[0:03] Mr. Mayor, we're now live.

[0:07] Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to start by acknowledging we're gathered here today

[0:11] on the traditional lands of the Quotsin nation. And with a quorum being present, I'd like

[0:15] to resume our regular council meeting. The first item we have here before us is approval

[0:19] of the consent agenda. We have a recommendation that council approve the consent agenda

[0:23] and recommendations contained therein. So I'd like to move the recommendation.

[0:27] Moved by Councillor Finley, seconded by Councillor Justice.

[0:30] All in favor and oppose, motion carries.

[0:35] We'll now move on to the approval of the meeting agenda.

[0:41] We have a recommendation that the agenda be adopted

[0:43] as circulated, with some like to move the recommendation.

[0:46] Moved by Councillor Finley, seconded by Councillor Calio.

[0:50] I'll call the question, all in favor.

[0:52] Opposed, not opposed, motion carries.

[0:55] We'll now move on to Mayor's report.

[0:56] So

[1:01] last week I attended the 125th anniversary celebration of the Shamanus

[1:06] healthcare auxiliary and offer a few words on behalf of municipality. The

[1:11] auxiliary, the auxiliary for anyone who's not familiar with it was formed on

[1:15] September 25th 1899 when 28 women came together in Shamanus amidst a serious

[1:20] typhoid epidemic to support the creation of a local hospital. Every day

[1:27] Since then this shamanist health car auxiliary volunteers have been serving the people of

[1:31] shamanist and beyond. Initial support from the auxiliary involved practical activities

[1:37] such as sewing bandages, drapes and hospital gowns and from those early days to now the

[1:41] auxiliary is a staple organization in the community operating a hugely successful thrift

[1:46] store and continuously raising funds to support the comfort and care of shamanist residents.

[1:52] I want to acknowledge the work of the organizers and team of volunteers to put together

[1:56] the celebration including Susan Bobye chair of the shamanus healthcare auxiliary committee.

[2:02] As many of you know I recently joined Councillor Estash and the

[2:07] Couch Valley Regional District Director for Couch and Bay Hillary Abbott for a couple tours of

[2:12] our local public transit system with a focus on several key routes that run through North Couch

[2:17] and as well as the inter-regional route between Couch and Animo. These included routes

[2:22] routes number two and three from the Village Green Mall of the Couch and Commons, number

[2:26] four from the Village Green Mall through Duncan to Maple Bay Road, number 34 from

[2:32] Lady Smith to Shamanus, and the number six which covers Crofton and Shamanus

[2:36] before looking back to the Village Green Mall. We were surprised at how

[2:41] many folks were riding the bus whether the nine more on our local routes and

[2:44] the large geographic area covered by each of the trips. We also found the

[2:48] newly implemented UMO fair system,

[2:52] which allows riders to purchase a reloadable card

[2:55] or download an app to be straightforward to use.

[2:57] I want to thank the Couch Valley Regional District staff

[3:00] for organizing this tour

[3:01] and giving us a better understanding of the strengths

[3:03] for existing transit routes, areas for improvement

[3:05] and expected changes as new Couch and District Hospital

[3:08] opens in 2027.

[3:10] We have further trips planned,

[3:12] including myself and Councilor family

[3:13] are going to be taking the route down to Victoria

[3:16] at some point in the near future.

[3:20] From September 16th to September 20th,

[3:23] council attended the Union of BC Municipalities

[3:25] annual convention in Vancouver,

[3:27] which included more than 2,200 municipal mayors,

[3:30] councilors and regional directors from cities

[3:33] and towns across the province.

[3:37] Convention featured panel discussions and workshops

[3:39] of experts on a wide range of topics

[3:41] from housing and healthcare to climate change

[3:43] and wildfire mitigation to public safety and addictions.

[3:46] In addition, the delegates voted on policy resolutions seeking action from the provincial

[3:53] government on various issues, while also hearing speeches from the Premier as well

[3:57] as the leaders of the Conservative Party and the Green Party.

[4:01] We also had an opportunity to meet with several cabinet ministers on major challenges facing

[4:05] our municipality, including mitigating flooding along the Shamanist River, long-term licensing

[4:10] for the wells that supply drinking water to Shamanists, protecting jobs at the

[4:14] Croft and Mill in the Western Forest Products Facilities in Chamanus and Couch in Bay and

[4:19] continue provincial funding for the 9-1-1 Police Dispatch Services.

