[0:00] Good morning everyone and welcome to the
regular meeting of city council for
[0:03] Monday August 24th 2026. The city of
Dawson Creek acknowledges that we are
[0:08] privileged to live and work on treaty
territory and the traditional home of
[0:11] the cre daz stoy and enslavey first
nations. We value the matei peoples that
[0:17] live and gather here. We commit to
upholding a respectful relationships
[0:21] these nations have built with the land
and we acknowledge our responsibility to
[0:24] carry that forward today and into the
future. Um, next order of business, two
[0:28] delegations, 2.1, we have Shelby Halley
and Blake Johnson and Janice Anderson,
[0:33] residents of Dawson Creek in attendance,
uh, for proclamation to declare
[0:38] September 2026 as craniois
awareness month in Dawson Creek.
[0:44] » I didn't hear you. Sorry.
>> Did I do that? All right. Don't worry,
[0:47] you'll hear it seven more times. So,
yeah. Morning. Hi.
[0:52] » How are you doing?
>> Good.
[0:57] I will just read this out here. Um, so
craniointosis.
[1:05] Did I do good? Yeah. Awareness month. I
have Janice up here not just for the
[1:08] proclamation but to help me uh with my
speaking as well. So uh whereas cranio
[1:15] synitosis is a medical condition in
which one one or more of the sutures in
[1:20] an infant skull close too early which
may affect normal skull and brain
[1:24] growth. And whereas craniointosis
affects approximately 1 in 2500 infants
[1:30] and and increased awareness can help
support early recognition, diagnosis,
[1:36] treatment and family family support. And
whereas early recognition and treatment
[1:40] can help reduce the risk of serious
health complications including increased
[1:45] pressure inside the skull, vision
problems, and learning or physical
[1:49] delays. And whereas craniointosis
awareness month provides an opportunity
[1:55] opportunity to increase public
understanding of this condition and to
[1:59] recognize the experience
experiences of children, parents,
[2:03] caregivers, and families in our
community and beyond. And whereas
[2:07] raising awareness helps promote
education as well as compassion and
[2:11] support for those impacted by
craniotosis.
[2:15] Um I now therefore I Darcy Dober, mayor
of the city of Dawson Creek, do hereby
[2:20] proclaim September 2026 as craniosis
awareness month in the city of Dawson
[2:26] Creek and encourage all citizens to join
me in this worthy observance. So
[2:31] » yeah,
>> great job.
[2:32] » Yeah, thank you. Unironically, the
literacy society's up next.
[2:36] » Yeah, [laughter]
[2:39] » it was like a chest for me. I was
[laughter] like,
[2:43] » "Here, I got you a little something."
>> Oh, baby.
[2:46] » There's a little stuff in there. If you
want to give one of them to your sister,
[2:49] I'll let you pick which one. And then
there's some stuff in there. But do you
[2:51] want to give one of those to your
sister?
[2:53] » Yeah.
>> Which one do you want to give to her?
[2:58] » Say thank you.
>> Thank you.
[3:00] » You're welcome. And this is for you,
too.
[3:02] » Say thank you. Thank you.
>> You're welcome. Was there anything that
[3:05] you wanted to say?
>> Um,
[3:07] » there is a mic here.
>> Okay.
[3:10] [laughter]
[3:13] » So, cranioinistosis is quite rare. Um,
Blakes is the only one that we know of
[3:19] here in Dawson Creek at this point. Uh,
she had sagittal cranioinistosis. So,
[3:24] her suture from her soft spot back was
fused um at birth. So she has had
[3:31] surgery at 14 and a half weeks. Y
>> um to remove a piece of her skull
[3:39] » and uh so she has a wide strip of her
skull is missing um to allow proper
[3:44] brain brain development. Um she's doing
really well. Uh she's just graduated
[3:49] from her helmet. She was in two helmets
throughout the uh treatment plan. um
[3:55] kids had to make 14 roundtrip trip trip
round trips to Edmonton for checkups and
[4:01] uh
thank you. So yeah, so we're just uh
[4:05] hoping that to bring some awareness so
that
[4:10] » um catch it early.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Hers wasn't caught till 3
[4:13] months.
>> Oh yeah.
[4:14] » So um yeah, the earlier the better.
