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Prepared by Councillor O'Hagan
Even though the weather is hot and the lazy days of summer are upon us the
business of running the city continues to be busy.
We are pleased that Mayor
McKee’s trip to Korea on our behalf is already bringing positive results.
We are expecting our first 15 Korean students to our English Language
School shortly, along with several businessmen who are here exploring
business opportunities. We wish them a rewarding stay in our beautiful
town.
The school is still looking
for a few more host families for these students. You can enjoy a great
opportunity to learn about people by hosting an international student for
three weeks this summer! By welcoming students and business leaders to our
community we may also provide the spark to develop business relationships
as they learn that Revelstoke is a great place to visit and live. All the
residents of Revelstoke have an opportunity to extend a warm welcome as
our visitors explore our beautiful city. Part of their experience here is
living with local families and being part of our town and culture. If you
can help, please refer to the ad in this paper for more details or call
Kelly Pescod at 837-4239. I know from my own family’s hosting experience,
it is very rewarding and we enjoyed it very much.
Via Rail is continuing to
explore re-establishing passenger rail service along the southern route
through Revelstoke. The current Rocky Mountaineer service only benefits
the communities where it stops which are Vancouver, Kamloops and Calgary
who are working to maintain the status quo. City Council is supporting the
Via bid as it would provide both additional transportation choices to
Revelstokians and the potential for an increase in tourism.
We have just finished two
surveys on the extension of liquor serving hours within the city up to
4am. The results strongly support Council’s position of not extending the
hours. The provincial government has initiated this process by passing
legislation that allows liquor licensed establishments to apply for this
extension. It is interesting that the Province of British Columbia has
just issued a paper on drinking and driving which reported that the
frequency of drinking and driving has not decreased from 20% of the
population in spite of massive advertising. They have asked for
suggestions as to how they can improve on this! On top of this is the
initiative to privatize the distribution of alcohol in BC and to increase
its availability. It makes you wonder.
Again the demands for the
services of the local food bank are remaining high. Their ‘Donate a Row’
promotion is the planting and donation of extra produce to the bank. If
you can help out, fresh fruit and vegetable donations are accepted any
Friday between 8:30 and 11:00am at the downstairs Legion office. Please
also don’t forget to use the $2.00 coupons at Coopers and Southside
markets. Every bit helps.
I am pleased to see that
the work at the western entrance to town is almost complete. It will be a
relief to all that use it to see its completion and that part of town
returned to its previous beauty. It will once again encourage people to
come off the highway and both patronize the highway businesses and to
continue into the town.
Council is moving forward
with engaging the services of a Project/Construction Manager and Architect
for the Indoor Pool project. Councils’ objective is to pave the way for a
possible early construction start this fall with completion late in 2004.
Some citizens have expressed concern about fast-tracking the project and
would prefer to see a spring 2004 construction start with a mid 2005
completion. Council has not yet made a decision in this regard. This
decision will not be made until the Project Team (including the PM/CM and
Architect) have carefully reviewed and evaluated all elements of the
project including optimum timelines. Council has pledged that the timeline
will not take precedence over quality and budget.
Have a great summer!
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