Quesnel Council Highlights - June 10th mtg

Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

A reason to slow down

Council approved the installation of two traffic calming devices on Allard Street, one of them being midway between Abbott Drive and Hawk Street and the other on the south side of the Hawk Street intersection. Allard Street is a residential street with long stretches that has no traffic control devices or sidewalks. It is accessed by a large number of students from the Uplands area to Baker and Correlieu Schools.

Water and Sewer Servicing Study

The Director of Public Works and Engineering confirmed that the Water and Sewer Servicing Study is now available on the CIty’s website at www.quesnel.ca - click on City Hall / Reports /
2013. This document, prepared by Urban Systems, investigates all areas within city boundaries that do not have water and/or sewer servicing. Expanding these services has typically been a combination of demand, economic viability and a willingness on the part of the majority of taxpayers in that area to provide some or all of the funding required for the expansion project. Partial funding through grants from senior levels of government has also been available in the past for a number of these expansions. Council approved the recommendation that this Water and Sewer Servicing Study be received and directed staff to coordinate public meetings in the areas where residents have requested servicing in particular, the Richards/Woodridge area for water servicing and the Gook Road/Dragon Lake area regarding sewer servicing.

Community Investment Funds

The report, outlining the Strategic Community Investment Funds which include the Small Communities Grant and the Traffic Fines Grant was received by Council. It outlined the Performance Targets adopted by Council in 2012 for the period 2012 to 2014 as follows: Funds from the Small Community Grants will be transferred to the Quesnel Works: Capital Reinvestment Program and funds from the Traffic Fines Grants will be used to defray the cost of local police enforcement. In 2012, $574,024 was received from the Small Community Grants and $258,469 was received from the Traffic Fines Grants.

Microbrewery zoning moving forward

A public hearing was held in Council on Monday night to review the referenced zoning application. Council gave third reading to the City of Quesnel’s Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 1719 to allow the use of a currently vacant building at 185 Davie Street as a microbrewery by Barkerville Brewing Company.
Final draft of sustainability plan

Council received the final draft of the ourQuesnel Integrated Community Sustainability Plan at Council. They were asked to review the plan before June 24 when it will be adopted by Council. Councillor Coleman, Chair of the Sustainability Task Force, thanked staff and community groups for their significant effort and contribution to the document.

Permissive Tax Exemptions

Advertisements inviting non-profits to apply for Permissive Tax Exemptions will be in the newspaper shortly. A report was received by Council to review the exemptions granted to non-profit organizations. The three types of permissive property tax exemptions are Statutory (properties owned by the provincial government, cemeteries, churches, hospitals, etc.), Permissive (land and buildings held by non-profit organizations, etc.), and Revitalization (gives the authority to exempt certain lands and/or buildings for the purpose of encouraging revitalization). This year only new applications will be received.