>> Yeah.
[4:18] » She had she was able to have the
non-invasive or minimally invasive
[4:22] surgery. Um whereas the other one is
they actually open their skull from ear
[4:26] to ear and remove pieces of their skull,
reshaped them and put them back in.
[4:30] » Yeah.
>> So thankfully she didn't have to have
[4:32] that surgery. But
>> yeah.
[4:34] » Yeah. Well, thank you for coming in and
thank you for like bringing attention to
[4:38] this too. I know just from Janice too
like what you guys have went through and
[4:41] I could not imagine. So it's
>> nice to see her on this end and so happy
[4:45] and smiling
>> and a little scared of me. [laughter]
[4:50] » Yeah.
>> Okay.
[4:54] You're welcome. I think we got to get a
You want to get a picture? Can we get a
[4:58] picture together?
>> And I will give you this to take on this
[5:09] » one00.
[5:18] » And so she she doesn't need to wear
those anymore.
[5:22] August 12th was her last day.
>> Oh, excellent.
[5:25] » Yeah. 6 months. Exactly.
>> And then do you have to go back for
[5:28] checkups every
>> uh one year posttop? So February will go
[5:31] and then go yearly until she's about
five. So they can monitor
[5:34] » just to make sure it continues to like
>> close up again.
[5:38] » Yeah. And then obviously like that part
that they cut out will grow back over at
[5:43] one point. Yes.
>> Eventually they were they basically told
[5:46] us that it should.
>> Yeah.
[5:51] And then they'll just put mesh over
>> that part just to protect.
[5:56] » And can I ask question?
>> Yeah, go ahead.
[5:59] » Um, so is is that something when you're
doing the um pre the nal appointments
[6:07] with the the doctor? That's part of the
standardized screening or is that part
[6:11] of
>> No, it's actually kind of a fluke thing
[6:14] that kind of happened. Um, she was
breached. So I think what happened was
[6:17] then her head was at the top of the
uterus. It signaled her brain to protect
[6:21] itself and closed.
>> Okay.
[6:24] » Yeah.
>> So,
[6:25] » is it I'm just wondering, you know, with
respect to raising awareness, how do we
[6:31] » basically
>> it's a simple routine thing they can
[6:33] check at.
>> Now, it's going to be a little bit more
[6:36] because after her first appointment, I
talked to her doctor and they put
[6:39] together a whole uh pamphlet with uh
pictures and things to watch for
[6:44] » because it was the shape of her head
that concerned me, but no one had ever
[6:48] heard of it or seen it. thought like,
oh, her head will go back to normal,
[6:51] don't go back to normal. And it never
did. So then her follow appointment was
[6:56] when it
>> really became caused a concern. Her
[6:59] doctor has never seen it in Canada.
>> Oh, okay. So
[7:04] cool. Well, that's
[7:08] » a picture.
[7:12] » Awesome.
[7:34] » [laughter]
>> It's hard to say.
[7:37] » I know. I like
[7:42] having trouble.
[7:46] » Thanks. Nice meeting. Thank you.
[7:55] » Yeah, I'm going to ask you how to spell
it. That's or
[8:01] » um All right. Uh next order business
2.2, we have Michelle Moy, executive
[8:05] director with the Dawson Creek Literacy
Society in attendance regarding
[8:08] proclamation to declare September 20 26
as literacy month in Dawson Creek. So,
[8:15] » you want to just start off spelling it
or is that what somebody's going to ask
[8:18] you that? So,
>> could you scroll that
[8:20] » back? [laughter]
[8:26] » All right. Uh, whereas literacy month is
recognized across British Columbia
[8:30] during September. And whereas literacy
is essential for Canadians to succeed in
[8:34] today's complex world as it extends
beyond beyond reading and writing. And
[8:40] whereas engaging children and youth in
literacy programming provides the best
[8:44] possible environment for them to become
lifelong learners. And whereas strong
[8:48] literacy skills are vital to Canada's
social and economic development,
[8:52] offering everyone the opportunity to
contribute to the education, growth, and
[8:56] prosperity of our nation as well as the
well-being of our communities. And
[9:00] whereas the 2026 literacy month theme,
your gift, their next chapter,
[9:05] highlights the important role that
literacy and community support support
[9:10] play in creating opportunities for
learning and growth. And whereas many
[9:13] organizations across British Columbia in
Canada, including the Dawson Creek
[9:18] Literacy Society, demonstrate their
commitment to literacy by fostering a
[9:22] culture of community- based learning.
