WL Council Highlights - October 16th

Public Hearing at 6:30pm :

Bylaws for WL Seniors Village & Pioneer Family Land Partnership were considered

1 person spoke in favour of rezoning & OCP amendment bylaws for WL Seniors' Village and 1 person spoke about Rezoning & OCP Amendment bylaws for Pioneer Family Land Partnership re: Traffic Flow on Highway 20 & South Lakeside Drive and Infrastructure concerns

All bylaws that were before the Public Hearing were accordingly referred back to the Council Meeting later on for consideration of 3rd Reading.

Meeting adjourned at 7:07pm

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Council Meeting - 7:30pm

Delegates:

1) WL RCMP Detachment Commander, Staff-Sgt. Grant Martin, discussed Crime Stats from Jan.1 - Oct. 15

2) Kevin Brown presented overview for Barkerville Circle Tour. His report was referred to Council's Committee of the Whole for further consideration

3) Councillor Mead gave an overview of his trip to China with Mayor Nelson. His Council report was referred to the Economic Development Portfolio for further consideration

Business:

1) Bylaw #'s: 2007, 2021 (Pioneer) and 2032, 2034 (WL Seniors' Village) were all given 3rd Reading. Bylaws #'s 2032, 2034 were then adopted. Bylaws 2007 and 2021 were referred to the Ministry of Transportation for their approval prior to adoption

2) October 2007 has been proclaimed as Foster Family Month, Community Living Month and Autism Awareness Month

3) Council approved the tender for the purchase of four new GMC ¾ ton pick‐up trucks at a cost of $122,223 to Cariboo GM.

4) In September, Mayor Nelson and CAO Alberto DeFeo had the opportunity to meet with Chief Willy Alphonse and Band Councillor Heather McKenzie to discuss a number of ways to further common interests between the City and WL Indian Band. In last evening’s Council meeting, staff was directed to initiate collaboration with the Williams Lake Indian Band to address overlapping land use issues as well as water and sewer needs.

5) Council has directed Staff to prepare expressions of interest for several projects to the Federal Government Mountain Pine Beetle Community Economic Diversification Initiative. The projects include:
a) Industrial Rail Spur
b) Highway 20 Corridor Project
c) Event Centre,
d) North End Grey Water System
e) Community Forest Business Plan
f) Cariboo Economic Development Capacity
g) Stampede Park Upgrade.

CRD Board Meeting Highlights - October 12th

Cariboo-Chilcotin Hospital District Board:

Delegates: None

Business:

1) Various press releases were received from Interior Health and Northern Health

2) The CCRHD resolved to grant $140,000.00 towards the pallitive care project being run by the Quesnel & District Pallative Care Association furnishing, fixtures and finishing of the palliative care unit in Quesnel
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CRD Board of Directors' Meeting:

Delegates:

1) Bob Simpson (Cariboo-North MLA) and Charlie Wyse (Cariboo-South MLA) appeared before the Board to discuss various matters including TILMA, the Electoral Boundary Commission Report

Business:

1) Various Planning Bylaws were granted 1st and 2nd Readings and now they will be referred to the various Electoral Area APC's and Public Hearings for further consideration prior to the Board's consideration of 3rd Reading of these bylaws

2) Hennigar/Arnoldus - The Board approved a deferral of 30 days on this application, upon the recommendation of Director Ted Armstong (Area 'A' Director)

3) The Board declared November 18th to 25th, 2007 Restorative Justice Week in the Cariboo Regional District

4) The Board also declared October 15th to October 21st, 2007 Waste Reduction week in the Cariboo Regional District

5) The CRD's Library Report for 2006 was received. A copy of this report can be found at http://www.cln.bc.ca/

6) The Board resolved to pursue various funding opportunities for the Phase II project at CNC (College of New Calendonia). The money being requested is $1.2 Million

WL Council Meeting - October 2nd, 2007

Delegations:

1) Geoff Wagner, on behalf on both EPCOR and the United Way made award and monetary presentations to the local Wresting Club, individual youth and the WL Social Planning Council for various initiatives.

