All this week - New District or City Councils' in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, School Boards in Quesnel/Williams Lake (SD #27/28) and the Cariboo Regional District Board of Directors' will be sworn in for the 2011-2014 Term. Those being sworn in for the first time may even make mention of their predecessors
Last Friday - the Kamloops Daily News had an editorial on those leaving office, either by retirement or thrown out of office by voters' in the latest local elections'. Read it here
For myself - I'm thankful for those like Coralee Oakes/Peter Couldwell in Quesnel, Tom Barr in Williams Lake, Pete Penner/Wayne Rodier of School District #27 and Art Dumaresq/Rick Mumford of the Cariboo Regional District for stepping up and serving in public office as it can sometimes be thankless and I wish them the very best in their future endeavours
Showing posts with label Tom Barr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Barr. Show all posts
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Kerry Cook Re-Election Kick-Off BBQ
Courtesy of Greg Fry (The Rush) via Twitter:
Tonight before 150 supporters (Editor's Note - I'm told a more realistic number at this event was 80) - Kerry Cook launched her official re-election bid (note - Mayor Cook has officially filed her nomination papers with WL City Hall) - see a story on this from The Rush here
Interesting notes:
1) WL City Councillors Laurie Walters, Sue Zacharias and Geoff Bourdon were at this event however Tom Barr and Surinder Rathor were not. I've since contacted Surinder Rathor and he has confirmed that he recieved no invitation to appear at this event. On the one hand - this (not inviting Surinderpal Rathor) would not be in keeping with her inaugural speech in which she state that the community needed to come together and not build walls, but on the other hand - she wouldn't want to invite people who clearly are not supporters of hers
2) Mayor Cook has appointed her daughter, Stephanie MacLeod (nee Cook) to be her campaign manager. In addition to running Mayor's Cook re-election bid on Facebook - they've established a website as well, which you can view here
Finally - Walt Cobb had 50 supporters at his campaign launch BBQ, Kerry Cook had 80 at hers'. Will Scott Nelson have a campaign launch BBQ? If so - it'll be interesting to see how many supporters' Mr. Nelson would be able to put together at a campaign launch BBQ...if Mr. Nelson does decide to have a campaign launch BBQ
SBF
Tonight before 150 supporters (Editor's Note - I'm told a more realistic number at this event was 80) - Kerry Cook launched her official re-election bid (note - Mayor Cook has officially filed her nomination papers with WL City Hall) - see a story on this from The Rush here
Interesting notes:
1) WL City Councillors Laurie Walters, Sue Zacharias and Geoff Bourdon were at this event however Tom Barr and Surinder Rathor were not. I've since contacted Surinder Rathor and he has confirmed that he recieved no invitation to appear at this event. On the one hand - this (not inviting Surinderpal Rathor) would not be in keeping with her inaugural speech in which she state that the community needed to come together and not build walls, but on the other hand - she wouldn't want to invite people who clearly are not supporters of hers
2) Mayor Cook has appointed her daughter, Stephanie MacLeod (nee Cook) to be her campaign manager. In addition to running Mayor's Cook re-election bid on Facebook - they've established a website as well, which you can view here
Finally - Walt Cobb had 50 supporters at his campaign launch BBQ, Kerry Cook had 80 at hers'. Will Scott Nelson have a campaign launch BBQ? If so - it'll be interesting to see how many supporters' Mr. Nelson would be able to put together at a campaign launch BBQ...if Mr. Nelson does decide to have a campaign launch BBQ
SBF
Monday, October 3, 2011
BREAKING NEWS - Tom Barr will not seek re-election this Nov
Greg Fry, over at the Rush, tweeted the following:
Williams Lake city councillor Tom Barr just announced he will not be running for re-election this fall. More this afternoon.
I'm deeply saddened that he made this decision but respect the fact that he has done a lot for the City and wish him the very best as I consider him a great friend and political mentor
With that - 2 seats on Williams Lake City Council are now are up for grabs -- Tom Barr's and former WL City Councillor Natalie Hebert. Councilor SPS Rathor is all but guaranteed to keep his seat, and the question will become two fold:
1) Who will the voters' of Williams Lake elect to the two vacant seats?
2) Will Laurie Walters, Geoff Bourdon and Sue Zacharias (if Zacharias/Bourdon do, in fact, run for re-election) be able to hang on to their seats and continue as second-term WL City Councillors
The answer to those two questions will be answered at 8:05pm on Saturday, November 19th
SBF
Williams Lake city councillor Tom Barr just announced he will not be running for re-election this fall. More this afternoon.
I'm deeply saddened that he made this decision but respect the fact that he has done a lot for the City and wish him the very best as I consider him a great friend and political mentor
With that - 2 seats on Williams Lake City Council are now are up for grabs -- Tom Barr's and former WL City Councillor Natalie Hebert. Councilor SPS Rathor is all but guaranteed to keep his seat, and the question will become two fold:
1) Who will the voters' of Williams Lake elect to the two vacant seats?