Now therefore, I, Darcy Dober, mayor of
[9:26] the city of Dawson Creek, do hereby
proclaim September 26 as literacy month
[9:30] in the city of Dawson Creek and
encourage all citizens to join me in
[9:34] this worthy observance. So, yeah, thanks
Michelle for coming in. It's always a
[9:39] pleasure to have you here and
>> always good to be here.
[9:41] » Yeah. Was there some things that you
wanted to share?
[9:44] » Uh,
>> or
[9:46] » yes and no.
>> Okay, I'll give you that just in case
[9:48] that there's
>> I don't know if I need a microphone. Um,
[9:50] but
>> it's not for here. It's for those that
[9:52] are online listening. Yeah. the um
September being literacy month, the
[9:58] color is purple.
Our mayor remembered and [snorts] he
[10:02] wore a purple tie. And I really
appreciate that because I was in a hurry
[10:06] this morning. We have five clients, uh
five citizens of Dawson Creek who are
[10:12] becoming citizens of Canada this
morning. So, I was in a bit of a rush
[10:16] getting out of the house. So, I
appreciate that you wore some purple. Um
[10:20] just on the note of lifelong learning um
if anybody is interested in knowing
[10:25] where some of our literacy gaps are here
in our own community um it is with folks
[10:31] over the age of 50 60 digital literacy
is huge. Everything has moved online
[10:37] your government services your
applications
[10:40] and a lot of people just a don't have
the skills or b don't have the
[10:44] technology. Um, so I'll leave that with
you and your connections and talk about
[10:51] what you can do to help people in our
community. So, thank you so much.
[10:56] » Thank you, Michelle. And not to take any
credit for the purple tie, but last year
[11:00] for this proclamation,
>> I just grabbed a purple tie, not
[11:04] knowing. And Michelle told me that it
was that was the color. So,
[11:08] » you knew.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe I did. Yeah. So,
[11:11] today I did. I was like, "Oh, yeah.
There's a color for it." I had to look
[11:14] it up. So, but um yeah, and just yeah, I
thank you for what you do. I I know um
[11:20] uh this city and this council is very
grateful for the literacy society and
[11:24] what you do to help those um individuals
that that need the support and help and
[11:29] yeah, so just really thank you to
everybody. So, you're welcome. We'll
[11:33] just sign this
[11:40] up here for a picture. I was actually
thinking because this is my last
[11:47] These are the
[11:56] » Thanks so much.
[12:00] » All the best.
>> Yes. Thank you very
[12:11] » um All right. Uh next 2.3 we have Taylor
Mills outgoing executive director and
[12:15] Thomas Taylor the incoming executive
director with the s Southpiece art
[12:20] society in attendance uh regarding
annual update to council. So
[12:27] » good morning Taylor and Thomas
>> morning
[12:32] had me a little bit confused with the
last name
[12:35] » Thomas and then Taylor's first name.
>> Lot of aliteration going on right now
[12:39] around the gallery. Yeah. [laughter]
>> Uh, welcome and the floor is all yours.
[12:44] So,
>> yeah, thank you very much. Um, so yeah,
[12:47] I'm Thomas Taylor. Um, for anybody that
didn't know me already, uh, really happy
[12:51] to be joining the team, but yeah, I'll
start um with, uh, with a message from
[12:55] our board chair here. Um, so it's, uh,
Amanda Fawsome, who was just, um, voted
[13:00] in our last board meeting as the new
president. Um, so as the new president
[13:04] of the South Peace Art Society, I first
want to acknowledge the privilege our
[13:06] group has operating uh the Dawson Creek
Art Gallery in the most iconic Green
[13:10] Elevator. Its influence and I do
apologize to the farming community
[13:14] causes my daughters to call all green
elevators art galleries. I personally
[13:18] know how difficult it can be uh to be an
artist in this world. Uh so to live in a
[13:22] city that provides everything the Dawson
Creek Art Gallery has to offer is a
[13:25] luxury that not many uh get to
experience. As a board, uh we are
[13:29] continuously grateful for the city's
financial generosity and encouragement.
