Council Matters: Rossland City Council meetings, June 15, 2026
By Sara Golling
Library funding by the province of BC is the lowest in Canada by far; the woods are full of fallen trees and branches but FireSmart fuel reduction funding eliminated by the Province; suggestions about the new Zoning Bylaw; a rainbow crosswalk; Rossland’s informative Annual Report …
PUBLIC HEARING – ZONING BYLAW
Present: Mayor Andy Morel and Councillors Maya Provençal, Eliza Boyce, Lisa Kwiatkowski (remote) , Craig Humpherys, Jeff Weaver and Stewart Spooner.
Staff: CAO Bryan Teasdale, CFO Craig McDonald, City Planner Stacey Lightbourne, Manager of Public Works and Infrastructure Scott Lamont, Manager of Recreation and Events Lindsay Barnett, Deputy Corporate Officer Cynthia Añonuevo, Deputy Operations Manager Josh Solman, and Executive Assistant Rachel Newton.
PUBLIC INPUT PERIOD:
Doug Orr spoke objecting to the short-term rental restrictions in residential zones; his comments closely echoed those in a written submission.
Laura Pettitt commented about the definitions of “institution” and “leisure facility.” Lightbourne promised to look into it; she explained that those definitions were brought forward from the previous bylaw.
DISCUSSION:
The materials published in the Council package for this meeting included seven messages on different topics on the draft zoning bylaw.
One message noted that the bylaw as currently written would prohibit modular dwellings that are typically only 13.5 feet wide, such as this brand made in Maple Ridge, BC, or this Alberta brand.
Another message sought clarity about the definition of Employee Housing.
Another commented on “Floor Area Ratio” and asked about setbacks; another suggested that the minimum parcel size for the Rural Residential Zone should be decreased; and another resident suggested that the parking requirements for secondary suites should be reconsidered and reduced.
Another person questioned the exclusion of townhouses, condos and other multi-family units in the Residential zones from short-term rentals.
And another person suggested directing where trees (especially conifers) can be planted, to keep power lines clear and to comply with FireSmart recommendations.
No one else spoke, so Mayor Morel adjourned the Public Hearing.
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING:
PUBLIC INPUT PERIOD:
No one spoke.
DELEGATIONS:
ROSSLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY:
The library’s Executive Director, Stacey Boden, and Board Chair, Chelsea Job, presented information about how heavily the Rossland Public Library is used (very), and the pay level of its employees (most of them are among the lowest-paid in BC), and the funding of public libraries by the province (the lowest in Canada).
Job pointed out that the library is a safe refuge, provides lifelong learning, and community connection. Boden reported that Rossland’s library has exceptionally high use by the community, and she thanked the City for increasing funding for the library by 10% – though most of Rossland’s library employees are still among the lowest-paid.
The library is asking that the City work with the Library during budget planning, to prevent reductions in staff hours and service to the community that will be impossible to avoid without better financial support.
Weaver asked why the library no longer charges late fees. Job and Boden explained that it wasn’t much of a revenue source, yet acted to discourage people from using the library; she noted that Rosslanders are still very good about returning books.
FIRESMART:
Don Mortimer, Rossland’s FireSmart Coordinator, and Tove Pashkowski, Wildfire Forest Professional, spoke to Council about the current status of Rossland’s interface areas, and about the decrease in available funding for FireSmart work, and the increase in “high surface fuel loading” (or in plainer language, a large amount of flammable branches and tree trunks on the ground) from bigger wind events blowing down more trees and branches on dry soil and duff (partly decayed organic matter on the forest floor).
Mortimer pointed out that ” Wildland-urban interface (WUI) wildfire remains Rossland’s most significant disaster risk.” He mentioned some of the reasons that wildfire risk is higher than in earlier decades: higher temperatures, prolonged drought, more intense windstorms, and other sequelae of climate change including longer fire seasons. He noted that, although the FireSmart planning includes maintenance of treated areas, the recent volume of debris from windstorms poses an unprecedented challenge. He also clarified that although the fuel-treatment program funding has been eliminated, other functions of the FireSmart program are still funded.