[4:25] Finally, this Monday I attended the Every Child's Matters March at the Charles Howy

[4:30] Park in Duncan on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

[4:33] It was great to see so many folks out for this day for all Canadians, which is for

[4:37] all Canadians to commemorate and learn more about the history and legacy of the

[4:42] residential school system in our country.

[4:44] I want to thank Audrey George from the Kola Housing Society

[4:47] and the organizing team for all their work

[4:50] and bring folks together for this important day

[4:52] that included dancing, drumming,

[4:53] and hearing directly from residential school survivors

[4:56] about their experiences.

[4:59] And that concludes my mayor's report.

[5:04] We'll now move on to public input.

[5:07] Public input is an opportunity for the public

[5:09] to provide their feedback on matters

[5:10] including the agenda,

[5:11] The maximum number of speakers to be heard during public input is limited to five,

[5:15] the maximum of three minutes allotted to each speaker.

[5:19] I'm going to first start with the sign-in sheet here for any folks who are attending in person.

[5:26] First, we have Mary DeLue, I believe it is.

[5:31] I couldn't invite Miss DeLue up to the podium, state your name and address.

[5:36] Yeah, good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

[5:39] I just heard of this at one o'clock today.

[5:42] So I'll try and speak clearly and not be rushed

[5:46] I'm speaking about the permissive tax exemption by law that's proposed

[5:54] There's 14 items here on your

[5:59] Publication in the newspaper your notice all highlighted you can see that's a lot of items. They're all

[6:07] Religious based various religions

[6:12] It's quite a few Christian, many Christian, one non-denominational, one Jewish, one Sikh,

[6:20] one Buddhist, no Muslim in North Cowichan, places of worship.

[6:26] So I've highlighted them all, including camp Kiwanis, is that how you pronounce it?

[6:34] Which says it's a Christian camp.

[6:37] And then I tallied how many taxes they wouldn't have to pay.

[6:42] I own a lot with a 1,200 square foot house on it here on Coronation Hill.

[6:50] And I know I fill my property taxes or went up a lot this year.

[6:55] And I'm 75, I'm retired, a widow.

[7:00] I'm wondering why all these organizations are exempted.

[7:04] There's a lot of land.

[7:06] I didn't add up the acreage, but Count Qualnis has an awful lot of land, and some of them

[7:12] look like they're around local housing.

[7:15] One meditation place looks like it's just out in the Boone Summer, but they're on acreage.

[7:21] The reason I feel they should be exempted is because religions have resulted in wars,

[7:25] persecutions, genocides, tortures, rape, executions, discrimination, and withdrawal

[7:29] of basic human rights and continue to do so. I call for your attention our history of residential

[7:35] schools and land taken by the Roman Catholic Church with government approval and also the fact that

[7:44] Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon today. It's not a thing in the past, it's a thing that's

[7:50] happening now and I don't feel these organizations should be tax exempt when land is so valuable

[7:58] and we have so many homeless people and we're looking for land to do good things with.

[8:05] That's my shtick. I appreciate your time. I feel very deeply about this. I'm a retired teacher.

[8:13] I spent my life trying to deal with all religions, backgrounds, immigrant children.

[8:21] I was up north for 30 years teaching. Half the children in my class were Indigenous.

[8:27] I don't think we should be pushing different people's points of views and getting rewarded for it.

[8:33] I think we should all learn to work together and taxes should be applied equally by the communities.

[8:41] We're at time. Thank you.

[8:42] Thank you. Bye-bye.

[8:44] Bye-bye.

[8:44] Oh, can I say one more thing? I forgot the most important.

[8:48] We're over time.

[8:48] It's a one sentence. It's a one sentence, please.

[8:51] Just really quickly.

[8:52] Okay, total of $109,950 saved for North Palatine, if you do not accept religious organizations.

[9:06] Thanks.

[9:06] Great, thank you.

[9:07] I'd like to now invite up our next speaker, Brandon Tulfel.

[9:11] Mr. Tulfel, if you'd come up to the podium, see your name and address.

[9:16] Apologies, I think I've signed that incorrectly.

[9:19] I'm here seeking a development variance permit.

[9:21] I'm item 10.1.2.

[9:23] I think we'll get to my time later on in the agenda. That's correct. Thank you. Apologies

[9:28] I'll now turn to IT staff and ask if we had any virtual attendees of their hands raised

[9:35] There are none. Mr. Mayor. Okay. We'll now move on to

[9:43] we'll now move on to the

[9:46] statutory hearing matter

[9:52] So I'll call the statutory hearing to order at 5 10 p.m

[9:57] for Development Variance Permit Application for 1892 Value View Place.