[13:33] It helps us create opportunities for
professional artists in our area and
[13:36] nurture the most important creatives,
our youth. Our board is comprised of
[13:40] artists and community professionals uh
with their experience on board being a
[13:45] valuable range uh from multiple years to
just one month. As we say farewell to
[13:50] our previous executive executive
director, Taylor Mills, we're pleased to
[13:54] introduce um our new ED, which would be
myself. Uh, I encourage anyone listening
[13:58] to pop into the gallery and say hello.
Lastly, I'd like to thank Tamara
[14:02] Golinsky for her past years as the board
president. I fear I have some big shoes
[14:06] to fill, but thankfully she's not going
anywhere. We look forward to continuing
[14:09] to serve the art community for years to
come. Until next time, Amanda Fawsome.
[14:15] So, that is a message from her. Um, and
then I have a message from myself as
[14:19] well. Uh, just short and sweet. I'm
honored and excited to be joining the
[14:22] Southpace Art Society as the new
executive director. I look forward to
[14:25] continuing uh build continue building
upon and fostering the valuable
[14:30] relationships within the community and
with the city of Dawson Creek.
[14:34] Um now I have just a brief overview and
an intro to the gallery structure. Uh so
[14:39] what we do, we love fostering lifelong
relationships with the arts and building
[14:43] artistic literacy. Um it's key to
helping people love where they live and
[14:47] celebrate the beauty and depth of the
Southpiece. Um and a couple categories
[14:53] that help with that. So uh the curation
of exhibits uh the art gallery curates
[14:57] and displays many exhibits across the
year and presents them to the public.
[15:01] Behind this is our season curator uh kit
fast. Uh we have our youth programming
[15:06] sector. A variety of different youth
programs are offered to the community
[15:09] serving our community's youth in an
inclusive creative learning environment.
[15:12] Um Amanda Eny is uh the uh she oversees
the operations um in that uh sort of
[15:19] sector. And then we have our consignment
and gift shop uh which is an eclectic
[15:23] collection of mostly local regional
practicing artisans and craft makers um
[15:27] that we have available for the public to
see and that is overseen by uh the
[15:31] administrative assistant that we have
Gwen Hawkins. And uh lastly uh we have
[15:36] our framing department uh so custom
framing department assistance for the
[15:39] public and artisans alike um uh with any
of their framing needs and that is done
[15:44] by page 14.
[15:49] Um, so now it's just uh some events and
activities that we have uh that we had
[15:53] throughout the summer that I'm kind of
just joining on to that I can speak to a
[15:57] little bit here. So we have the art
auction. So art works and uh stuff like
[16:01] that that go on uh and they're bid on uh
during live bidding periods. It serves
[16:05] as a major fundraiser to support our
exhibitions, educational programs, and
[16:08] outreach. Um our youth membership show
um that's one that I'm excited to be a
[16:13] part of coming up. It's a beautiful
event where youth members from across
[16:16] the Peace region uh have their artwork
on display and parents and and kiddos
[16:20] alike from all across the peace region
come and see that. So that's a fun one.
[16:24] Um
it's uh Indigenous Day is another one uh
[16:28] collaborative event done with the
Quantis Performing Arts Center serving
[16:32] as a celebration of Indigenous Day. Um
the summer membership show uh our
[16:37] members displayed a wide range of
artistic practices. We're actually just
[16:40] taking it down today and transitioning
into a new one, but it was beautiful. a
[16:44] great time for me to join the gallery.
It was lots of really nice stuff in
[16:46] there. Um and then our artwalk
expansion, so temporary pop-up exhibits
[16:51] across the Peace Region um at local
businesses and partners and stuff like
[16:55] that. Uh we have exhibitions uh across
the Peace Region in Dawson Creek, Fort
[17:00] St. John, Hudson's Hope, and Cetwin.
And then last but not not least, we had
[17:05] Rock the Block, which we wrapped up this
weekend. It was our second of two that
[17:08] we ran there. Um, and that was also in
partnership with KPAC, the Quantis
[17:12] Performing Arts Center. Um, where we
brought, uh, some live musicians into
[17:16] the parking lot of the art gallery and,
uh, had free entry for the public and
[17:20] stuff like that. It was lots of fun.
