Quesnel Council Highlights - June 20th mtg

Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

North Cariboo Sub-Regional Wildfire Recovery Plan Erin Robinson, Wildfire Recovery Manager, presented the draft North Cariboo Sub-Regional Wildfire Recovery Plan (“Plan”) for Quesnel and area. The Plan fits into the management through the 2017 Quesnel and Surrounding Area Community Wildfire Protection Plan which dove-tails with Quesnel’s Emergency Preparedness Plan. All of these will help the community better prepare for wildfire and floods. The Plan: Assesses the impacts of the 2017 summer wildfires Describes how to develop and then begin early and short-term implementation of recovery actions Provides recommendations for short, medium and long-term recovery actions. The Plan’s background summary explains that full recovery is known to take years; some of the mitigation projects could easily stretch into the next decade. Further, that recovery is: Social: To ensure the right resources are available to support the overall physical, mental and social well-being of economically impacted communities, municipalities, First Nations, families and individual British Columbians. Economy: To nurture an environment that supports the rehabilitation of and reinvestment in disrupted economies and businesses. Environment: To protect and re-establish the environment to a healthy state and mitigate long-term environmental effects and risks. Infrastructure: To enable the safe and orderly restoration of damaged infrastructure within impacted areas. The Plan will need to be updated and developed over time to reveal emergent tasks to be completed and resourced. Next steps include the draft Plan being finalized at the June 27th Wildfire Steering Committee meeting, and on June 30th the finalized Plan will be submitted to the Provincial government for consideration.

Proposed New Public Works Facility - Update At the June 5, 2018 Council meeting, City staff presented a report outlining that the City’s current Public Works Facility has reached the point where complete replacement is required. There are two fundamental options: to borrow the funds and build in 2020, or save the funds over the next 10 years and build in 2028. At the June 19, 2018 Council meeting, Council gave the first three bylaws readings for the Loan Authorization Bylaw and set the referendum question as: “Are you in favour of the City of Quesnel adopting City of Quesnel New Public Works Facility Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 1854 of 2018 which will authorize Council to borrow a sum not exceeding eight and half millions dollars ($8,500,000), repayable over a period of no more than thirty (30) years, for the development and construction of a new Public Works Facility?” Also presented at the June 19th Council meeting, is the City’s public engagement plan for the Public Works Facility Referendum that highlights the public engagement activities that will be carried out to inform the public prior to the referendum.

Quesnel Industrial Roads/Bridges Network – Increased Tonnage Council has approved the request from Quesnel’s Forest industries to allow for the use of nine-axle trucks with increased tonnage to a maximum 72.3 tonnes; previously the maximum tonnage was 63.5 tonnes. This approval is for the City’s industrial road network specifically for Quesnel Hixon Road (875 meters in from Hwy 97), Finning/Carradice/Brownmiller Roads, and McLean/Rome Avenues. Council’s approval is subject to Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure final approval.

Bylaws 1854 – Loan Authorization Bylaw (New Public Works Facility) – First, Second and Third Readings 1855 – Animal, Bird and Insect Control and Licensing Amendment Bylaw (Dog Licenses for Dog Park/ Parks/Trails) – Final Adoption

Next Meetings 7 pm, June 26 – Regular Council Meeting 5:30 pm, July 10 – North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee