Process and Functions

1) Traffic Control Amendment Bylaw #2117, 2010

Williams Lake Council, at its' May 25th, 2010 meeting, adopted an amendment to its Traffic Control Bylaw which permits Sidewalk and Roadway Cafes. It calls for applications to be received by City Hall from business owners for these cafes using a permitting process. Council consulted with the WLCBIA (Local Business Improvement Area) prior to adopting the amendment and they expressed no concerns. It should be noted that Council did not consult the general public prior to it adopting the amendment to the Traffic Control Bylaw

Since then, Walt Cobb has written on this subject and I have heard from numerous residents' expressing concerns with this bylaw and the fact that Council did not see fit to take their concerns into account prior to adoption of Bylaw #2117.

I think that their points are well taken and Council should not have depended solely on the views expressed by the WLCBIA prior to rushing through Bylaw #2117. As my blog readers know, a similar situation occurred where the public was mad that Council did not see fit then to consult the public on the new Traffic Control Bylaw and specifically, on the definition of boulevard's and the fact the public was prohibited from parking on them and Council agreed on November 24, 2009 (at a Committee of the Whole meeting) to hear from the public (after Council adopted Traffic Control Bylaw #2093). Council's resolve at this meeting was to have a process in place with respect to regulatory bylaws. Obviously, this has yet to be done and I note that the City's CAO has advised me that the Public Works Portfolio is very busy and has not yet had time to consider this matter and make recommendations to Council on this subject

I think that we can look to the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) with regard to this subject:

The CRD Board has a policy in place now since August of 2009 which requires the following process:

1) 1st and 2nd reading of a regulatory bylaw
2) Public Consultation (Board to determine the type of public consultation after 2nd reading but prior to 3rd reading)
3) Board gives 3rd reading to a regulatory bylaw
4) Board adopts regulatory bylaw

Williams Lake Council should model its' procedures on regulatory bylaws based on the CRD Policy on this subject so it doesn't look like it doesn't care about what the public has to say on regulatory bylaws. The current concerns about how the HST came in seem to ring the same issue here.... no consultation with the public which a local government should do prior to adopting new rules or establish new services in their community

2) CRD Central Cariboo Transit Function - Public Meetings

On May 26th and 27th, the CRD hosted Public Meetings in Areas E and F on the subject of a proposed Central Cariboo Transit Function. 8 people showed up to the meeting in Area E and 11 in Area F. So far, the concerns expressed have been:

* Bus Routes and Scheduling
* Proposed Taxation Boundary
* The costs to property owners' do not justify the service to be received

Area D's meeting will be on Monday at 7pm at Wildwood Elementary and it will be interesting to see what residents' have to say on this subject. After Monday's meeting, Directors Bischoff (Area D), Mazur (Area E) and Alternate Director Sorley (Area F) will then assemble together to review public input and determine next steps.

So if you are one who does or does not want public transit in Area D, you need to show up on Monday at 7pm at Wildwood Elementary, and tell Director Bischoff that