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The Mackenzie crossing continues
to be an issue of interest and activity in the community this month. The
City was pleased to receive a letter of commitment from Canadian Pacific
Railway to provide full protection signals for this crossing in the fall
or possibly in the spring. This is an exciting opportunity and the City
has agreed to proceed with this project. In the short term, until the
signals are installed, it was decided to install the temporary night
time only vehicular restriction gates and apply for whistle cessation at
this time. It is expected that this will greatly speed up the process of
reducing the amount of night time noise and enhancing the overall
quality of living in the town. Although these measures have been a
source of concern for many, this solution was proposed by the committee
and is a win-win for all the residents of Revelstoke.
Burning and smoke
pollution has been a long time issue here in the valley and the City has
been approached a number of times regarding the quality of the air in
Revelstoke. We have been working on a number of fronts to reduce the air
pollution. The City itself has adopted a zero burning policy which was
quite evident with the handling of the vegetative debris created in the
building of the aquatic centre parking lot. All City vegetative waste is
now either ground up on site or trucked to a facility where it will be
ground up later. In light of the number of development projects that
will proceed in the town in the near future, the City has now passed a
motion that as of January 1, 2006 we will ban all open burn piles due to
clearing debris. This will go a long way in creating better air quality
year round for residents. We will continue with initiatives to make
further improvements in this area.
I am pleased to see the
continuing progress to the parking lot around the aquatic centre and the
road access to Centennial Park. To improve the safety around the aquatic
centre it was approved to restrict speeds to 10 km and to install speed
bumps in front of the facility. Public works expects the paving to be
finished in the next two weeks. This work is over time but under budget.
Plans for the addition of
new units at Moberly Manor for assisted living are progressing slowly.
As part of this project we will lose part of the Park in this location.
Since the Mountain View School property is used by the community for
park space, the City passed resolutions which expresses our desire to
maintain park space in the downtown. This was important as there are
preliminary plans to replace this downtown school and potentially
redevelop this location. It is important to protect this green space.
We are continuing to
develop bylaws to allow for development cost charges to be levied on new
developments. These bylaws are to ensure that developers will bear the
cost of the increased demand on the City’s infrastructures and that it
is not passed onto the current taxpayers. With all the new potential
development the increased demands will be significant and upgrades are
anticipated.
I have been approached a
number of times about the Shell/Tim Hortons development. I have been
assured by planning that this project is continuing to proceed and that
the traffic difficulties in that area are continuing to be looked into.
By now another Kokanee
Ball Tournament will be over. This event continues to be a very popular
one with teams coming from great distances to participate in this fun
event. I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable weekend.
Don’t forget to enjoy the
daily evening music in the Grizzly Plaza. It is for everyone and is a
real summer treat.
Prepared by Councillor
Terrance O’Hagan
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