2) The local Conservation Council made a presentation to Council requesting the Waterwise program be funded on a "fee-for-service" basis. Council resolved to refer the issue to the 2008 Budget Process
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Business:

1) Stop signs on Soda Creek Road /Frizzi Road will be switched to "Yield" signs while a more permanent solution can be found to the traffic issue for those who want to cross the rail line from Soda Creek Road onto Frizzi Road.

2) Several Revitalization Tax Exemption applications were approved by Council. These agreements see the Municipal portion of their tax bill deferred provided that renovations are completed in a section of the downtown area that was designated by Council, earlier this year by bylaw. A reminder: the deadline to apply for this program is October 31st, 2007.

3) A letter was received from the Assitant Deputy Attorney-General regarding Council's open letter in the form of a full-page ad. The letter, in short, described the actions that the Province has taken to date and how Council can address their issues with the appropriate Federal Cabinet Minister. Mayor Nelson suggested that this letter was "fluff". Councillors Mead/Rathor along with Mayor Nelson will phone Attorney-General Wally Oppal to discuss their concerns with this letter

4) Several UBCM Awards were presented during Council's meeting.

*** A Reminder - October 16th, 2007 in Council Chambers, Public Hearings for WL Seniors' Village expansion and Pioneer Family Land Partnership re: Wal-Mart type development will start at 6:30pm. If you want to state your opposition/support of these development proposals, then please come out and do so. I'm not able to do so myself, as I'm Deputy Chair of the Advisory Planning Commission and since I spoke to these applicants at the APC level, I'm barred by bylaw to speak to these applications, at the Public Hearing stage ***

Steve's Political Rant #2

From the "bad news" department:

1) Carole James and the BC NDP have published information about complaints re: Seniors' Care at facilities in Victoria/Williams Lake, dating back to 2002 and going forward as far as 2005. These facilities are owned by Retirement Concepts. I personally got a tour of the Williams Lake facility prior to its' opening, while I was a member of Williams Lake's Health Advisory Committee. I'm also aware of a complaint that came out of Williams Lake Seniors' Village in 2004 and while I can't discuss the particulars of the complaint due to the fact it was discussed at an In-Camera meeting of the Health Advisory Committee, I can absolutely say that the Williams Lake Seniors' Village is well run/managed as of late. I understand that this isn't necessarily the case at Retirement Concepts' Victoria facility. I'm sure that there will also be complaints on how one is treated at a health care facility, be it a hospital or even a Seniors' Care facility. I think the process is important here: the complaint needs to be investigated in a neutral-based manner by the local Health Authority Staff and if the complaint is legitimate, then corrective action is taken to resolve the complaint. Simple, really. No politics involved. Figure out the problem then solve it, working together with Health Authority Staff, family members and on-site staff. So, the NDP needs to understand that rehashing old complaints from 2003-2005 and proclaiming it as a "pattern of ignored complaints" by a "uncaring" government is a little far fetched, given that there hasn't been any complaints about seniors care in Williams Lake, in any event, for the last year. I understand that this isn't the case at Retirement Concepts facility in Victoria and they will have to solve the problems at that facility there. When the NDP ran publicly funded and staffed senior care facilities, even those facilities were the subject of complaints. And just as life isn't perfect, taking care of seniors', given their medical state, can be challenging at times.

2) In the October 3rd, 2007 edition of the Cariboo Observer (local Williams Lake newspaper)
Carole James wrote an letter to the editor proclaiming "there is widespread agreement that the time is right for a minimum wage increase, over 30 municipal councils' have passed resolutions calling on the Province to increase the minimum wage to $10.00/hour".

While wages in Metro Vancouver have proved challenging to those living there, increasing the minimum wage won't help to solve the issue around those who struggle to pay the bills. But instead, we need to focus on training those in minimum wage jobs and upgrade their skills so they can provide a better life for themselves and their families. Also, 30 municipal councils out of 150 municipal councils Province-wide who support an increase to the minimum wage is not, in my view, "wide spread". In fact, the percentage of municipal councils who support a call for an increase to the minimum wage is actually 20%. I would suggest those municipal councils' who want to see an increase in the minimum wage are in the minority.


