1) Elk Valley Detachment RCMP – Quarterly Report
Corporal Andy Veltmeyer with the Elk Valley Detachment of the RCMP was in attendance to provide an overview of activities in the 4th Quarter of 2008. Cpl. Veltmeyer noted that the detachment was operating with full staff and further, there has been no big increase in crime over the last reporting period.
2) Downtown Visitor Information Centre Partnering Agreement with the Fernie Chamber of Commerce
Council approved the above noted Agreement and authorized the Mayor and Clerk to execute the partnership agreement for the provision of municipal services for the operation of a visitor information center at 362B-2nd Avenue and 491-2nd Avenue from March 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009 for the sum of $30,250.00 plus GST if applicable.
3) Strategic Community Investment Fund Agreement
Council authorized the Director of Financial and Computer Services to sign the Strategic Community Investment Funds Agreement. (SCI). In an effort to stimulate the local economy, encourage growth, create local jobs and to
help offset the effects of the economic downturn the Province is restructuring key local government transfers to provide (SCI Funds) over the next two years. The SCI Funds will temporarily replace the annual payments of the Small Community Grant for the 2009/10 and 2010/11 fiscal years. The City’s preliminary 2009/13 Financial Plan anticipates receiving $500,000 from the Small Community Grant Program into general revenue in each year for the planning period. The SCI Funds Agreement makes the budgeted amounts in 2009 and 2010 available to the City earlier, with the majority of those two years’ revenues being received in 2009.
4) Request from Teck Coal Limited and the District of Sparwood to refund taxes paid to the provincial government from local government revenues.
Council agreed to petition the Provincial Government to refund 2008 taxes paid by Teck Coal Limited in the amount of $51,665 on expansion properties that were agreed to be included in the municipal boundaries of the Districts of Sparwood and Elkford last year.
5) Joint Purchase of Arena Flooring
Council received the February 27, 2009 letter from the District of Sparwood regarding a proposal for a joint purchase of an arena ice cover that would enable our communities to make use of our arenas as multi-purpose facilities during their ‘ice’ seasons. Council referred the letter to staff for a report to come back for council’s consideration.
6) Bylaws:
Bylaw No. 2056 cited as the Leisure Services User Regulation and Fees Bylaw No. 2056 was amended at third reading. If adopted, the Bylaw would bring into effect a 15% increase to the admittance rates at City Facilities. It was noted that the last fee increase was in 2004. The Bylaw also establishes rental rates for the newly acquired Max Turyk School property. The Bylaw will come back to Council for consideration of adoption at the March 23 Regular Meeting.
Bylaw No. 2083 (Whitetail and Slalom Drives) cited as Zoning Bylaw No. 1750, Amendment Bylaw No. 87, 2008, applicant Abugov Kaspar, Bruce Abugov, was amended to remove ‘Tourist Commercial’ use from the list of permitted uses in the proposed CD-3 (Comprehensive Development Three) zoning district and reduce the height of proposed Building 5A from three stories to two stories in an effort to address the height issues and view concerns raised by the residents of Castle Mountain Villas.
Bylaw No. 2083 was read a second time as amended and referred to a Public Hearing.
Bylaw No. 2088, cited as Zoning Bylaw 1750, Amendment Bylaw No. 90, 2009 for 845-4th Street to rezone the property from R3-Medium Density Residential to R1B – Single Detached Plus Residential was given first and second reading and referred to a public hearing.
Bylaw No. 2091 cited as Elk Valley Property Tax Sharing Agreement Authorization Bylaw No. 2066, 2008, Amendment No. 1, 2009 was adopted.
The Bylaw amends the Elk Valley Property Tax Sharing Agreement. The Agreement contemplates the addition and deletion of coal mining properties and the Districts of Elkford and Sparwood have identified Additional Properties for inclusion in their respective boundaries and the Agreement. The Agreement Amendment Bylaw includes those properties therein upon approval of boundary expansions by the Province and introduces a new clause that provisions for “transition properties” and authorizes the repayment of any revenues remitted by the Surveyor of Taxes for taxes collected on transition properties to the Parties to the Agreement to the owner of any such properties if those properties were identified for inclusion in a municipal boundary in the previous year and a boundary extension was not complete by December 31 in that previous year.