the report was CARRIED after some clarifying discussion on the cost of signage. Staff explained that the $18,840 covered the replacement of banners downtown, including the addition of Sinixt language, and was covered by the Resort Municipality Initiative.
2024 Recreation Cost Recovery Report
Presented for information only, this report detailed the full cost to operate and maintain City facilities, including the Arena, Miners Hall, and the Pool. Provençal noted that while these facilities are running at a deficit, the deficit is decreasing, which she found encouraging as it suggests that cost savings measures are working. Janitorial services at the Miners Hall appear to be a particularly large and increasing expense, and Provençal would be supportive of bringing these services back in-house if that reduces Miners Hall costs. Humphreys echoed this statement. Council commended finance staff on the particularly detailed nature of this report.
Monthly Reports to Council for April 2025
Staff presented five monthly reports to Council, consisting of: (1) Building Permit Report (2) Building Permit Inspections by Type (3) Step Code Energy Rebates (4) Public Works & Water Production Report and (5) Eye on Water Report.
The Building Permit Report generated significant discussion between Council and Staff about how the City considers anticipated residential taxation revenue from new construction when making future financial plans. Teasdale explained that the report allows the City to forecast future revenues by taking into account expected property values from new construction, and helps determine how much taxation it needs to take from residents. There is rapid construction in this community with over $18 million in construction value currently, most of that from developments at Red Mountain. “When we know there are significant tax increases from development, we do look at that when we consider future taxation,” said Teasdale.
Morel added that “developers pay for infrastructure, but we [as the City] take on responsibility for that development and that needs to be factored in.”
On the Public Works report, Spooner highlighted the Greenlink project and Centennial Trail upgrades, asking how complete these designs were. Lamont responded that designs are 95% complete and that staff were now looking at drainage under Centennial.
With the Eye on Water report showing substantial increases in water production for the last two months, Morel asked if there was a water main break. Lamont assured him that there was no break, and that the high water production was likely due to melt and other natural events.
REQUESTS ARISING FROM CORRESPONDENCE
RCAC The Feather Sculpture Request
The Rossland Council of Arts and Culture (RCAC) sought approval to install a sculpture named ‘The Feather’ at the rotating sculpture location on the corner of Washington and Columbia Avenue as per a prior agreement. The motion to approve CARRIED; however, Boyce summed up the group sentiment: “I like it but I don’t like that we’re renting a sculpture from an American artist. I would like us to maybe relook at this art exchange policy. I would rather be funding a local artist in the community.”
Morel encouraged Boyce to present a motion in the future to reconsider how Rossland can participate in this program while highlighting local artists.
Funding Request for the 55+ BC Senior Games
A representative from the 55+ BC Senior Games West Kootenay Zone 6 reached out to Council to request $100 towards travel and participation expenses for the upcoming Games in Nanaimo. While a nominal amount, with Provençal in favour of supporting, several Council members expressed concern about this request setting a precedent for community groups to request funds outside of existing processes. Staff were seeking direction on how to respond to the request, and the direction was clear: decline.
Create to Get Closer Program Support Request
Another request for direction similarly ended in a rejection, being the participation of the City of Rossland in the ‘Create to Get Closer’ program in partnership with La Francoderole. Participation in the program includes a commitment of both funding and providing a location to hang a mural, which would be created in partnership with students from various schools within the community.
“I liked the idea initially but the further down I got into it, the less I liked it,” explained Boyce. “Where is all the money going? […] It feels like we’re paying for a bunch of people who do this for a living travelling community to community to do murals […] I think [our] school is perfectly capable of making their own mural with their own staff […] It’s kind of like an expensive consultant.”
Spooner agreed that he didn’t “like spending money on another mural […] We have a process, we have a plan.”
Provençal concluded with the following show of support for the idea: “I would encourage the schools to come to us through the grant in aid process and I would happily support funding this amount or more.”