In the "good news" department:

Act Now BC Minister of State Gordon Hogg will be in Williams Lake on Friday to promote the Act Now BC Program. Then on Saturday, Premier Campbell along with Ministers Pat Bell (Minister of Agriculture & Lands), Shirley Bond (Minister of Education/Deputy Premier
Claude Richmond (Minister of Income Assistance) along with John Rustad (Northern MLA's Caucus Chair and MLA for Prince George-Omenica) will all be attending a BC Liberal Party's Regional Conference for all 3 Prince George ridings', along with both Cariboo ridings, the 2 Kamloops ridings and Yale-Lillioet in Williams Lake. Topics for discussion include Health Care, Forestry and Transportation issues in these ridings. As well, Premier Campbell will give a speech to the party faithful present. I will discuss the proceedings of this conference in a future post. I'm very much looking forward to this weekend. There is a chance that Kevin Krueger (Minister of State - Mining) will attend this conference, but is subject to his calendar being open for this event this Saturday.

- SBF

Steve's Political Rant

Well, this has been a busy week in provincial politics... :)

Firstly, news broke out that former BC NDP MLA and Cabinet Minister during the 1990's and currently the Mayor of Golden, Jim Doyle jumped from the BC New Democrats over to the BC Liberals and there is speculation that he'll run in his former riding of Columbia River-Revelstoke in the 2009 Provincial General Election. As those of you remember Jim Doyle, he was hardcore NDP, as hardcore as current NDP MLA Harry Lali. Not the kind of news that Carole James needed.

Secondly, the Union of BC Municipalities Convention was held this past week. Both Carole James, as Leader of the Opposition, and the Hon. Gordon Campbell - Premier, both spoke at the UBCM Convention, which wrapped up on Friday. Carole James gave her speech to UBCM Delegates on Wednesday and the Premier giving his keynote address on Friday. I was disappointed with her speech again, as it had the same kind of political rhetoric as she gave to NCMA Delegates at the NCMA Convention held in May of this year. She told UBCM Delegates that she and her party were fundamentally opposed to the Gateway project as a whole, even though several of her MLA's including Harry Baines (Surrey-Newton), Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam-Burke and the NDP Opposition House Leader) have stated publicly that they support twinning of the Port Mann Bridge, which is part of the Gateway Project. I believe twinning of the Port Mann Bridge is part of a bigger solution which is allows for the free flow of goods and people between Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Watch for Ms. James to take a big hit, politically, for this blunder. Then yesterday, Ms. James was on CKNW's Bill Good Show to "clarify" her comments on the Gateway Project related to the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge. Lots of callers clearly weren't buying it. They essentially slammed her for not supporting the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge. Twinning this bridge is essential if residents from Surrey, Langley want to use buses from their homes into the Metro Vancouver Region.

The BC NDP even engaged in "fed bashing" because the federal government didn't bring any "new" transit money to the table. Obviously, they haven't learned yet that fed bashing, while it may be popular here, isn't going to help when you lobby federal cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister for making investments in transit in the Metro Vancouver Region. Also, the NDP slammed the Premier's speech at the UBCM Convention for not announcing anything new and along with no new initiatives for Pine Beetle affected communities in BC, which I think is a farce, personally, as I believe you'll see both provincial/federal governments providing even more support for rural communities roll out in short order in addition to the money that both levels have announced so far

All in all - not the best political week for Carole James and the BC NDP. Hopefully, Carole James can hang on as BC NDP Leader until after the 2009 Provincial General Election and perhaps convince other NDP MLA's, former or present, to join the BC Liberals who may be becoming disenfranchised with the BC NDP .

