Council Matters: Inaugural Meeting of Rossland's new City Council, November 2, 2026
By Sara Golling
PRESENT:
Mayor Lisa Kwiatkowski and Councillors Maya Provençal, Matthew Watkins, Mark Godin, Andy Morel, Dan Eheler, and Tara McDougall.
Staff: CAO Bryan Teasdale, CFO Craig McDonald, Deputy Corporate Officer Cynthia Añonuevo, Manager of Public Works and Infrastructure Scott Lamont, City Planner Stacey Lightbourne, Manager of Recreation & Events Lindsay Barnett, Executive Assistant Rachel Newton, and Deputy Operations Manager Josh Solman.
Mayor Kwiatkowski welcomed both former and new members of Rossland City Council.
PUBLIC INPUT PERIOD:
A resident addressed the meeting about Rossland’s construction noise bylaw; he spoke about the things that make Rossland special, and the competing needs of residents for both construction, and for quiet time. He presented a petition on the issue to Council.
Another resident spoke to welcome the new council.
PREVIOUS MINUTES:
Council adopted the minutes of previous meetings of Council, a Public Hearing, the Heritage Commission and the Design Review Panel.
POLICY REVIEW:
- Council reviewed the Ethics, Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy. Provençal raised a question about the requirement to declare conflicts in writing in advance, but the wording of the policy appears to allow for signing the form after declaring a conflict that arises during a meeting. A motion to confirm the policy as presented CARRIED unanimously.
For interested readers, this policy can be viewed in the Council package for this meeting, or at https://rossland.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/6608/?preview=23802
- Council examined the Appointment of Representative and Alternate to the Board of Directors of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) and the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District (KBRH) Policy.
A motion to approve the Regional District Appointments Policy (C-9) as presented CARRIED unanimously.
A motion to appoint Morel as the City of Rossland Director representative to the Board of Directors of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, as well as the Alternate Director to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District CARRIED unanimously. Eheler commented that he would like to see more and better reporting on RDBK meetings.
A further motion to appoint Provençal as the Director to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District, as well as the Alternate Director representative to the Board of Directors of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary also CARRIED unanimously.
FOR INFORMATION ONLY:
The Chief Election Officer presented her report on the 2026 local election, including details of the applicable legislation, administration, vote-counting, results of the vote, and costs of the election. The report is part of the materials for this meeting, from page 34 to page 37, and is available online.
Godin thanked staff for a “very professional and efficient election.” Provençal noted that Rossland was the first community in the area to report election results. Kwiatkowski noted that Rossland had a good voter turnout.
REQUESTS FOR COUNCIL DECISION:
- Council examined the schedule of regular council meetings for 2027 and APPROVED the schedule as follows (the remainder of the meetings for 2026 will be on November 16 and December 14):
Monday, January 11; Monday, February 1; Tuesday, February 16; Monday, March 8; Monday, April 5; Monday, April 19; Monday, May 3; Monday, May 17; Monday, June 7; Monday, June, 21; Monday, July 12; Monday, August 9; Monday, September 13; Monday, October 4; Monday, October 18; Monday, November 1, Monday, November 15; and Monday, December 13.
- Council unanimously APPROVED the schedule presented for council members to fill in for the Mayor as required, as follows — Acting Mayor Schedule for 2026-2027:
November, 2026: Morel December, 2026: Provençal January, 2027: Watkins
February, 2027: Godin March, 2027: Eheler April, 2027: Morel
May, 2027: Provençal June, 2027: McDougall July, 2027: Godin
August, 2027: Eheler September, 2027: Morel October, 2027: Provençal
November, 2027: Watkins December 2027: McDougall
MEMBER REPORTS:
Godin attended the orientation session, along with all the other Councillors, and met with representatives of Tourism Rossland, and attended the opening of Blue Agave and the new gallery, “Elevation Art House.”
Provençal attended a stormwater management workshop.
Morel noted that he will make efforts to report more fully on RDKB meetings.
Kwiatkowski expressed appreciation to Staff for their work, including setting up the swearing-in ceremony on October 18, at the Josie.
The meeting adjourned at 6:28 PM, though all councillors and staff remained in place as your reporter departed to go to Ferraro’s on her way home, feeling just the tiniest bit excluded and wondering how they were all about to celebrate one of the shortest Council meetings ever.