Mortimer outlined potential funding options, including the City budget, Columbia Basin Trust, federal funding, and/or cost offsets from fiber sales.
BYLAWS:
Election Procedure Bylaw # 2867
A motion to adopt the Election Procedure Bylaw CARRIED unanimously.
Recreation Fees and Charges Bylaw # 2868
Discussion: Morel suggested increasing the hourly ice skating fees slightly. He noted that Trail has ice all year now, but their summer ice time fee is $400 per hour (for non-Trail residents). He moved that the drop-in fees be increased by 20%, but the motion was not seconded. Provençal stated that she could not support a 20% increase. Boyce commented that the increase would have a disproportionate effect on people with little money, and would make too little difference to the issue of cost recovery for the large expense of the arena. Morel withdrew the suggestion.
A motion to give the bylaw second and third readings CARRIED unanimously.
REQUESTS FOR COUNCIL DECISION:
2025 City of Rossland Annual Report
A motion to approve the report and to make it available for public inspection (as required by the Community Charter) CARRIED unanimously. Morel thanked Staff for the work that went into the report. Two corrections were noted – the population figure, and the date of publication.
2025 Supplemental Statements of Financial Information
As explained in the Council materials by Rossland’s Chief Financial Officer, Craig McDonald, these statements “are prepared in accordance with another legislative statute, the Financial Information Act. They are not part of the audit process, nor are they a part of the regular consolidated financial statements. They are required to be prepared every year, approved and then sent to the Ministry. The Financial Information Act requires that this “Statement of Financial Information” must be made available to the public before the end of June of each year.”
A motion to approve the statements and make them available to the public CARRIED unanimously.
Municipal Cheque Register: where the money went in May
Council examined the list of City expenditures for May, and a motion to approve them all CARRIED unanimously.
Spooner noted the contaminated soils issue on the Cook Avenue project, and asked it that was a frequent problem; Lamont stated that Rossland has high-metal-content soil generally, so it must be planned for in every major project.
FOR INFORMATION ONLY:
Council read the usual collection of monthly reports:
Building Permit Report
Building Permit Inspections by Type
Step Code Energy Rebates
Public Works & Water Production Report
Eye On Water Report: As the City points out, “EyeOnWater allows users to connect to supported water utility accounts and track their latest water usage, detect leaks, and discover trends for of usage.” People can easily sign up for it.
Bylaw Enforcement & Animal Control Monthly Report
Lamont reported that the City received a CBT grant for a weather station; including air quality. It will be for the City’s internal information and use. (RED also has stations gathering information.)
MEMBER REPORTS:
Provençal had a motion to propose from the Pride community, for a rainbow crosswalk to be installed across Queen Street at Columbia. Weaver spoke strongly in favour of the request (“… if necessary, I’ll paint it myself!”); Kwiatkowski added a caveat that the request be reviewed after three years, and Boyce agreed. The motion to approve the rainbow crosswalk painting for three years CARRIED unanimously.
Spooner attended the LeRoi Foundation Grants evening.
Morel attended the Mayors’ meeting of the Resort Municipalities group. He noted that Whistler is having discussions about traffic congestion, and tourism and its effects on community; there were conversations about revenue generation and infrastructure requirements.
THE MEETING RECESSED TO AN IN-CAMERA SESSION, and your reporter strolled home in the balmy evening, admiring the multifarious cloud forms and contemplating the lack of funding for such things as our library, and for risk reduction work by FireSmart, while the wealth gap continues to stretch ever wider and we citizen-taxpayers continue to subsidize those who are driving climate change and its disastrously expensive effects further into unknown territory and wealth continues to concentrate in the hands of the hyper-rich and higher levels of government continue to fear imposing more progressive taxation that could help curb that damaging trend.
But a robin was singing the robin’s evening song on a nearby roof, and the air smelled wonderful; we take comfort where we can.