Have a great weekend... :)

WL Council Highlights - September 18th, 2007

Delegations:

1) Gerry Desrochers - TRU Director for WL Campus - he gave Council an overview of ongoing and future activities at TRU's WL Campus including landscaping and future courses in trades and nursing

2) Irene Willsie - Women's Contact Society - requesting Council's support for the "Take Back the Night" event on September 21st, 2007. Council gave its' strong support for this event and encouraged the entire community to come out and lend its' support to this very important event.
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Business:

1) The garbage contact between the City and Central Cariboo Disposal has been extended to April 30th, 2008. This will allow City Staff enough time to put together a comprehensive Request for Proposal which will include expanded recycling with the inclusion of the "Blue Box" program

2) Councillor Rathor expressed his grave concern over the lack of work on re-paving of road shoulders by the Ministry of Transportation. Council agreed to work with the Ministry of Transportation to encourage the benefits of paved road shoulders for cyclists.

3) Council granted permission to the Central Cariboo Economic Development Corporation to use the City's Cowboy Hat Logo for marketing purposes in connection with the TDC.

4) A budget request of $32, 425 for the Museum of the Cariboo-Chilcotin for their operating expenses was approved by Council. This amount will become part of the Central Cariboo Leisure Services Master Budget for 2008.

5) Councilor Ed Mead was given permission by Council to attend a "Building Safer Communities: Gangs, Drugs, and Domestic Violence Issues" conference in Richmond, BC to be held on October 31st and November 1st, 2007.

6) Re-zoning/OCP Proposals for BCR Properties, Elizabeth Hunt, Jim Willson and Ben Peterson all received 3rd Reading. These Re-Zoning proposals are now referred to Ministries of Transportation/Environment for their consent.

7) Pioneer Family Land Partnership proposal on South Lakeside Drive received 2nd Reading. This proposal will be the subject of a Public Hearing on October 16th, 2007. The hearing will likely start at 7:00pm.

A Excellent Newspaper Column by Mike Smyth - Vancouver Province

Yesterday, Micheal Smyth of the Vancouver Province talked about both the Premier and Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan meeting with BC Green Leader Chris Bennett. The Premier takes time to meet with Mr. Bennett on a regular basis and always returns his phone calls. I bet Carole James wishes that she could get such treatment from the Premier. But this is politics - plain and simple. The Greens and the NDP share the same vote base. With the Greens at 15% and the NDP in the low 30%, the Greens are siphoning enough of the left-wing vote to prevent the NDP from receiving a majority of votes to become government in Victoria. Mayor Sam Sullivan is even attempting to get BC Green Leader Chris Bennett to speak at the UBCM Convention next week. Mr. Bennett tried to get the support of the BC New Democrats and its' leader, Ms. James. Her response? - I encourage you to continue your lobbying with mayors, councillors and the UBCM executive, It is these locally elected representatives, rather than provincial politicians, who, as you know, make the decisions with the UBCM agenda. Obviously, she isn't going to help Mr. Bennett with his political ambitions to have Greens in the Legislature in 2009. As for Mayor Sullivan motives, it is true that the Local Government Elections are next year and if Mayor Sullivan wants to stay Mayor for a further 3 years, right through the 2010 Olympics, then COPE (Coalition of Progressive Electors) and Vision Vancouver have to stay divided right through the next civic election. Personally, I don't see COPE and Vision Vancouver working together to defeat the NPA's (Non-Partisan Association) hold at Vancouver City Hall during the 2008 Local Government Elections

Public Consulation Session - OCP Amendment Application - Pioneer Family Land Partnership

Hello all:

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 11th, 2007), Pioneer Family Land Partnership along with the City of Williams Lake will be hosting a Public Consulation Session for Pioneer's Application for an amendment to the City's OCP. The development will be including a Walmart along with other small "big-box" stores. This meeting tomorrow is a requirement in accordance with Section 879 of the Local Government Act.

The meeting is being held at Pioneer Log Homes' Office. The address is 351 Hodgson Road, up from Mainland Roofing. I personally will be in attendance. I would strongly encourage all of those who read my blog to be in attendance and let the proponents know how you feel on their application.