[10:04] Where a person has a statutory right to be heard, that person shall be provided an opportunity during the statutory hearing.

[10:11] The order of business for the statutory hearing shall be conducted as follows.

[10:15] Staff will introduce the item.

[10:18] The applicant will be invited to provide details of their application and respond to any question from council.

[10:23] The corporate officer will provide a summary of the correspondence received and will read out any late submissions

[10:30] Members of the public who believe they will be affected by the by-law or permit will be invited to provide comments

[10:35] The applicant and or staff will be provided with an opportunity to respond to any new information

[10:40] Received or to correct factual errors raised during the statutory hearing and then finally the by-law or permit will be considered by counsel

[10:48] The session hearing item is development variance permit application for 1892

[10:55] Valley View Place. I'll now invite the corporate officer to introduce the permit.

[11:00] Thank you. So the development variance permit application 1892 Valley View Place.

[11:08] So the purpose is for council to consider this application to decrease the maximum permitted

[11:13] side yard setback from 1.5 meters to 0.67 meters to bring an addition to a

[11:20] single family dwelling constructed without a building permit into

[11:23] compliance and convert the addition into a garage and habitable space which

[11:29] meets the BC Building Code.

[11:33] Councilor, do you have any questions for staff?

[11:37] All right, so I understand the applicant is present and does not wish

[11:41] to provide any details of their application however they are available

[11:45] to answer any questions that council may have. I'll turn to council and ask if you have any

[11:49] questions for the applicant.

[11:52] All right, I'll now invite the corporate officer to provide a summary

[11:55] of the correspondence received. Okay, thank you. So one email was received and the email was in

[12:03] support of the development variance permit from Mr. Hart, who is a neighbor who lives directly

[12:09] adjacent to the property. This email was circulated to council earlier today.

[12:15] Thank you. I'll now invite anyone who believes they will be affected by the proposed permit

[12:20] to address council. Please state your name and address for the record, indicate whether you

[12:24] are in support or oppose the permit before expressing your views. I'll provide anyone

[12:29] wishing to speak a second time with the opportunity to do that after all interested

[12:33] persons have been heard for a first time.

[12:38] So not seeing anyone in the gallery, I'll turn

[12:41] to IT staff and ask if we have any virtual attendees to their hands raised.

[12:46] There are none, Mr. Mayor.

[12:48] All right, I'll now invite staff and or the applicant to...

[12:51] Oh, I guess, I mean, this is right.

[12:53] Invite them to respond to any matters raised by the public, but we didn't hear anything.

[12:57] So the final step is for council now to consider the permit.

[13:00] The recommendation is that council authorize the issuance of development permit,

[13:04] dvp 00105 and grant the variance section 57 6a of zoning bylaw number 30

[13:13] zoning bylaw number 2950 1997 to decrease the maximum permitted

[13:18] side yard setback from 1.5 meters to 0.67 meters at 1892 value you place with

[13:25] something like move the recommendation move by councilor Manas seconded by

[13:28] like Councilor Calio and your discussion.

[13:30] All in favor and oppose, motion carries.

[13:38] So that concludes the statutory hearing matter.

[13:44] We can now move on to by-laws.

[13:46] We have one by-law before us, Ms. May.

[13:49] Okay, thank you.

[13:50] So permissive tax exemption by-law number 39, 72, 2024

[13:55] is being introduced to council today

[13:57] for first three readings.

[13:59] The by-law is drafted based on council direction

[14:03] at the September 10th Committee of the Whole meeting

[14:06] and proposes to exempt certain properties in 2025

[14:11] and future years from municipal taxes.

[14:14] The recommendation is that council gives

[14:16] permissive tax exemption by law number 3972-2024

[14:21] for second and third readings.

[14:24] So moved by councilor Finley,

[14:25] seconded by councilor Kalio.

[14:27] Any discussion?

[14:29] I'll just note for anyone tuning in

[14:30] who may have heard the comments

[14:32] from the member of the public earlier with regards to how we decide to provide permissive

[14:37] tax exemptions to some of the religious organizations. I wouldn't encourage any folks with questions

[14:42] to have a look at our council policy on permissive tax exemptions which is attached to the agenda

[14:48] package which outlines our eligibility criteria for determining which of these applications

[14:55] we're going to support or not. So I'll call the question all in favor.

[15:00] Opposed? Not opposed. Motion carries. We'll now move on to reports. Item 12.1. Over to you, Mr. Suavey.

