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Council addressed a wide variety
of agenda items at the last Council Meeting; some were routine while
others were hotly debated.
A Public Hearing was held
prior to the regular Council meeting to allow public input regarding two
properties that were slated for zoning amendments. One property received
third reading and should be approved providing the owners are able to
address issues that were raised during the hearing. However, neighbors
of the other property raised a number of issues of concern. A meeting
will be arranged with Downie Street Sawmills personnel, the affected
property owners and City representatives to get a better understanding
of what activities are taking place on the said property and what
measures can be taken to address safety concerns and other issues that
were identified.
A number of local
residents and businesses were recognized with 2004 Heritage Awards for
their efforts in restoring their buildings to their original state.
Jamie and Catheryn Burke were awarded for their residential renovations
and Sue Pollo was awarded for the residential details on her home. There
were two awards for commercial detail, the Mainstreet Café owned by
Shelley and Rob Gibson and the Heather Hut owned by Rita Stacey and Eric
Willey. It was noted that this is the seventh year of Heritage Awards
and that Revelstoke is becoming quite renowned for the work that has
been done to restore many of our community’s heritage buildings.
Two Canada World Youth
participants, Catherine Halle hailing from Montreal, Quebec and Kago
Moakofhi from Kanye, Botswana, along with their supervisor Francis
Maltby were on hand to share the results of a recent survey they had
conducted on Revelstoke’s waterfowl. In general, the knowledge about
migratory waterfowl was good and most people supported some measures to
protect their habitats.
The Mackenzie Avenue
Crossing committee made a recommendation to have the City continue to
negotiate with CPR and Transport Canada to work towards the installation
of Full Closure Protection, including crossing arms and soft tone bells,
based on safety reasons. Two other recommendations were tabled until
after the Mayor meets with representatives of CPR and Transport Canada
slated for next week. A special thank you to all the members of the
committee who worked diligently towards a solution that everyone could
support. Council will continue to update the public as new information
becomes available.
After considerable
debate, Council tabled making a decision on the zoning of the Westside
Road area. Alan Mason, Director of Community Economic Development will
continue to work with Lands and Water BC to supply Council with more
information before further decisions are made.
One thing that is
abundantly clear to anyone watching Council Meetings is that Councillors
have varying opinions on issues, but when it comes to voting, we all try
to make decisions that are in the best interest of our community.
Whether it is a land use issue or a service that has been identified, we
try to find a way to support initiatives that will benefit our
community.
All committees are
presently reviewing their budgets for next year and are looking for ways
of being more cost effective. Public Works is especially concerned as
they have only $42,000.00 left in the 2004 budget for snow removal and
sanding. They had been doing an “Anti-Snow Dance”, but we can see that
hasn’t worked very well.
In closing I would like
to invite all community members to the Community Social Development
Strategy review on December 7th, at the Community Centre. The meeting
will run from 4:00 – 7:00 PM and everyone is welcome to attend and
provide their ideas and suggestions to deal with social issues in
Revelstoke. Come out and help us plan for the future well-being of our
community.
Prepared by Councillor Nelli Richardson
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