2) Will Laurie Walters, Geoff Bourdon and Sue Zacharias (if Zacharias/Bourdon do, in fact, run for re-election) be able to hang on to their seats and continue as second-term WL City Councillors
The answer to those two questions will be answered at 8:05pm on Saturday, November 19th
SBF
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Bourdon v Rathor re: Fire Hall Budget Overrun & New Internal Control Policy
At last night's WL Council meeting - Council approved a Committee of the Whole recommendation which saw Council adopt a new Internal Finance Control Policy (see that here), but before it was adopted, Councillors Geoff Bourdon and Surinderpal Rathor decided to re-open a "can of worms" called the "Fire Hall Budget Overrun" - see the 2:20 video below between Councillors Bourdon and Rathor, with slight interjections at the end between Councillor Tom Barr and Mayor Kerry Cook
I'll let each blog reader decide for themselves who was in the right and who was wrong in their statements. I suspect that the Fire Hall Budget Overrun will be one of many issues that will be debated in public prior to the public deciding on who will form the 2011-2014 Williams Lake Municipal Council
I'll let each blog reader decide for themselves who was in the right and who was wrong in their statements. I suspect that the Fire Hall Budget Overrun will be one of many issues that will be debated in public prior to the public deciding on who will form the 2011-2014 Williams Lake Municipal Council
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
WL Council Highlights - August 30th meeting
Present:
Mayor Cook and Councillors’ Barr, Bourdon, Rathor, Walters and Zacharias
Staff Present:
Pat Higgins – Director of Finance/Acting CAO
Cindy Bouchard - Manager of Legislative Services
Chris Hutton – Planning Technician
Jeff Bernardy – Engineering Technician
Anne Burill – Manager of Social Development
Geoff Paynton – Director of Community Services
Ken MacInnis – Communications Coordinator
Tom Chung – IT Manager
Meeting called to order at 6:00pm
Minutes of July 19th WL Council meeting adopted
Business:
1) Council received a report from the City’s CAO with an attached letter from Madeleine Maley (Acting Regional Executive Director for Southern Area – Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Ops) re: Joint Invitation to City of WL/WL Indian Band for a Community Forest License – 40,000 cubic metres
2) Council received a revised schedule of Council Committee appointments, in light of the resignation of former WL City Councillor Natalie Hebert
3) Council received the 2011 – 6 month Interim Financial Statement for the period ending June 30th, 2011
4) After receiving no public comments – Council approved Development Permit #3-2011 (Paul Sangha – Best Western Hotel)
5) Council gave 2nd Reading to an amended Zoning Amendment Bylaw #2133 (Regulating Shipping Containers)
6) Council approved the extension of sanitary sewer from Eagle Crescent to accommodate future Woodland Drive improvements at a total cost of $36,000. Council also authorized entering into a cost-sharing agreement with Pinetree Developments for a portion of the sanitary system, the City's share being $7,250.
7) Council awarded South Lakeside Drive Widening engineering design to TRUE Consulting Group for the amount of approximately $19,000
8) Council received applications for Development Permit #5-2011 and Development Variance Permit #7-2011 (Dog and Suds’ Restaurant) and referred them to the Advisory Planning Commission for consideration. This matter will be considered next by WL Council at its’ September 13th, 2011 meeting
9) Council gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reading to Sign Amendment Bylaw No. 2145 (Accommodation of Parapets/Parapet Wall)
10) Council ratified the following email polls:
a) Approval for Mural on Central Cariboo Arts Centre Building Wall facing Borland St
b) Approval to apply to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Real Estate Foundation of BC for a grant to complete a housing need and demand study for Williams Lake and surrounding area
11) Council approved a change to the Heritage Committee Terms of Reference to allow for the appointment of seven members of the community
12) Council awarded a three (3) year lease to operate the food concession at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex to Karen's Place Holdings
13) Council awarded a five (5) year contract to Blackstock Ventures Ltd. to furnish, install and maintain four (4) vending machines for the bid price of 0% commission
14) Council adopted Bylaws #2143/2144 (Noise and Nuisance Amendment Bylaws)
15) The following Committee of the Whole recommendations were adopted:
a) Parks, Trails and Outdoor Recreation Master Plan completed by Stantec Consultants was adopted and the Master Plan was referred to the Central Cariboo/City of Williams Lake Joint Committee for their information
b) A Policy regarding Internal Control Over Financial Management and Financial Reporting was approved
c) Council received the draft Permissive Tax Exemption Policy and Staff were asked to organize public consultation with the current recipients of permissive tax exemptions
d) A Report on the role and function of social planning for the City of Williams Lake was received and Staff were directed to create a Social Development Strategy with input from the community regarding activities and priorities.
e) A letter from the Royal Canadian Legion dated June 16, 2011 regarding a request for an increase in their permissive tax exemption be received and was referred to the 2012 budget process
f) Council approved the design for a new Rick Hansen monument to be located at the Tourism Discovery Centre, and Staff were asked to approach the community for donation
16) Council proclaimed the following:
a) September 15th as “National Family Dinner Night”. Staff were also asked to provide a letter of support for this community based initiative
b) September 26th to October 1st – Celebrate Life Week
c) November 13th to 20th – Restorative Justice Week
17) Council received the “Council Information Package” dated August 30th as follows:
a) June 26, 2011 – Letter from British Columbia Old Age Pensioners' Organization re MSP Premiums for Seniors - (note - Mayor Cook indicates that this item will come forward for debate at the September 13th WL Council meeting)
b) June 30, 2011 - Letter from District of West Kelowna to Premier Clark
c) July 20, 2011 - Letter from BC Hydro re UBCM Convention (meeting requests)
d) July 25, 2011 - Letter from Cariboo Chilcotin Aboriginal Training Employment Centre
e) July 25, 2011 - Letter re Gas Tax Agreement Community Works Fund Payment
f) July 27, 2011 - Letter from WL Central Business Improvement Area re WLCBIA President Resignation
g) August 4, 2011 - UBCM Executive Release
h) August 4, 2011 - Spanish Mountain Gold - Update on Environmental Assessment, Permit Progress and Project Scope
i) August 4, 2011 - UBCM Release re Survey Results on the Public Health Act & Relationships between Local Governments & Health Authorities
j) August 22, 2011 - CRD Solid Waste Management Plan
k) August 26, 2011 - Release from Taseko Mines re Prosperity Project
l) No Date - Letter from Ministry of Health re Creating an Age-Friendly Business in BC
Meeting adjourned at 7:27pm and reconvened In-Camera (Section 90(1)(b) of the Community Charter)
Mayor Cook and Councillors’ Barr, Bourdon, Rathor, Walters and Zacharias
Staff Present:
Pat Higgins – Director of Finance/Acting CAO
Cindy Bouchard - Manager of Legislative Services
Chris Hutton – Planning Technician
Jeff Bernardy – Engineering Technician
Anne Burill – Manager of Social Development
Geoff Paynton – Director of Community Services
Ken MacInnis – Communications Coordinator
Tom Chung – IT Manager
Meeting called to order at 6:00pm
Minutes of July 19th WL Council meeting adopted
Business:
1) Council received a report from the City’s CAO with an attached letter from Madeleine Maley (Acting Regional Executive Director for Southern Area – Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Ops) re: Joint Invitation to City of WL/WL Indian Band for a Community Forest License – 40,000 cubic metres
2) Council received a revised schedule of Council Committee appointments, in light of the resignation of former WL City Councillor Natalie Hebert
3) Council received the 2011 – 6 month Interim Financial Statement for the period ending June 30th, 2011
4) After receiving no public comments – Council approved Development Permit #3-2011 (Paul Sangha – Best Western Hotel)
5) Council gave 2nd Reading to an amended Zoning Amendment Bylaw #2133 (Regulating Shipping Containers)
6) Council approved the extension of sanitary sewer from Eagle Crescent to accommodate future Woodland Drive improvements at a total cost of $36,000. Council also authorized entering into a cost-sharing agreement with Pinetree Developments for a portion of the sanitary system, the City's share being $7,250.