[15:06] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Item 12.1 is the Fire Protection Services Agreement with Halalt First Nations, Penelope, Tribe and Stenaimus First Nations.

[15:14] The recommendation from staff is that council authorize the mayor and corporate officer to sign the 2024 Fire Protection Services Agreement between the municipality of Northcouch and Halalt First Nation, Penelope, Tribe and Stenaimus First Nations.

[15:29] nations generally in the form attached in attachments one two and three to the

[15:34] fire chiefs report dated October 2nd 2024 some like move recommendation moved by

[15:40] councilor family second by councilor Calio any discussion

[15:43] council manas just a quick quick question to staff this maybe to mr. Chief

[15:50] French does this take into consideration the the increase in that we have

[15:59] that incurred to the paid-on-call firefighters?

[16:04] Yes.

[16:06] All right, any further questions?

[16:09] Okay, I'll call the question all in favor.

[16:11] An opposed, not opposed.

[16:12] Motion carries.

[16:13] We'll now move on to item 12.2.

[16:15] And before anyone moves it,

[16:16] I just want to point out for council,

[16:18] I did discuss the revised policy with staff

[16:21] before the meeting.

[16:23] And you'll notice that under the,

[16:28] under the public input opportunity it indicates on page two or three when

[16:35] invited by the mayor and subject to limits established in the council committee

[16:38] procedures by a law number 3945 2024 each speaker will and then for part B it

[16:45] says no for sorry for a says should first state their name and

[16:51] residential address but then when you get down to the question period we say

[16:56] that each speaker must state their name and address so what I've discussed with

[17:04] staff is making that consistent we can put must for both of them however we

[17:08] aren't at no one is actually compelled to state their address so even if we

[17:12] put must in the policy you know anyone who's participating it's free for

[17:17] them to decide if they want to do that or not but just would like to

[17:20] consistency between the two sections.

[17:24] Sound reasonable? Alright, would someone

[17:26] like to move it then with must in both sections? Councilor Justice? Yeah, I mean

[17:32] I also have a couple of comments about the wording that I didn't actually get a

[17:38] chance to get to staff about, but in that very same section and I just throw

[17:44] this out there to see what council thinks, but it does say under public input policy,

[17:53] should there be sufficient time for a second question, those wishing to speak again shall

[17:58] only do so with additional or new information, and that because it's, you know, people aren't

[18:03] asking questions during public input, I was wondering whether that should be replaced

[18:08] with a second remark or something similar to that. But it also alerted me to I

[18:16] guess because I was wondering maybe that was that sentence was supposed to be

[18:20] under the question period section. But there is nothing under the question

[18:26] period section about people who may wish to ask a second question or a

[18:32] follow-up questions so also nothing about time limit for for

[18:41] asking a question

[18:42] which we also discussed. I think with the time limit part this does reference the

[18:49] council committee procedure by-law and my intent I've discussed this with a

[18:55] corporate officer is we don't feel the 30 I think all of us don't feel the

[18:59] 30 seconds is enough so the thinking was that we can be flexible with

[19:03] that time limit, one question period until the bylaw comes back for another round of revisions

[19:10] and at that point we can can officially make it one minute. Yeah, no, fair enough on that,

[19:16] but just to go back to the previous point, there is no policy guidance here for people who

[19:22] want to ask a second question or a follow-up question,

[19:30] which may be fine, but my preference

[19:33] of that would be to deal with the next round of revisions to the council committee procedure

[19:37] your bylaw but I will turn to the corporate officer. If I'm understanding the

[19:42] counselor correctly you're hoping for consistency between the

[19:49] two with public input and question period and question period at the moment

[19:52] does not include any language around providing time for a second question. I

[19:59] can make that I can make that amendment to it if that's counsel's wish so

[20:07] that both sections are consistent.

[20:11] That's easy enough to do,

[20:18] if Council wishes.

[20:20] I really apologize for not alerting you before this.

[20:24] It's okay.

[20:24] So you can jump something about it.

[20:25] I mean, actually it doesn't really bother me

[20:28] one way or the other, but it just struck me

[20:30] that there was no guidance in that,

[20:34] but there is under public input guidance

[20:36] for people who might wanna come up for a second time,

[20:40] which is actually less likely than people who want to ask the second question or a follow-up

[20:45] question. I wonder if we can think about that until the next round of revisions, the committee,

[20:53] the council committee procedure by law. I think there is value in having, giving people the

[20:57] opportunity for a follow-up question, but I am hoping that with the limitation we've established

[21:02] that we're going to get back to more actual questions rather than a second round of public

[21:06] input. That's not to paint too broad of a brush because there's certainly folks who do come

[21:10] I'm here with very clear questions

[21:12] and I think would bring value with a follow up question

[21:17] but if it turns into just two opportunities

[21:19] or sorry, a third opportunity for public input,

[21:22] I'm not gonna see a lot of value in that.

