Community groups take the hit after millions in Columbia-Washington overruns
CAO Cecile Arnott confirmed to council at Wednesday's committee-of-the-whole (COW) that the Columbia-Washington upgrades have cost the city on the order of $6 million, about $1.4 million more than was originally budgeted. The final project cost is still under dispute as negotiations with the contractor continue. On top of...
Rossland offers school district a deal to maintain K-12 in the community
Council was divided 4-3 last week in their decision to offer School District No. 20 (SD20) $140,000 per year for three years in exchange for K-12 and respite from the threat of school closures for at least five years—but SD20 hasn't indicated it will bite, and any deal with the school district will be put to a referendum...
NOL encourages a tax increase to fund a K-12 deal with SD20
Editor's Note: This article has been modified from its original form to reflect two corrections: 1) the NOL manager is Aerin Guy, and 2) anonymous surveys were included in the analysis. The Neighbourhoods of Learning Committee (NOL) told council on Monday evening that "time is running short" for Rossland and School District...
LETTER: Let council know where you stand via the Rossland K-12 Taxation Survey!
Dear editor, The Trustees of SD20 have voted to retain only K-9 education in Rossland in the current RSS building. MacLean Elementary would be closed and Grade 10-12 students would be bused to JL Crowe for Sept. 2013. Many Rosslanders have expressed their desire to retain K-12 in our community. We believe that retaining...
COUNCIL MISCELLANY: Here come ‘attended’ dogs and mountain markets...
Rossland Council's Feb. 25 meeting put a new animal bylaw in motion, heard an appeal from the museum, moved the farmers’ market back downtown, reset the Cook Ave. development, dove into a new recreation bursary program, and agreed to the possibility of a taxation increase to fund a reserve for the hospital in Trail. Public ...
In Winter Wonder time mittens are a must—and a magnifying glass, too
It’s Winter Wonder time! Primary students all over the snowy Columbia Basin are learning about how plants and animals adapt to winter. Kids take a magical journey to discover the natural world in winter through these walking field trips, which occur in and around their schoolyards and neighbourhoods. Exploring snow crystals...
Taxes and the potential for a Rossland-SD20 partnership
Staff have calculated the tax implications for four scenarios in which Rossland funds School District No. 20 (SD20) as part of a larger deal to secure K-12 schooling in Rossland. The SD20 board recently voted against K-12 schooling in Rossland, and will likely give third reading to a resolution for K-9 at RSS with the closure...
COMMENT: School closures and the ‘cult of efficiency’
In light of the current fiscal crisis and resultant school closures and reconfigurations being contemplated by our Board of Education to balance its budget we believe it is appropriate to revisit some of Murray Dobbin’s thoughts in his article about School Closures and the “Cult of Efficiency” written in 2008 when he was the...
ANALYSIS: Budge the Budget—DemocracySTORM returns!
Back over Christmas, I eagerly unwrapped the gift of enormously diverse input given by respondents to December's DemocracySTORM survey. Now we’re in the second, more exciting phase of the storm—we’re asking you to vote on your favourite Budge the Budget ideas. You need not have participated to jump in right now and vote, so...
DemocracySTORM: Big ideas YOU wanted council to hear about the budget
Below are 58 categories into which I put people’s responses to the question, What key points should council consider before passing the budget? Separate articles address the questions: What should Rossland spend MORE money on? What should Rossland spend LESS money on? And we also address concerns people have raised about ...
