Quesnel Council Highlights - Jan 19th mtg

 Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

Delegation – Community Food Security Kirsten Balaski, Community Food Coordinator, Canadian Mental Health Association of Northern BC, Quesnel Office, provided Council with an update around food security for Quesnel. Food security is defined as “having reliable access to enough safe, nutritious and culturally diverse food.” Highlights from this presentation are: 1 in 5 households in Northern B.C. are food insecure Quesnel populations at risk: aboriginal, school-aged children, seniors, single parent households, people aged 25-64 with no certificate/diploma/degree. Due to Quesnel’s demographics, Quesnel has higher food insecurity than both the provincial and national averages. Average monthly cost of nutritious food for a family of four in the Northern Health region was $1038 in 2017. Families of four, if on income assistance in B.C., may receive up to $1301/month. Current food supporters in Quesnel: bi-monthly hampers, food programming offered as an adjunct to other programming; grassroots programming focused on supporting specific populations, drop-in hot meals provided 6 days/week across four organizations. For full details of this presentation, please visit: Quesnel’s Food Security Council’s Executive Committee will continue to work with Kirsten Balaski regarding the ideas she presented for how the City may support food security initiatives.

2021 Capital Budget Council approved the 2021 Capital Budget with the following highlights: 2021 Capital Budget is estimated at $12,415,887 before capital carryforwards from 2020. As per Council direction, this budget uses the COVID Safe restart Grant to replace the lost casino funds in 2020/2021 that fund general capital each year. A new page in the capital plan has been added that lists the strategic council projects. Many of these projects involve grants. The grants are listed in the spreadsheet and show if the grant is pending or approved. Ongoing challenges for the capital budget are ensuring there is enough funding for building maintenance and replacement, future landfill requirements and the replacement/renovation of the Fire Hall #1 (Downtown).

Grant Application – Fire Hall #1 Upgrades Council approved a grant application to be submitted to the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure grant program regarding upgrades to the Fire Hall #1 (Downtown). This project is estimated at $2.6 million; however, this grant program funds 100% of total eligible projects costs. The August 2020 City of Quesnel Fire Department Needs Analysis & Facilities Assessment Study found the current Downtown Fire Hall is inadequate in space requirements, no longer meets current building code and is not seismically sound.

Proposed Official Community Plan and Zoning Amendments – Hoy Street Council approved City staff to move forward with bringing forward a proposed bylaw, to the February 2, 2021 Council meting, that would allow for a multi-unit development on Lots 24-36 (vacant lands) on Hoy Street behind the River Rock Pub (“Project”). This Project is pending approval of grant funding, through the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative, for the Nazko First Nation. This Project is currently proposed for nine units of modular housing but staff are recommending high-density zoning to allow for and encourage future higher density development on the remainder of the lot. A renovation of the existing River Rock Pub building to office space is also being proposed under the federal grant application but is not part of the zoning amendment. For further details regarding this proposed Project, and to renovate the existing River Rock Public building to office space, please visit: Administration Report #21/2021.

Bylaw Bylaw 1901 – Multi-Unit Housing Incentives - First and Second Readings

Next Council Meeting 5:00 p.m. – January 26, 2021