7) Council awarded South Lakeside Drive Widening engineering design to TRUE Consulting Group for the amount of approximately $19,000
8) Council received applications for Development Permit #5-2011 and Development Variance Permit #7-2011 (Dog and Suds’ Restaurant) and referred them to the Advisory Planning Commission for consideration. This matter will be considered next by WL Council at its’ September 13th, 2011 meeting
9) Council gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reading to Sign Amendment Bylaw No. 2145 (Accommodation of Parapets/Parapet Wall)
10) Council ratified the following email polls:
a) Approval for Mural on Central Cariboo Arts Centre Building Wall facing Borland St
b) Approval to apply to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Real Estate Foundation of BC for a grant to complete a housing need and demand study for Williams Lake and surrounding area
11) Council approved a change to the Heritage Committee Terms of Reference to allow for the appointment of seven members of the community
12) Council awarded a three (3) year lease to operate the food concession at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex to Karen's Place Holdings
13) Council awarded a five (5) year contract to Blackstock Ventures Ltd. to furnish, install and maintain four (4) vending machines for the bid price of 0% commission
14) Council adopted Bylaws #2143/2144 (Noise and Nuisance Amendment Bylaws)
15) The following Committee of the Whole recommendations were adopted:
a) Parks, Trails and Outdoor Recreation Master Plan completed by Stantec Consultants was adopted and the Master Plan was referred to the Central Cariboo/City of Williams Lake Joint Committee for their information
b) A Policy regarding Internal Control Over Financial Management and Financial Reporting was approved
c) Council received the draft Permissive Tax Exemption Policy and Staff were asked to organize public consultation with the current recipients of permissive tax exemptions
d) A Report on the role and function of social planning for the City of Williams Lake was received and Staff were directed to create a Social Development Strategy with input from the community regarding activities and priorities.
e) A letter from the Royal Canadian Legion dated June 16, 2011 regarding a request for an increase in their permissive tax exemption be received and was referred to the 2012 budget process
f) Council approved the design for a new Rick Hansen monument to be located at the Tourism Discovery Centre, and Staff were asked to approach the community for donation
16) Council proclaimed the following:
a) September 15th as “National Family Dinner Night”. Staff were also asked to provide a letter of support for this community based initiative
b) September 26th to October 1st – Celebrate Life Week
c) November 13th to 20th – Restorative Justice Week
17) Council received the “Council Information Package” dated August 30th as follows:
a) June 26, 2011 – Letter from British Columbia Old Age Pensioners' Organization re MSP Premiums for Seniors - (note - Mayor Cook indicates that this item will come forward for debate at the September 13th WL Council meeting)
b) June 30, 2011 - Letter from District of West Kelowna to Premier Clark
c) July 20, 2011 - Letter from BC Hydro re UBCM Convention (meeting requests)
d) July 25, 2011 - Letter from Cariboo Chilcotin Aboriginal Training Employment Centre
e) July 25, 2011 - Letter re Gas Tax Agreement Community Works Fund Payment
f) July 27, 2011 - Letter from WL Central Business Improvement Area re WLCBIA President Resignation
g) August 4, 2011 - UBCM Executive Release
h) August 4, 2011 - Spanish Mountain Gold - Update on Environmental Assessment, Permit Progress and Project Scope
i) August 4, 2011 - UBCM Release re Survey Results on the Public Health Act & Relationships between Local Governments & Health Authorities
j) August 22, 2011 - CRD Solid Waste Management Plan
k) August 26, 2011 - Release from Taseko Mines re Prosperity Project
l) No Date - Letter from Ministry of Health re Creating an Age-Friendly Business in BC
Meeting adjourned at 7:27pm and reconvened In-Camera (Section 90(1)(b) of the Community Charter)
Monday, August 8, 2011
WL Council has 6 meetings remaining
As of today - Williams Lake City Council has 6 meetings remaining prior to the November 19th election. Those meetings dates are:
a) August 30th
b) September 13th
c) October 4th and 18th
d) November 1st and 15th
It'll be interesting to see if how WL Council gets along as we inch towards November's vote and how many, if any, announce their plans not to seek re-election. At this point, I fully expect Councillors Laurie Walters, Geoff Bourdon and Surinderpal Rathor will be seeking another term. However, it has been brought to my attention that Councillors Sue Zacharias and Tom Barr are contemplating either retirement or "other opportunities".
