Friday, April 12, 2013

Quesnel Council Highlights - Apr 8th mtg

Courtesy of the City of Quesnel:

Garbage collection going south

South Hill residents will see a new truck in their neighbourhood later this year. Council approved residential garbage collection to all taxpayers with residential dwellings in South Quesnel, with the exception of all Mobile Home Parks. Council directed staff to communicate with all Mobile Home Parks in Quesnel, the option available to be exempted from City residential garbage collection.

Late last fall, Council received a request from South Hills and Area Neighbourhood Association requesting that the City provide garbage collection to South Quesnel residents. This was the first official request to provide this type of service in South Quesnel. By offering this service, the City hopes to reduce trips to the landfill and in turn, reduce Quesnel’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Editor's Note - more on this story here

Tourism - Civic Pride in the works

Councillor Elliott is the Chair of the new Tourism and Civic Pride Committee which met for the first time on March 14. The Committee is made up of ten members - two elected officials representing both the City and the Cariboo Regional District, one staff person and seven community members offering a wide variety of expertise related to tourism and civic pride.

The Committee’s mandate is to attract visitors in partnership with local and regional organizations, enhance the quality of life of residents by promoting community involvement and make recommendations to Council regarding tourism and civic pride related issues or concerns. Meetings will be held on the second Thursday of every month.

Secondary suites in the City

The topic of secondary suites was on the agenda last night and amendments to the City of Quesnel’s Zoning Bylaw were brought forward for consideration by Council.

Council gave final reading on properties located at 160 and 320 Nickel Ridge Avenue in Carson Subdivision and third reading on the property located at 136 Leonard Street in Johnston Subdivision.

Editor's Note - more on this story here

New Fire Protection Agreement

Council approved a much-needed Fire Protection Agreement with Dunkley Mill at last night’s meeting. Fire Chief Sylvain Gauthier met with the Mill Manager last year to discuss the possibility of having the Quesnel Fire Department provide firefighting capabilities in the event of a major fire on site. With the number of recent fires to various mills over the past few years, Dunkley has been looking at various options to mitigate the loss of property in the event of a major fire emergency. In summary, if the Mill is in need of assistance to combat or deal with a fire emergency it believes is beyond its own capabilities, it may request assistance from the Quesnel Fire Department.

The City may or may not respond to the request from Dunkley if, in the opinion of the City’s Fire Chief (or other person in charge), the City resources are not available because they are being used at a fire or about to be dispatched to a fire. The Quesnel Fire Department shall only respond to structural fires beyond Dunkley’s capabilities with one engine and a maximum of six firefighters.

The only cost that the Quesnel Fire Department will incur will be for the fuel. Dunkley will pay the City an hourly rate for the services provided. The term of the Agreement is five years.

Downtown development

Construction for a new two-story, mixed-use building in the downtown core was approved last night by Council. The new Johnston Meier building will be located at the corner of St. Laurent Avenue and Reid Street. The ground floor will provide office space for Johnston Meier Insurance with a few smaller offices along Reid Street for rent or lease. The second floor with accommodate six apartment-size dwellings.

Important dates

May 2 - 3 - North Central Local Government Assoc. Conf.

Proclamations

May 19 - 25 - National Public Works Week in Quesnel

Future Meetings (all meetings occur in Quesnel Council Chambers - 2nd Floor, 410 Kinchant St)

Next Regular Council Meeting: Monday April 22, 7 p.m.
Next Delegation/Committee of the Whole Meeting: Monday May 13, 7 p.m.
Next North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee Meeting: Tuesday May 28, 5:30 p.m.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't Family Day bite the dust?

Steve Forseth said...

Yes - it was announced on the Rush this afternoon. Ron Campbell, the former Treasurer for the group that organized the annual Family Day event said that politics had a lot to do with it and wouldn't try to organize the event on the amount of money that Quesnel Council set aside for the Family Day event this year which was roughly $2,800 and thanked Councillor Thapar for his 10 years of dedication to the Family Day event.

City Staff suggested that the Winter Carnival event will be moved back to coincide with the BC Family Day weekend