Um, that'll segue into our community and
[17:26] organizational partners that we would
like to work with. Um, so the the
[17:29] gallery continues to welcome uh, and
celebrate uh, all kinds of different
[17:33] collaborations within the community. Uh
prominent partnerships so far this year
[17:38] um have been the Quantis Performing Arts
Center, Nakin, uh the Southpace Arts
[17:42] Council, Co-op Dawson Creek, uh various
local businesses uh uh participating,
[17:49] pardon me, in ArtW Walk 2026, and
proudly also the city of Dawson Creek as
[17:54] well there.
And then a couple highlights and
[17:57] accomplishments, the new president and
uh executive director, kind of a tandem
[18:02] segue into both of us. We've got some
big shoes to fill. Um but uh yeah, we're
[18:07] super excited for the opportunity to be
joining the team. Um the youth
[18:11] exhibition is uh is one to highlight. We
had 150 attendees this year. Um and it
[18:16] was something special from what I've
heard. So yeah, like I said, I'm really
[18:19] excited to be a part of that. The city
of Dawson Creek uh we were able to
[18:23] increase our funding um to support our
mission to deliver arts and culture uh
[18:27] to the community in an inclusive um and
welcoming sort of environment. So very
[18:31] thankful for that. And then the youth
artist mentorship program, a new and
[18:36] exciting uh program that we're kind of
introducing that I'm ready um to kind of
[18:40] get behind. Um but it's something to
look forward to here in the future for
[18:43] us.
And then uh some outlooks and priorities
[18:47] as we move deeper into 2026 and begin
planning for 2027. I think the main
[18:51] focus um for us at the gallery is our
youth programs and stuff like that and
[18:55] continuing to flourish in that regard. I
think it's uh really important. Um and I
[19:00] think that fostering youth is fostering
the future. Um and with that being said,
[19:04] I think arts and culture is uh of utmost
importance in that regard. Um in terms
[19:09] of the future and what that's going to
look like. So having youth uh get proper
[19:14] access to it is very important to me and
important to the Southp Art Society and
[19:18] the Dawson Creek Art Gallery as a whole.
And then uh we're kind of segue I'll let
[19:23] Taylor speak to this um but we're going
to give a project update uh on our
[19:26] murals and stuff like that that we have
throughout town.
[19:29] » Yeah. So this was really exciting. We
had three murals this year. We were kind
[19:33] of behind over the past couple years. So
I do apologize about that, but we should
[19:37] be back on track this year. So I'm going
to highlight two of our three because
[19:41] the third one is still underway. And
we'll kind of segue back to that later
[19:45] in the year once we finish it. We'll
come back and chat about it and show you
[19:49] what that looks like. But at this time,
we have a brand new mural on the dollar
[19:54] store with more that was done by Kaylee
Oldershaw. It is up and finished and
[19:59] it's quite beautiful. It's a piece of
the piece uh here in Dawson Creek and we
[20:06] collaborated with the owners to come up
with the design and this is kind of what
[20:09] they came up with. Um, but if you know
Kayle's pieces, she does a really great
[20:13] job with the scenery and kind of like a
warm, welcoming feel. It's in a really
[20:19] nice place downtown. So, if you haven't
taken a look, go down, have some
[20:22] pictures. It's quite beautiful. And then
secondly, we had the CJDC TV building
[20:29] mural renovated and fixed. So, we had to
pull down the wood and get that all
[20:32] done, but uh that was done by Tegan
Skin. uh she is um an indigenous artist
[20:38] in the community and she focused on uh
specific
[20:42] um insects and berries of the region and
then specifically what she did with the
[20:47] the the wings here is that so people can
stand in the center of it and get their
[20:51] picture taken. Um we've seen a lot of
great comments online in regards to
[20:56] these murals and they had a very fun
time doing it as well. The third mural
[21:01] that we're doing is on Iron Heads and
that's going to be done by Paige Forte,
[21:05] which I'm sure you're all familiar with.