We'll soon see if my guesses are correct or not. Keep in mind that one seat is vacant so we know that the next WL Council will have a new face on it but time will tell if we'll have more new faces on WL Council as well - post November 19th
SBF
a) August 30th
b) September 13th
c) October 4th and 18th
d) November 1st and 15th
It'll be interesting to see if how WL Council gets along as we inch towards November's vote and how many, if any, announce their plans not to seek re-election. At this point, I fully expect Councillors Laurie Walters, Geoff Bourdon and Surinderpal Rathor will be seeking another term. However, it has been brought to my attention that Councillors Sue Zacharias and Tom Barr are contemplating either retirement or "other opportunities".
We'll soon see if my guesses are correct or not. Keep in mind that one seat is vacant so we know that the next WL Council will have a new face on it but time will tell if we'll have more new faces on WL Council as well - post November 19th
SBF
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Central Cariboo Joint Committee: No More Debt!!!
This past Thursday, the Central Cariboo Joint Committee (CCJC), made up of WL Council and the CRD Directors' for Areas D, E, F, J and K, met in a Special Meeting to consider the tender to develop a Business/Concept Plan for a proposed Indoor Turf Facility and an update on repairs to the Sam Ketchum Pool. See my blog post on that here
During that meeting, it was commented by WL Councillor Sue Zacharias that the Central Cariboo region needs an "all-in-one" building that includes a renovated pool & Indoor Turf Facility. It was noted by City/CRD Staff to have both would cost in excess of $16 million to do a "Phase 2" for the Complex plus another $5-6 million for the Turf Facility, as a stand-alone building. It should be noted that the "Phase 2" blueprints have not been updated for a few years now and would need to be updated to provide up-to-date information to the public, which could include splitting up "Phase 2" into smaller phases which could include these multiple phases totaling, again $5-6 million or less per small phase, depending on the mood of the public at the time. Councillor Zacharias noted at last Thursday's CCJC's meeting that we need to invest in our recreation facilities to attract the medical and other professionals needed in our region - a theory I'm not personally convinced has any basis in fact. Moreover - this theory is like gambling public money in a poker game where we have a hand of Ace-Two while the opponent has two Aces
However - I thought it may be important to review the recent decisions involving both the CMRC (Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex) and Central Cariboo Recreation, since 2003, for discussion purposes - given it's likely it'll be the next WL Council/CRD Board + CCJC who have to decide how the CMRC future direction proceeds
Central Cariboo Recreation Improvements - Recent History:
February 2003 - A Referendum Vote was announced to ask taxpayers' in portions of CRD Areas D, E, F + all of Williams Lake for permission to borrow $7.6 million to renovate the CMRC to include a conference center and renovated pool - see the press release here
November 8th, 2003 - Referendum Vote held to borrow $7.6 million as part of the 3 Part Referendum Question and voters defeated a City of WL/CRD Request to borrow $7.6 million to refurbish the CMRC but approved two requests pertaining to the-then Recreation Service - increase the tax requistion limit and combine separate pool and arena functions into one recreation function
March 17th, 2005 - Plan announced to seek $1.6 million to match a $1.6 million grant to improve the CMRC with a referendum date of April 30th, 2005. See that press release here
May 2nd, 2005 - CRD Announces that 82% of the 1,925 votes cast approved the borrowing of $1.6 million to match a $1.6 million grant to upgrade the CMRC - see that press release here
August 2nd, 2005 - WL Council receives a presentation from Global Entertainment for an Events Centre in Williams Lake. Item referred to next Central Cariboo Joint Committee meeting for consideration
August 18th, 2005 - Joint Committee receives presentation from Global Entertainment for an Events Centre in Williams Lake - see here
February 26th, 2006 - CRD Board endorses a recommendation from the Central Cariboo Joint Committee continuing to support the an idea of an Event Center for Williams Lake - see here
August 8th, 2006 - City of WL receives plan for an Event Center for Williams Lake - see here (Part 1)and here (Part 2)
Note - For both February 26th/August 8th - Sue Zacharias was the-then CRD Director for Area 'D' (McLeese Lake-Wildwood-Commodore Heights)
June 20th, 2007 - CRD/City of WL announces completion of the upgrades to the CMRC, as approved by voters on April 30th, 2005 - see the press release here
March 3rd, 2009 - Councillor Sue Zacharias moves to have the Events Center work designated as a Number 4 priority and Phase 2 of the CMRC and Indoor Turf Facility as a #1 and #2 Priority - see my blog post on this here and WL City Staff report here
March 5th, 2009 - At their meeting - Joint Committee resolved the following:
a) That the priorities for recreation infrastructure projects be as follows; Phase 2 of the CMRC Improvement Project, an indoor turf facility and the Marie Sharpe School gymnasium
b) That $50,000 be allocated to update design plans for Phase Two of the CMRC Improvement Project from the 2009 Central Cariboo Recreation Capital Fund to submit for infrastructure grant applications
April 16th, 2009 - Joint Committee resolved the following:
"That feasibility planning & prelim concept design work begin for an Indoor Turf Facility using remaining money from the Phase 2 CMRC design update project budget"
July 9th, 2010 - CRD Board adopted a Joint Committee recommendation as follows:
"The proposed Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex Capital Plan update be endorsed and further, a media release be prepared following Board/Council approval to advise the community of the proposed works"
December 15th, 2010 - Public Meeting on Indoor Turf Facility - see my blog post here
May 24th, 2011 - City of WL/CRD announces results of Central Cariboo Recreation Survey results - see that blog post here. The results indicated that an Indoor Turf Facility was the #1 Priority for residents, followed by expansion or improvement of the Sam Ketchum Pool & CMRC
Final Analysis:
It is unfortunate that Councillor Sue Zacharias has been all over the map on this file (Recreation). In 2006 - she was, along with her then-colleagues on the Central Cariboo Joint Committee which included WL City Councillor SPS Rathor and former City of WL Mayor Scott Nelson, excited about an Events Center for Williams Lake as a CRD Rural Director. Fast forward to 2009 - she, as a City Councillor, stated that it was a low priority due to the poor economy. Now, again, fast forward to 2011 - she says we need a "all-in" building. But I wonder where we could have been if we had continued to move forward on an Events Center which could have been a "all-in" building, if work on it proceeded during 2009 and 2010. Now given the results of last Thursday's CCJC Meeting - it is about as clear as mud what the CCJC is doing with the improvements of our recreation facilities - given both their decisions at this meeting and this past May's Recreation Survey results
In addition - WL Mayor Kerry Cook noted at last Thursday's CCJC meeting that, down the road, residents may have be told that if nothing is done, the current shutdown may become commonplace
to which I reply "horse ****" because we shouldn't borrow because of fear mongering but because that is what the public wants, but I think the public will likely argue - we just borrowed $1.6 million to fix the pool in 2005 so why should we borrow more to fix the same issue that supposed fixed when $1.6 million was borrowed to repair the Sam Ketchum Pool
As of December 31st, 2010 - Central Cariboo residents still owed $1,034,093 for the Phase 1 improvements to the CMRC, as agreed to on April 30th, 2005, which will be paid off by April 16th, 2016 - see here and scroll to Page 2 for this information.