This application will be before the Advisory Planning Commission of which I'm Vice-Chair on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 12:00 noon. Although members of the public can attend, they are not permitted to speak to this application, although representatives of Pioneer Family Land Partnership may speak before the APC, if they so wish. During this meeting, the APC will be considering this application and a reference to City Council for a recommendation for Second Reading of Pioneer's re-zoning and OCP Amendment applications.

Carole James and the Electoral Boundary Commission

Yesterday, I recieved a newsletter from the NDP where she wants to know where the Premier (Hon. Gordon Campbell) is on the Preliminary Report of the Electoral Boundary Commission. She suggested that because the BC Liberal Party chose not to make a presentation to the Electoral Boundary Commission, while her party made a presentation to the Electoral Boundary Commission during its' 1st Round of Public Hearings that it is another example of the Campbell government abandoning Rural BC. Then she went on to cite all of the things that the Campbell government did during its' 1st Term (2001-2005) including closing of schools and imposing a police tax on small communities to pay for Rural RCMP services.

While I could go on all the things the NDP did to Rural BC during the 90's, I will say that I'm disappointed that the NDP chose to get politically involved in, what is generally a apolitical process. In fact, during the last review of the BC Electoral Distict Map for the Legislature, the NDP Cabinet of the day used its' power to protect ridings' held by Cabinet Ministers like the riding of Kamloops held by then NDP Minister Cathy McGregor. Her riding was scheduled to be divided up. So, when it comes to review mechanisms like the Electoral Boundary Commission, we should allow them to do their work without interference from political bodies, like the BC-NDP Party or the BC Liberal Party and allow individual BC'ers to state directly to the Electoral Boundary Commission on how they feel on the proposed new electoral district map and allow the process to unfold as it will.

My Response to WL CAO's Blog Post called "City Admin 101: An Introduction

Yesterday, Alberto DeFeo (City of WL's CAO) posted the following at his blog (http://wlcao.blogspot.com/):

Many times, I am asked the question 'what do you do at City Hall?'. I have to admit there is no easy answer. I also realize that our school system does not provide sufficient education or training to equip our children with fundamental knowledge about political relations and government administration, which, I think, it is critical to their future lives. I also noticed that people become interested in City Hall only if it affects them negatively. Yet, there is so much that is decided and done by both City politicians and City staff that has a positive impact in the community that we give it for granted and people seem to not know or to have the wrong information. I guess it goes with the territory. It's a bit like the newspapers, the negative sells the positive doesn't. This is a societal distortion that we need to correct and as civic leaders, we at City Hall are trying our best to change it here in Williams Lake. Indeed, for the sake of our community's good future, we need to abandon some negative stereotypes and embrace positive change. I'll give you an example.For instance, did you know that the City has been working very hard in the last three years to advance a plan to conserve our water? Why do we need such a thing? Well, mostly because we can't survive more than a few days (probably three or four) without water, which is a precious commodity second only to air. Also, because we want our children and all future generations to live better and not worse, including having access to the best water in the world. Finally, because water is a gift and we should respect it. Today, the residents and taxpayers are enjoying cheap acces to water (parcel water tax is only $40 a year in WL) but do they know that in order to repair and maintain our water systems and to conserve water for an acceptable length of time in the future we need more than that? If we focus on the immediate economic effect of the plan on our family and personal budgets without thinking of the long-term impact and benefits, then the usual reaction would be 'These Politicians: they always find a way to grab some more of our money.' But if we focus on the results and benefits of the plan, then our reaction may be 'I am willing to make an investment in our water and I will support our City to implement our plan.' I did not use the words City Plan, but 'our plan'. Because it is our plan after all and seeing it that way makes a world of difference. Now, I will certainly discuss the City's Water Conservation Plan another time but the point is, residents are not completely informed and it is mainly our fault (the City's), and so they tend to see what is communicated to them. And, if it is negative, then their level of trust in their City government just won't be very high.So, the City Page, this blog and other pieces of information that the City provides are very important to make the community aware and, I hope, to make people interested in their government and to help them shake off their apathy and negativity towards City government.I guess this can be a bit of an introduction to a much wider topic. So, next time, I will explain a little bit more how the City operates because, from what I hear, there is some sort of mystery on what we do. But, again, it really isn't a mystery, is it? We just need to explain. So enjoy your week-end and I hope you'll take the time to read this blog coming next week.

