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This past Council meeting three delegations came to Council. The first
was a local business having difficulties with our sign bylaw. The
downtown core or specified area has fairly strict rules on sign and
façade design. I think most would agree with me that downtown
revitalization has had a huge positive effect on the community. The look
and feel of the downtown has had a rippling effect on other areas of the
community with people fixing up their houses in a similar manner. This
look has not evolved by sheer luck it was a long expensive process with
a lot of buy in from the whole community. This is the basis for the sign
bylaw, to ensure that everything we do enhances what has already been
done. I know the sign that was going up was to be a temporary sign and
City Hall should always, if possible, look to find a solution. The
problem here is we cannot approve something that directly goes against
our bylaw. The proper procedure is to amend the bylaw…not an easy or
quick fix. We are currently reviewing an updated version of our sign
bylaw and hopefully it will give staff the tools to make short term
fixes as well as clearly defining our long term goals and objectives.
But again this is not a quick fix. A sign bylaw has many processes to go
through to make sure that it will serve the City and the business
community well for many years to come.
The next delegation was
an update from the Revelstoke Carshare. Council supported the startup of
the carshare with a $2000.00 grant in aid. There are a lot of good
reasons to become a member of the carshare. It is environmentally
friendly for a variety of reasons, there is the option of cars available
to you when you travel, and it is an affordable way to own a car
especially if you or your family do not drive more than 15,000
kilometers a year. If you are interested or want more information, call
Sarah 837-4290.
Our third delegation was
Patti from the food bank who gave us some statistics on how much the
food bank is being used. Last year 30,000 lbs of food were distributed
to approximately 139 households with the majority of the food (25,000
lbs.) being purchased. The message here is to show Council and the
community how great the need is for the food bank and also that the food
bank needs everyone’s support all year round.
The latest excitement
around City Hall is the issue of the 2nd crossing of the Illecillewaet
River. Council recently brought the study back to the table to discuss
the various options. One of the options contemplated was a high level
bridge accessed from Eastern Access to the Trans Canada Highway crossing
over to Camozzi Rd. The cost of this option in last year’s dollars was
approximately 45-50 million dollars. Because of the price tag Council
removed this option from further consideration. This led some people to
believe because of the consultants recommendation that we would be
building another crossing and access road over the CP abutments and
through the flats, past the airport and then up to the resort. This was
simply not the case. No decision had been made to support this option.
After very little debate Council passed a motion to take this option off
the table. If you look through the study the timelines for a second
crossing are many years in the future. This will give future Councils
plenty of time to look at any alternatives that may appear in the future
as well as start a public process to evaluate these options. I would
hope that with public support of an increase in walking and cycling
trails, and a dedicated effort to develop and use public transit,
another crossing may not be necessary. Regardless, it is another subject
that we as a community will be putting our heads together on to come up
with a solution.
Today is Clean Air Day!
There will be activities and information available for the whole family
in Grizzly Plaza from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Take the opportunity to ride the
transit bus. There is free transit on June 6th for clean air day. I will
be acknowledging the first local fleets that have initiated the
Revelstoke Idle Free Challenge, being Parks Canada, Vic Van Isle
Construction, Downie Timber and the City of Revelstoke.
On Thursday evening an
Air Quality Public Meeting will be held at the Revelstoke Community
Centre at 7:00 p.m. Information will be provided on the Air Quality
Action Plans on air emissions, woodstoves, dust, mills, idling vehicles,
transportation, open burning and pollen. Take the opportunity to attend
for the exchange of information.
Don’t forget Timber Days
is coming again this year and is back as a two day event in early July.
I will provide more information as it gets closer and of course I will
be participating in the political saw off event.
In closing I had an
opportunity last week to ride the steam train from Kamloops to Armstrong
as a guest of the Kamloops Heritage Railway. It was a fantastic trip in
a turn of the century train. They will be running more excursions
throughout the summer.
Mark McKee
Mayor
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