Given the above - An Indoor Turf Facility + any future capital (major) improvements to the CMRC should not occur, at least for now - given the state of the local economy, but these projects should be re-evaluated after both Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District have made major dents in their long-term debt levels, in a few years, say by 2014-15. In the meantime - the CCJC should consider making small investments, as part of the yearly CMRC Capital Plan, into the pool and around the CMRC, as appropriate
The above will be visited by the Central Cariboo Joint Committee at their September 14th, 2011 meeting as they begin the 2012 CRD Budget Planning Process by approving the 2012 Business Plan for the Central Cariboo Recreation Function.
If you are concerned about the level of debt that local governments - including Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District have at present - I strongly encourage you to contact (see below) your elected official(s) prior to September 14th and let them know that it should be "status quo" as far as the CMRC goes until financial conditions improve, both at the City of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District
Residents in CRD Areas D to F:
Residents in Area 'D' - contact Deb Bischoff via email at dbischoff@cariboord.bc.ca
Residents in Area 'E' - contact Steve Mazur via email at smazur@cariboord.bc.ca
Residents in Area 'F' - contact Joan Sorley via email at jsorley@cariboord.bc.ca
Residents in the City of Williams Lake:
Mayor Kerry Cook - Email her at mayor@williamslake.ca or kcook@williamslake.ca
Councillor Geoff Bourdon - Email him at gbourdon@williamslake.ca
Councillor Tom Barr - Email him at tbarr@williamslake.ca
Councillor SPS Rathor - Email him at srathor@williamslake.ca
Councillor Laurie Walters - Email her at lwalters@williamslake.ca
Councillor Sue Zacharias - Email her at szacharias@williamslake.ca
During that meeting, it was commented by WL Councillor Sue Zacharias that the Central Cariboo region needs an "all-in-one" building that includes a renovated pool & Indoor Turf Facility. It was noted by City/CRD Staff to have both would cost in excess of $16 million to do a "Phase 2" for the Complex plus another $5-6 million for the Turf Facility, as a stand-alone building. It should be noted that the "Phase 2" blueprints have not been updated for a few years now and would need to be updated to provide up-to-date information to the public, which could include splitting up "Phase 2" into smaller phases which could include these multiple phases totaling, again $5-6 million or less per small phase, depending on the mood of the public at the time. Councillor Zacharias noted at last Thursday's CCJC's meeting that we need to invest in our recreation facilities to attract the medical and other professionals needed in our region - a theory I'm not personally convinced has any basis in fact. Moreover - this theory is like gambling public money in a poker game where we have a hand of Ace-Two while the opponent has two Aces
However - I thought it may be important to review the recent decisions involving both the CMRC (Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex) and Central Cariboo Recreation, since 2003, for discussion purposes - given it's likely it'll be the next WL Council/CRD Board + CCJC who have to decide how the CMRC future direction proceeds
Central Cariboo Recreation Improvements - Recent History:
February 2003 - A Referendum Vote was announced to ask taxpayers' in portions of CRD Areas D, E, F + all of Williams Lake for permission to borrow $7.6 million to renovate the CMRC to include a conference center and renovated pool - see the press release here
November 8th, 2003 - Referendum Vote held to borrow $7.6 million as part of the 3 Part Referendum Question and voters defeated a City of WL/CRD Request to borrow $7.6 million to refurbish the CMRC but approved two requests pertaining to the-then Recreation Service - increase the tax requistion limit and combine separate pool and arena functions into one recreation function
March 17th, 2005 - Plan announced to seek $1.6 million to match a $1.6 million grant to improve the CMRC with a referendum date of April 30th, 2005. See that press release here
May 2nd, 2005 - CRD Announces that 82% of the 1,925 votes cast approved the borrowing of $1.6 million to match a $1.6 million grant to upgrade the CMRC - see that press release here
August 2nd, 2005 - WL Council receives a presentation from Global Entertainment for an Events Centre in Williams Lake. Item referred to next Central Cariboo Joint Committee meeting for consideration
August 18th, 2005 - Joint Committee receives presentation from Global Entertainment for an Events Centre in Williams Lake - see here
February 26th, 2006 - CRD Board endorses a recommendation from the Central Cariboo Joint Committee continuing to support the an idea of an Event Center for Williams Lake - see here
August 8th, 2006 - City of WL receives plan for an Event Center for Williams Lake - see here (Part 1)and here (Part 2)
Note - For both February 26th/August 8th - Sue Zacharias was the-then CRD Director for Area 'D' (McLeese Lake-Wildwood-Commodore Heights)
June 20th, 2007 - CRD/City of WL announces completion of the upgrades to the CMRC, as approved by voters on April 30th, 2005 - see the press release here
March 3rd, 2009 - Councillor Sue Zacharias moves to have the Events Center work designated as a Number 4 priority and Phase 2 of the CMRC and Indoor Turf Facility as a #1 and #2 Priority - see my blog post on this here and WL City Staff report here
March 5th, 2009 - At their meeting - Joint Committee resolved the following:
a) That the priorities for recreation infrastructure projects be as follows; Phase 2 of the CMRC Improvement Project, an indoor turf facility and the Marie Sharpe School gymnasium
b) That $50,000 be allocated to update design plans for Phase Two of the CMRC Improvement Project from the 2009 Central Cariboo Recreation Capital Fund to submit for infrastructure grant applications
April 16th, 2009 - Joint Committee resolved the following:
"That feasibility planning & prelim concept design work begin for an Indoor Turf Facility using remaining money from the Phase 2 CMRC design update project budget"