My response to the above is:

I agree with most of the above except with the fact that I feel that people, particularly adults, must become more empowered to learning about issues in their City. Too often, it is too easy to hear rumours about what City Council / City Staff are doing and often putting "a rumour here" and a "rumour there" together and believing it as the Gospel Truth, which by then City Staff/Council have to spend massive amounts of time putting out the "real truth" out there on any given issue and by which time, people emotions come into play and get worked up without knowing all of the answers. I also agree the time has come perhaps to expand the curriculum that schools teach on government by teaching how the federal/provincial and local government (Municipal/County/Regional District) function and how each level of government impacts an individual's life. By teaching this to the young ones, I believe that we will have a more empowered society that believes that government actually does good work. Also, somehow all levels of government must engage society as to the work that each level does and why.

New Blog - CAO, City of Williams Lake

This morning in today's (September 6th, 2007) WL Tribune, it was announced that a blog was started by Alberto DeFeo, PhD (Law), Chief Administrative Officer - City of Williams Lake. This blog will communicate with residents' on activities of the City. I strongly encourage those who read this blog to read his blog at http://wlcao.blogspot.com, however anonymous comments can not be left. Communication efforts of late by the City seem to mirror those by the City of Quesnel although I suspect that the City of Quesnel, may sooner or later, attempt to start a blog by their City Manager, Charles Hamilton.

WL Council Meeting - August 28th, 2007

Due to Mayor Nelson and Councillors Mead, O'Neill and French being away. The August 28th Public Hearings and Regular Council Meeting was cancelled. The Public Hearings for applications from Ben Peterson and BC Rail Properties will be held on September 18th, 2007 at 7:00pm with the Regular Meeting of City Council to follow at 7:30pm

WL Council Highlights - August 14th, 2007

Delegations: None

Business:

1) Council members present along with the City's CAO (Alberto De Feo) had their picture taken in front of a sign "Turn It Off". As of today, the City of Williams Lake is 1st place in the entire province during this challenge. The winner will receive a energy savings makeover for one of the City's buildings

2) Council approved $30,000 to be spent sealing cracks for the road going up to the WL Regional Airport. This program will extend the life of the road beyond 2010. The project should be completed by the end of August. This program was recommended by the City's Director of Municipal Services

3) Rezoning Proposals from Elizabeth Hunt and 717747 BC Ltd. received 2nd Reading. Both proposals shall be put to Public Hearings on September 18th, 2007

4) The Airfield Lighting Control System Upgrade/Cable Replacement was awarded to Houle Electric Ltd. in the amount of $117,041.33

5) The Revitalization Tax Exemption Program is designed to encourage rental property owners to improve and enhance their properties and to encourage the construction of mixed commercial residential properties. The wording in the bylaw did not include the original intent of Council and amendments were made. The changes included the addition of multifamily residential rental properties and mixed commercial‐residential uses. Staff also identified that for minor projects, a quote from a professional contractor would suffice as part of the application process. Council will also have the discretion of evaluate all applications on an individual basis and deny any applications.

6) A Reminder - all Grants-In-Aid must be in to City Hall no later then September 28th, 2007 so Staff have time to consider them and make recommendations to Council + Central Cariboo Joint Committee

Release of Interim Report of the BC Electoral Boundary Commission

Hello all:

The Interim Report of the British Columbia Electoral Boundary Commission has now been publicly released. As expected, several ridings are proposed to be eliminated in the North and the Kootenays, while several ridings are proposed to be added in the highest growth areas in BC which are the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland. The number of MLA's will go up from 79 to 81.