Council therefore directed staff to redirect the applicant to the grant-in aid process and to consider applying in partnership with the local school.
MEMBER REPORTS
Discussion on a Motion by Weaver
Weaver opened the session expressing how difficult the development of the five-year financial plan has been these last few months. “I feel like I’ve had a lot of very challenging conversations, obviously before and since [the public hearing on the draft five-year financial plan on May 5]. I feel after that process, we as a Council have not done […] our due diligence on giving the public a bit more certitude that we continue to sharpen our pencil.”
To help address this, Weaver proposed the following motion: To request staff to develop a budget scenario that includes a 5% cut in each department, demonstrating the commensurate service level impact that each department would have. Council could then discuss this at length during the planned budget meetings in the fall. This motion, Weaver said, may help address “a lack of perception from the public that we will tighten our belts in some way shape or form.”
While the motion ultimately failed, it generated valuable discussion in how Council can engage better with the budgeting process and bring the public closer into this decision making.
Spooner responded to Weaver that this was perhaps a bigger topic than he was ready to decide on tonight, but that he was open to the concept.
Provençal found the idea behind the motion “reactionary and punitive, and also kind of random, if we’re not starting the conversation about service levels. I would rather talk about process and how we move through the budgetary process next year,” she said. “I think as a Council we can commit to spending more time in the weeds on the 2026 budget.” She brought up the example of Nelson city Council, which she said spent two full days with a budget proposal reviewing every line item.
“I think that our residents are concerned about the cost of living and the cost of taxes,” said Boyce. “While I’m not necessarily in favour of cutting services, or taxes for that matter because it’s how we provide the services, I think it’s worth having the conversation about service levels.”
Kwiatkowski understood from Weaver’s motion “that we’re looking for budget scenarios […] I’m fully supportive of looking at budget scenarios, and for the public to provide input into, and for Council to interpret that and provide direction accordingly.”
Weaver felt that the public perception of Council is that members are “beyond reproach. I would like us to have more incentive for staff to review their departments and look for savings […] If we’re not doing that, we’re doing nothing to change perceptions that we care.”
Spooner jumped in to emphasize that the work of city staff is complex, and he would never be able to work out where the opportunities for savings are in many aspects of what the city does.
“Looking for efficiencies is a day to day effort that our staff already do,” Morel agreed. “One of the things we need to do is communicate that to our members, that is for sure […] The conversation that I want to have also includes the public […] to understand that if they want to see lower taxes, that does include a direct cut to services.” Morel said that among the 75 or so people who came to the public input meeting, most were satisfied with the answers they were provided. “I don’t want to make decisions based on the five unhappy people.”
Weaver didn’t find a seconder for the motion and retracted it.
Other Member Reports
Mayor and Council attended several meetings in this reporting period, including a recreation master plan presentation (extensive report forthcoming), provincial natural hazards meeting on floods and fires, a West Kootenay transit committee meeting (the Trail transit hub will be upgraded), and a meeting with transportation and highways (Castlegar to Mud Lake is going to be repaved this summer).
Morel also toured the composting facility in Salmo, which was a chance to see what happens with the green bin contributions that Rossland sends down the hill. “There is a substantial amount of grade A compost that will be available locally,” he said. Discussions continue about residents potentially picking up free compost when ready.
Finally, Morel brought forward the motion to support the Rossland Heritage Pool Society with their request to donate three pool season passes as prizes for a children’s colouring contest. The intent of the contest is to fundraise for the Society and the passes are worth about $250 total. Although the pool will reach its end of life stage sooner rather than later, Councillors agreed, they were happy to support the Society’s efforts in the meantime. Humphreys had earlier reported that he attended a Society meeting, and members wanted direction on how best to use the financial resources they had. “The impression I got was that they want to work in lockstep with the City and find the best uses of resources while the pool is operational.”
The motion to support the colouring contest with season passes CARRIED, with Spooner opposed.
The relatively brief but productive meeting recessed to an in camera session.