July 9th, 2010 - CRD Board adopted a Joint Committee recommendation as follows:
"The proposed Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex Capital Plan update be endorsed and further, a media release be prepared following Board/Council approval to advise the community of the proposed works"
December 15th, 2010 - Public Meeting on Indoor Turf Facility - see my blog post here
May 24th, 2011 - City of WL/CRD announces results of Central Cariboo Recreation Survey results - see that blog post here. The results indicated that an Indoor Turf Facility was the #1 Priority for residents, followed by expansion or improvement of the Sam Ketchum Pool & CMRC
Final Analysis:
It is unfortunate that Councillor Sue Zacharias has been all over the map on this file (Recreation). In 2006 - she was, along with her then-colleagues on the Central Cariboo Joint Committee which included WL City Councillor SPS Rathor and former City of WL Mayor Scott Nelson, excited about an Events Center for Williams Lake as a CRD Rural Director. Fast forward to 2009 - she, as a City Councillor, stated that it was a low priority due to the poor economy. Now, again, fast forward to 2011 - she says we need a "all-in" building. But I wonder where we could have been if we had continued to move forward on an Events Center which could have been a "all-in" building, if work on it proceeded during 2009 and 2010. Now given the results of last Thursday's CCJC Meeting - it is about as clear as mud what the CCJC is doing with the improvements of our recreation facilities - given both their decisions at this meeting and this past May's Recreation Survey results
In addition - WL Mayor Kerry Cook noted at last Thursday's CCJC meeting that, down the road, residents may have be told that if nothing is done, the current shutdown may become commonplace
to which I reply "horse ****" because we shouldn't borrow because of fear mongering but because that is what the public wants, but I think the public will likely argue - we just borrowed $1.6 million to fix the pool in 2005 so why should we borrow more to fix the same issue that supposed fixed when $1.6 million was borrowed to repair the Sam Ketchum Pool
As of December 31st, 2010 - Central Cariboo residents still owed $1,034,093 for the Phase 1 improvements to the CMRC, as agreed to on April 30th, 2005, which will be paid off by April 16th, 2016 - see here and scroll to Page 2 for this information.
Given the above - An Indoor Turf Facility + any future capital (major) improvements to the CMRC should not occur, at least for now - given the state of the local economy, but these projects should be re-evaluated after both Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District have made major dents in their long-term debt levels, in a few years, say by 2014-15. In the meantime - the CCJC should consider making small investments, as part of the yearly CMRC Capital Plan, into the pool and around the CMRC, as appropriate
The above will be visited by the Central Cariboo Joint Committee at their September 14th, 2011 meeting as they begin the 2012 CRD Budget Planning Process by approving the 2012 Business Plan for the Central Cariboo Recreation Function.
If you are concerned about the level of debt that local governments - including Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District have at present - I strongly encourage you to contact (see below) your elected official(s) prior to September 14th and let them know that it should be "status quo" as far as the CMRC goes until financial conditions improve, both at the City of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District
Residents in CRD Areas D to F:
Residents in Area 'D' - contact Deb Bischoff via email at dbischoff@cariboord.bc.ca
Residents in Area 'E' - contact Steve Mazur via email at smazur@cariboord.bc.ca
Residents in Area 'F' - contact Joan Sorley via email at jsorley@cariboord.bc.ca
Residents in the City of Williams Lake:
Mayor Kerry Cook - Email her at mayor@williamslake.ca or kcook@williamslake.ca
Councillor Geoff Bourdon - Email him at gbourdon@williamslake.ca
Councillor Tom Barr - Email him at tbarr@williamslake.ca
Councillor SPS Rathor - Email him at srathor@williamslake.ca
Councillor Laurie Walters - Email her at lwalters@williamslake.ca
Councillor Sue Zacharias - Email her at szacharias@williamslake.ca
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Couple of Oopsies at WL City Hall
From the file of "Oops":
1) Election Bylaw Review
Section 39(1) of the Local Government Act (LGA) states that a local government must have its general election bylaw (if the local gov't chooses to make an amendment to its existing general election bylaw or adopt a new general election bylaw) in place 8 weeks before the start of the nomination period. The date to have done this was August 8th. When I inquired what the City was doing in regard to this - I received the following response from the City's Manager of Legislative Services/Chief Election Officer:
We did not require any changes to our election bylaw so that section does not apply. If Council was interested in making any changes then we’d have to do an amending bylaw before the deadline referred to in Sec 39 of the LGA.
Which raises a couple of questions:
1) Who is "we"? At this point - I've assumed that she is referring to City Staff/Council
2) If Council was not informed, then why didn't Mayor Cook bring this up with the CAO to be brought forward as a discussion item as it was in June of 2008 with the Council of the day who then proceeded to adopt General Election Bylaw #2072, 2008 (same bylaw that will be used for the 2011 Civic Election). How can individual Council members provide input, if they apparently don't know about the topic??
2) Media Comments by Alan Madrigga:
In releasing the 2nd Quarter Economic Indicators Report (see here)and in a "WTF!!" moment - Alan Madrigga (Manager of Economic Development) said the following:
“I THINK THINGS ARE LOOKING OKAY FOR NOW AND THAT’S A GOOD THING IN THIS DAY AND AGE OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND SO ON. I THINK WILLIAMS LAKE IS DOING JUST FINE RIGHT NOW.”
