In a rare moment of accord, Celgar officials say they are as pleased as City of Castlegar representatives at the outcome of this year’s Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention. Celgar manager Al Hitzroth said the UBCM resolution urging the provincial government to re-examine major industry taxation in B.C. is good news. “I’m still disappointed […]

Dear editor,Recent Rossland City Council decisions make me question whether we are receiving appropriate advice from staff. Based on these decisions, Council appears to be establishing a double standard. Council accepted questionable recommendations from staff to be lenient with bylaw violators and potential developers on one...

To the Editor:I am one of the councilors from the City of Rossland who voted against giving cross- country skier George Grey a grant to help fund his Olympic training expenses. I am also one of the individuals living in Rossland who is working to raise the needed money through a community effort. Let me explain…As a new...

Dear Rosslanders,This is an update on the Development Cost Charges issue, which I presume you are all interested in, since what happens will eventually impact your property taxes (and if you're a renter, I'm sure you know that when property taxes go up, so do rents.) I'm dividing this report into two parts: what City Council...

Dear Editor,I have been involved in the DCC issue for the past 5 years and do not recall ever being told that “…these costs (Development Cost Charges or DCCs) are needed to look after old infrastructure around town” as stated in the article by the Chamber of Commerce. DCCs are only intended to cover growth related infrastructure...

Dear Premier Campbell: On 24 July 2009 I submitted a letter to the Environmental Assessment Office, expressing concerns with the proposed Glacier Howser Private Hydroelectric Project.  Attached please find a copy of this submission. An overwhelming majority of people in our area are against this project as evidenced by over 1100 people who showed up […]

Dear Editor, I have been in the midst of negotiating the purchase of the Jehovah Witness Hall in Rossland.  Everything is in place except the re-zoning from Church status to C-2 Commercial status.  At this point city staff is strongly recommending to Council that in order for the Church Hall to be re-zoned to C-2, I will be...

To The Mayor and Council, City of RosslandThe challenge of setting DCC's is that of matching possibilities and probabilities in a realistic scenario, absent complete information. I regret that other commitments prevented me from attending the open meeting to discuss this with you directly.From what I know, the principal issue...

Far, far away, high in the rolling, jungle-clad hills of the Golden Triangle  north of Chiang Mai in the farthest reaches of Thailand is a small village.   This village appears to be of considerable inspiration to the rulers of our  Mountain Kingdom, so much so that there is talk of a sister city, yet another  to add to our...

This letter will hopefully serve as a “wake-up call” to those citizens of Rossland who do not wish to see their taxes increased to pay for infrastructure for future development.To refresh peoples memories, a Development Cost Charge (DCC) bylaw was introduced in Rossland in December 2004. It set the amount for a single family...