[21:25] Yeah, I'm fine, one way or the other.

[21:30] All right, so are we okay with moving to adopt it

[21:33] with the consistency in the language around must and should?

[21:36] Yeah, mover, moved by Councillor Finlay,

[21:39] second by Councillor Callio,

[21:40] call the question all in favor. Opposed, not opposed. Motion carries.

[21:47] We'll now

[21:47] move on to item 12.3. Over to you Mr. Suave. Mr. Mayor, this is the community

[21:52] emergency preparedness fund grant application. The recommendation from

[21:56] staff is the council authorized an application for a grant in the amount

[22:00] of $40,000 under the community emergency preparedness fund grant

[22:03] program under the volunteer and composite fire department equipment and

[22:06] training funding stream for wildland personnel protective equipment and

[22:10] Wildland firefighting equipment

[22:14] Someone like to move the recommendation by councilor family second by councilor stash any discussion

[22:20] Call the question all in favor and oppose

[22:23] unopposed motion carries

[22:26] We have no items under new business. We'll move to notices of motion. There's one notice of motion here

[22:32] Item 14.1 the Croft and fairy terminal

[22:35] I'll turn to the corporate officer. Do you want me to read it out or just Cal read out the motion just note

[22:41] there's yeah

[22:46] I'll just read the therefore part but you'll notice the first

[22:50] part of the therefore references Adelaide Street it should be Chaplin and

[22:54] we'll have that corrected before it comes back to the council table in a

[22:58] couple weeks so the the resolution is that it be resolved that council does

[23:02] not support the continued use of Chaplin Street for vehicle storage as

[23:06] part of the Crawford and Ferry Terminal operations and further the

[23:09] council will only support a plan that responds to the community concerns

[23:13] related to reducing the impacts of any terminal operation on community roads and access to

[23:18] community services such as the boat launch and Skateboard Park. And further, the council

[23:24] authorized the mayor to formally communicate this position to BC Ferries and the Ministry

[23:28] of Transportation and Infrastructure. So again, we won't be actually bringing that forward for

[23:33] a couple more weeks, which time we'll have a chance to debate it. So I'll now move on to

[23:37] question period. I'll start with the folks in the public gallery and ask if anyone has any

[23:41] questions for council all

[23:46] right okay I'll now turn to IT staff and ask if there

[23:50] are any virtual attendees with their hands raised they're none mr. Mayor all

[23:55] right my

[24:00] apologies just a moment oh mr. Lake you state your name and address

[24:12] hello hello hello yep mr. Lake you state state your name and address sure I'm

[24:19] called Steven Lay, address is Chaplain Street Crofton. Not here in the function of a name

[24:27] or an official address, but simply as an individual.

[24:31] Mr. Lay, if I could just interrupt you for one moment. We do have a new policy around

[24:35] a time limit on question period. I haven't flexed with this. I want to give you the

[24:40] full minute instead of the 30 seconds, and it's something just so you're aware we're

[24:43] working on tweaking because you've realized the 30 seconds kind of isn't enough for

[24:47] I'm going to give you the full minute and please ask away, I'll start at the time now.

[24:51] Sure. Just wondering if there'd be any point in me putting together a presentation to do

[24:56] with hydrogen modifications on North Couch and vehicles that would save 25% gas mileage

[25:04] on the highway as well as cleaning up the exhaust and the engines on the vehicles?

[25:11] Yeah, thanks for the question, Mr. Lee. It's not on the agenda, but I'm going to just provide

[25:16] What I'll suggest is that we have a delegation policy, so I think you could probably fill

[25:22] out the form and you'll have an opportunity to present to council.

[25:25] But what you could do is email myself or all the council and just raise the idea and

[25:30] we can get back to you with some information on how to facilitate that.

[25:33] Okay, thank you.

[25:34] Great, thank you.

[25:37] I'll turn to IT staff and ask if you have any other virtual attendees with their hands

[25:41] raised.

[25:44] They're not, Mr. Mayor.

[25:46] All right.

[25:46] That concludes our business.

[25:47] So I'll declare this meeting adjourned.

[25:52] Yeah, yeah, that's good.

Council - Regular

Transcript