Really - things are fine, huh?? - wanna explain that to the 100+ workers at Tolko - Lakeview Division who are off work for "at least" 1 week, due to bad weather in the bush to bring logs in. It's sad to see WL City Hall (Mr. Madrigga likely speaks for majority of WL Council as well) have the "rose-coloured glasses" when it comes to the state of the local economy and shows how out of touch WL Council is with the general public who is looking forward to rendering its' judgement on whether or not people like (at this point) Mayor Cook and Councillors Tom Barr, Surinder Rathor, Laurie Walters, Sue Zacharias and Geoff Bourdon deserve re-election. Methinks not but we all see on November 19th
1) Election Bylaw Review
Section 39(1) of the Local Government Act (LGA) states that a local government must have its general election bylaw (if the local gov't chooses to make an amendment to its existing general election bylaw or adopt a new general election bylaw) in place 8 weeks before the start of the nomination period. The date to have done this was August 8th. When I inquired what the City was doing in regard to this - I received the following response from the City's Manager of Legislative Services/Chief Election Officer:
We did not require any changes to our election bylaw so that section does not apply. If Council was interested in making any changes then we’d have to do an amending bylaw before the deadline referred to in Sec 39 of the LGA.
Which raises a couple of questions:
1) Who is "we"? At this point - I've assumed that she is referring to City Staff/Council
2) If Council was not informed, then why didn't Mayor Cook bring this up with the CAO to be brought forward as a discussion item as it was in June of 2008 with the Council of the day who then proceeded to adopt General Election Bylaw #2072, 2008 (same bylaw that will be used for the 2011 Civic Election). How can individual Council members provide input, if they apparently don't know about the topic??
2) Media Comments by Alan Madrigga:
In releasing the 2nd Quarter Economic Indicators Report (see here)and in a "WTF!!" moment - Alan Madrigga (Manager of Economic Development) said the following:
“I THINK THINGS ARE LOOKING OKAY FOR NOW AND THAT’S A GOOD THING IN THIS DAY AND AGE OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND SO ON. I THINK WILLIAMS LAKE IS DOING JUST FINE RIGHT NOW.”
Really - things are fine, huh?? - wanna explain that to the 100+ workers at Tolko - Lakeview Division who are off work for "at least" 1 week, due to bad weather in the bush to bring logs in. It's sad to see WL City Hall (Mr. Madrigga likely speaks for majority of WL Council as well) have the "rose-coloured glasses" when it comes to the state of the local economy and shows how out of touch WL Council is with the general public who is looking forward to rendering its' judgement on whether or not people like (at this point) Mayor Cook and Councillors Tom Barr, Surinder Rathor, Laurie Walters, Sue Zacharias and Geoff Bourdon deserve re-election. Methinks not but we all see on November 19th
Friday, July 29, 2011
1st Six Months Comparison for Travel Budgets for 2010 vs 2011 (City of WL)
Again, as a public service, let's look at where Williams Lake Mayor/Councillors were, with their travel budgets, for the first six months in 2010 vs 2011:
Jan 1st - June 30th 2010:
Mayor Cook - spent $5,467 of $10,600
Councillor Barr - spent $1,568 of $6,360
Councillor Bourdon - spent $457 of $5,560
Councillor Hebert (nee Montoya) - had a credit of $460 of her $5,560 budget
Councillor Rathor - $699 of $5,560
Councillor Walters - $663 of $5,560
Councillor Zacharias - spent none of her $5,560 budget
Total Spent to Date (Jan 1st - June 30th, 2010) - $8,204 of $44,760
Jan 1st - June 30th, 2011:
Mayor Cook spent $3,269 of $10,600
Councillor Barr spent $1,403 of $5,560
Councillor Bourdon spent $351 of $5,560
Councillor Rathor spent $3,228 of $5,560
Councillor Walters spent $0 of her $5,560 budget
Councillor Zacharias spent $0 of her $5,560 budget
Total Spent to Date (Jan 1st - June 30th, 2011) - $8,251 of $43,960
Jan 1st - June 30th 2010:
Mayor Cook - spent $5,467 of $10,600
Councillor Barr - spent $1,568 of $6,360
Councillor Bourdon - spent $457 of $5,560
Councillor Hebert (nee Montoya) - had a credit of $460 of her $5,560 budget
Councillor Rathor - $699 of $5,560
Councillor Walters - $663 of $5,560
Councillor Zacharias - spent none of her $5,560 budget
Total Spent to Date (Jan 1st - June 30th, 2010) - $8,204 of $44,760
Jan 1st - June 30th, 2011:
Mayor Cook spent $3,269 of $10,600
Councillor Barr spent $1,403 of $5,560
Councillor Bourdon spent $351 of $5,560
Councillor Rathor spent $3,228 of $5,560
Councillor Walters spent $0 of her $5,560 budget
Councillor Zacharias spent $0 of her $5,560 budget
Total Spent to Date (Jan 1st - June 30th, 2011) - $8,251 of $43,960
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
2nd Quarter City of WL Report released
On Tuesday, July 19th - WL Council, in a Special Committee of the Whole meeting, dealt with two items:
1) 2nd Quarter Report (covers period of April 1st - June 30th) - see here
2) 2011 Interim Financial Report to end of June 2011 - see here
I'll be doing an in-depth review for Item #2 later today as it relates to the 2009, 2010 and to the end of June 2011 City of WL Budgets, for comparison sakes
On Item #1:
Several Items of Note:
1) City of WL's new website scheduled to launch August 1st which at that time, the social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc) are also scheduled to go online as well, as per adopted Social Media Policy from earlier this year
2) On City Council Individual Budgets (again as of June 30th):
Mayor Cook - $3,269 of $10,600 or 31% of her total 2011 budget
Councillor Rathor - $3,228 of $5,560 or 58% of his total 2011 budget
Councillor Barr - $1,403 of $5,560 or 25% of his total 2011 budget
Councillor Bourdon - $351 of $5,560 or 6% of his total 2011 budget
Councillors Walters and Zacharias - $0 of $5,560 or 0% of their 2011 budget
3) District Heating System for Downtown Core - Research continues and "Expression of Interest" projected to take place by Quarter 3 (July 1st - September 30th)