For those of us in the Cariboo-Chilcotin, Cariboo-North and South have been eliminated. All of Cariboo-North + portion of Cariboo-South in Williams Lake will be redistributed to form a new electoral riding called Cariboo-Chilcotin. The riding will cover all of the Chilcotin in the west, up north to Hixon, east towards Wells, Bowron Lakes, Horsefly and as far south as Williams Lake (the entire City!!!!). Points south from 150 Mile House, down through 100 Mile House, Clinton, Cache Creek and into the Fraser Canyon and points in between will be called Cariboo-Fraser.

I certainly like what is being proposed so far by the Electoral Boundary Commission

Next Steps:

1) The Electoral Boundary Commission must now put their Interim Report to a 2nd Round of Public Hearings with a deadline of February 15th, 2008 to submit their Final Report to the Speaker (Hon. Bill Barisoff).

2) After Feb 15th of next year, the House shall consider the necessary legislation to implement the Final Report in the Spring Sitting of the 2008 Legislative Session in order to have the new electoral boundaries in place for the May 2009 Provincial General Election

I would suggest those of you who do not like the new electoral districts, please get out and tell the Electoral Boundary Commission. It is your comments that the EBC takes into consideration while drafting their Final Report

1st Report of the Electoral Boundary Commission

This is a friendly reminder that next Wednesday (August 15th, 2007), the 1st Report of the Electoral Boundary Commission will be released publicly, after it has been delivered to the Speaker of the House (Hon. Bill Barisoff). It will be released publicly at or around 2:00pm PST

Highlights from WL Council - July 24th, 2007 Meeting

Delegations - None

Business:

1) Tyler Boucher's application for 12 new single family homes, 30-40 new townhouses just up from the Laughing Loon, in the Hamel Subdivision, received no delegations, either for or against, during the Public Hearing stage and then the Zoning Amendment Bylaw received its' 3rd Reading. Councillor Rathor raised a concern about an increase of traffic along South Broadway Avenue by the new Tourism Discovery Centre and the Laughing Loon area. Director of Development Services, Geoff Goodall, stated that the recently upgraded South Broadway Avenue should be able to handle any potential increase in traffic in the area.

2) City Hall will participate in the 2007 ArtWalk at a cost of $300. Art will be displayed in the Main Lobby Area at City Hall.

3) Councillor Jon Wolbers won the 1st Annual Council Planter Contest. He made his victory speech at this meeting and threw down the gauntlet to his Councillors' and the Mayor for next year's competition.

4) Council granted permission to Signal Point Gaming to establish a Horse Racing Teletheatre at the facility.

5) The application by Lui/Fei failed to received 3rd Reading support by Council. Several concerns during the Public Hearing included; lack of maintenance and steep grades on the property in question. Council concluded that granting 3rd Reading to the Zoning Amendment Bylaw would not be in order at this time and accordingly, the application was defeated at 3rd Reading Stage unanimously

Balanced Budgets - BC Liberals vs the BC NDP

Hello all - :)

As everyone knows, the Public Accounts of the Province for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2007 were just released by the Hon. Carole Taylor - BC Minister of Finance and show a $4.1 Billion surplus. No surprise though of the response by the NDP - they condemned the BC Liberals for not responding to issues like housing, child care, child poverty while sitting on a $4.1 Billion Surplus. I say - what a bunch of horse garbage coming from the NDP.

The NDP is the same party who said in '96 that their budget prior to the '96 Election was balanced and ran partly on this during the '96 Election and after the election, it was "discovered" that the budget was not balanced, but actually had a deficit. Hence part of the reason why in 2001, the BC Liberals were elected. Yes, child poverty and other social issues are important to the people of this province. But you shouldn't spend every dollar that you make. You should, and the Finance Minister has rightly done, have a "rainy" day account for "what-ifs". The Finance Minister has not only balanced this year's Budget and made investments in social issues, like Child Care, Child Poverty, Social Housing, etc. We, as a province, have even started to pay down the provincial debt in the last couple of budgets released/passed by the BC Liberals. All of these investments along with paying down the provincial debt will improve the quality of life for all British Columbians.