4) Infrastructure Design for Woodland Dr Water/Sewer - scheduled for Quarter 4 (October 1st - December 31st), but is dependent on federal grant arriving to help defray costs for this project
5) Airport Service Delivery Review completed through Quarter 2 (April 1st - June 30th)
1) 2nd Quarter Report (covers period of April 1st - June 30th) - see here
2) 2011 Interim Financial Report to end of June 2011 - see here
I'll be doing an in-depth review for Item #2 later today as it relates to the 2009, 2010 and to the end of June 2011 City of WL Budgets, for comparison sakes
On Item #1:
Several Items of Note:
1) City of WL's new website scheduled to launch August 1st which at that time, the social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, etc) are also scheduled to go online as well, as per adopted Social Media Policy from earlier this year
2) On City Council Individual Budgets (again as of June 30th):
Mayor Cook - $3,269 of $10,600 or 31% of her total 2011 budget
Councillor Rathor - $3,228 of $5,560 or 58% of his total 2011 budget
Councillor Barr - $1,403 of $5,560 or 25% of his total 2011 budget
Councillor Bourdon - $351 of $5,560 or 6% of his total 2011 budget
Councillors Walters and Zacharias - $0 of $5,560 or 0% of their 2011 budget
3) District Heating System for Downtown Core - Research continues and "Expression of Interest" projected to take place by Quarter 3 (July 1st - September 30th)
4) Infrastructure Design for Woodland Dr Water/Sewer - scheduled for Quarter 4 (October 1st - December 31st), but is dependent on federal grant arriving to help defray costs for this project
5) Airport Service Delivery Review completed through Quarter 2 (April 1st - June 30th)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Dangerous Weapon Bylaw and Impact on Business
On July 12th at a WL Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting - Council considered a report from the City of WL's CAO on the possibility of a "Dangerous Weapons" Bylaw. See that report here.
This recommendation to proceed investigating adopting a Dangerous Weapons Bylaw in the City of Williams Lake was approved at the July 19th WL Council meeting. Both Councillor Barr and Rathor made mention of a video presented to them, on July 19th, at the July 12th COW meeting, except there is no reference to that presentation in the July 12th COW Minutes, which you can read here
Since then - several individuals I have ran into have stated that businesses that would be impacted by a Dangerous Weapons Bylaw are not thrilled with how this was proceeded with. One question I have already is the effectiveness of passing a dangerous weapon bylaw to regulate the sale of machetes and bear spray when someone can just drive somewhere else to get these weapons
Also - there is no direct evidence to suggest that either Mayor Cook, the local RCMP or City Staff approached businesses that might be impacted by this bylaw and get their input other than the CAO saying in his report to WL Council, at the July 12th COW Meeting:
It is recognized that some retailers have taken it upon themselves to stop selling some of these items or at least limiting access to these items and/or using discretion in who they sell them to.
It is truly sad and disappointing that Mayor Cook (who ran on Crime in the last civic election) or even Councillor Tom Barr, as head of Council's General Governance Committee, where Crime issues are considered by this Committee, did not try to either intervene, by getting business input, either before July 12th or even make an invitation to any business that would be affected by the adoption of a Dangerous Weapon Bylaw to make a presentation to the July 12th COW meeting before Williams Lake Council made a decision to proceed or not on a Dangerous Weapon Bylaw and tells of a bigger problem with this Council that they don't understand process and how it relates to good government for the people of Williams Lake, whether it's the Dangerous Weapons Bylaw, the upcoming amendments to the Zoning Bylaw to regulate shipping containers, regulate parking on boulevards, or even the False Alarm Bylaw
SBF
This recommendation to proceed investigating adopting a Dangerous Weapons Bylaw in the City of Williams Lake was approved at the July 19th WL Council meeting. Both Councillor Barr and Rathor made mention of a video presented to them, on July 19th, at the July 12th COW meeting, except there is no reference to that presentation in the July 12th COW Minutes, which you can read here
Since then - several individuals I have ran into have stated that businesses that would be impacted by a Dangerous Weapons Bylaw are not thrilled with how this was proceeded with. One question I have already is the effectiveness of passing a dangerous weapon bylaw to regulate the sale of machetes and bear spray when someone can just drive somewhere else to get these weapons
Also - there is no direct evidence to suggest that either Mayor Cook, the local RCMP or City Staff approached businesses that might be impacted by this bylaw and get their input other than the CAO saying in his report to WL Council, at the July 12th COW Meeting:
It is recognized that some retailers have taken it upon themselves to stop selling some of these items or at least limiting access to these items and/or using discretion in who they sell them to.
It is truly sad and disappointing that Mayor Cook (who ran on Crime in the last civic election) or even Councillor Tom Barr, as head of Council's General Governance Committee, where Crime issues are considered by this Committee, did not try to either intervene, by getting business input, either before July 12th or even make an invitation to any business that would be affected by the adoption of a Dangerous Weapon Bylaw to make a presentation to the July 12th COW meeting before Williams Lake Council made a decision to proceed or not on a Dangerous Weapon Bylaw and tells of a bigger problem with this Council that they don't understand process and how it relates to good government for the people of Williams Lake, whether it's the Dangerous Weapons Bylaw, the upcoming amendments to the Zoning Bylaw to regulate shipping containers, regulate parking on boulevards, or even the False Alarm Bylaw
SBF
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