I also look forward in 2009 to both a three time re-elected BC Liberal majority government along with a BC Liberal MLA in Cariboo-North/South

WL Council Meeting Highlights - June 26th, 2007

Delegation:

1) Billy Barker - Mr. Barker came down from Quesnel to invite members of WL Council to attend the Billy Barker Days in Quesnel in mid-July. Several members of Council including Mayor Nelson indicated their intention to participate in Billy Barker Days in mid-July in Quesnel

Business:

1) Council has agreed to form a Sustainability Committee jointly with the Cariboo Regional District. Terms of Reference will be formulated after consultation with local First Nations and the Fraser Basin Council

2) A Forum with local First Nations will be held in Fall of 2007. Partial funding to come from UBCM. Past forums have proven successful to focus on joint ventures or items of mutual concern

3) Council will be submitted a resolution on Detox Centres in BC to the UBCM Convention being held in Vancouver later this year. The Central Cariboo Joint Committee agreed at their last meeting that there is a direct link between substance abuse and criminal activity in the City.

4) Council will look at forming a Twin City Agreement with Fusong, China. The Mayor, or his delegate and a local City Staff person will fly to Fusong, China later this year to ink the agreement. The City will pay for the flights there and back and a 1 night stay in Beijing and all other costs to be provided for by the City of Fusong.

5) Council agreed to submit the Statement of Financial Information or SOFI to the Ministry of Community Services. SOFI details such items as the Audited Financial Statement of the City for the period ending December 31st, 2006. It also details how much each Councillor and the Mayor were paid along with the pay of senior Staff at City Hall.

6) Council received an application for more housing just east of the Hamel subdivision. This application received 1st reading and was referred to the Planning Commission for comment/recommendation. Also, rezoning bylaws for applications by Liu/Fei and Tyler Boucher were given 2nd reading and Public Hearings for both will be held on July 24th, 2007 in Council Chambers at 7:00pm

7) Council agreed to fund a $2,500 fund program to help receive tips from the public for vandalism to the City's sprinkler heads

8) Council adopted the Tax Revitalization Bylaw which will allow for municipal tax deferrals for anyone doing a renovation project inside the zone. Acting Mayor (Councillor) Ed Mead commented that 2 applications were waiting in the wings pending adoption of this bylaw

9) Council gave approval to the 2007 Annual Report. No comments were received by members of the public

Level of Debate during Meetings

I would like to discuss a subject that is relevant for all politicians, myself included, which is debate during meetings of either:

1) Council/Regional District Board Meeting(s)
2) Joint Committee or Regular Committee/Commission Meeting(s)
3) Legislative Assembly or a Committee of the Legislative Assembly Meeting(s)
4) House of Commons/Senate or a Committee thereof Meeting(s)

During the June 12, 2007 meeting of the North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee Meeting, the matter of the "Gary Young" report which discusses in detail on how the CRD / City of Quesnel can address the issues of governance, financing of the North Cariboo Sub-Regional Recreation Budget was discussed

During the debate on this report, Director Mary Glassford (CRD Director for Electoral Area "I")
suggested that the City of Quesnel Council was "blackmailing/extorting" the CRD because of the on-going North Cariboo Sub-Regional Recreation Service Review

Now, while I understand we all say things, in the heat of the moment from time to time, we should never suggest that one governing body is blackmailing/extorting another body because of on-going actions of the one governing body. That truly lowers the decorum of the debate on how to solve issues, like the Recreation Function in the North Cariboo

Now, it appears she is still going at it as Director Glassford was still making a suggestion, on the radio, that Council in Quesnel was blackmailing the Cariboo Regional District over the North Cariboo Sub-Regional Recreation Service Review. We should remember, unlike MLA's in our Legislative Assembly and MP's in the House of Commons who have freedom of speech in the Legislative Assembly/House of Commons, as the case may be, Mayor/Councillors and Regional District Directors' do not have freedom of speech at their Council / Board meetings and one can be sued for libel for defamation of character. So, all local politicians need to be careful about the language they use when describing the problem at hand and how to solve it.

Steven's Vehicle Pics

Here's my vehicle that I drive for work/business