It is going to have a few different
[21:10] musicians on it. So, we had to get Paige
on that job because she's really good
[21:14] with doing human features. It is going
to be quite lovely when it's done. We do
[21:19] promise that we're going to work very
diligently to get it done before the end
[21:22] of September because the weather seems
to be decent these days. Um, but just
[21:27] keeping that in mind, we should have the
majority of it done or it all completed
[21:30] by the end of September. But we'll keep
you updated if anything changes. Um, so
[21:34] with that being said, just with the
completion of these two murals, we're
[21:38] asking for a partial release of funding
to cover and pay the artists for their
[21:42] their time and their designs, which is
around uh the 12,000. So 12,000 release.
[21:48] It's 20,000 for all three. The eight
grand is going towards the um sorry Iron
[21:55] Heads mural, but we're asking for
release of the 12 grand for these two to
[21:59] to get the payments sent out on our end.
But yeah, they're quite beautiful. So,
[22:05] uh hopefully you'll see them in the walk
um the mural walk that you guys have
[22:08] created. I'll send over the details so
you can add them in there, some artist
[22:12] bios, their names, um and then just
pictures of them as well. But they're
[22:16] quite beautiful. I think everybody in
here could benefit from a butterfly sort
[22:21] of photo op there, too. So, you might as
well get down there and get it done
[22:24] while you can.
>> Seen councelor Parlo going up to the
[22:26] screen there. I thought he was maybe
trying to get one right now.
[22:28] » Exactly. [laughter] Yeah. Spread the
wings. Um, I can uh kind of come back to
[22:33] round us off. Thanks so much, Taylor.
Um, uh, but, uh, now I'll just get into
[22:37] community involvement. Um, so the
gallery's committed to achieving as much
[22:40] community outreach and involvement as
possible. Um, so far in 2026, a few
[22:44] events to highlight uh for our community
engagement include the youth membership
[22:48] show, which had a really great turnout
of of people coming to it. So, that was
[22:52] really fun. Packed the art gallery by
the looks of it. Um, and yeah, really
[22:56] good time. And also uh the art walk, I
think uh it's a it's a really fun uh
[23:02] project that we that we have and uh I
know um myself, I reside currently in
[23:07] Fort St. John, so I'm commuting for the
for the work, but people in Fort St.
[23:11] John are noticing the exhibits. Uh I was
in the health food store yesterday and
[23:14] it was uh it was a nice moment. There
was a lot of public interaction there.
[23:17] So really proud of that. And uh yeah,
and last but not least, I'll just give a
[23:22] quick thanks to the key uh funders for
us. So thanks to the city of Dawson
[23:26] Creek, BC Community Gaming, and the
Vancouver Foundation for 2026 for all
[23:30] your support and funding and stuff like
that. And that will uh round off what we
[23:34] had for you guys today.
>> Perfect. Thanks Thomas and thanks Taylor
[23:37] for presenting. And just before I open
it up to council for questions, Kevin,
[23:41] on the request for release of early
funds, is that something that needs
[23:46] council approval or is that No. No.
Okay.
[23:51] Just thought that might be a question.
Okay. Thank you. Any questions, council?
[23:56] Council McDonald.
>> Uh thank you, worship. Um no questions.
[24:00] Uh I love the the two new murals.
Absolutely beautiful. And uh I just more
[24:06] wanted to highlight how great it is to
see an outgoing executive director here
[24:11] mentoring her successor for uh just the
continued highlevel operation of the
[24:18] arts society. So Taylor, thank you for
uh all your time and effort for the art
[24:23] society and really it's great to see the
mentorship going on. So well done guys.
[24:27] Thank you.
>> Thanks Councelor McDonald. Any other
[24:29] questions?
>> No, I don't have any either. I um do
[24:33] want to just um thank you Taylor for uh
the relationship's been been a been
[24:38] great since you've been here and working
and just really appreciated what you've
[24:41] done um for the community and and the
arts in the community. So thank you and
[24:45] uh it was nice to meet you as well,
Thomas, today and look forward to um to
[24:49] the future and what that brings. So
congratulations on the new role and u
[24:53] and well done presenting too. So yeah,
you're welcome.
[24:56] » Thank you.
>> Appreciate it. You're welcome. Thanks.
[24:58] Have a nice day.
>> You as well.
[24:59] » Thank you.
[25:03] All right. Next, uh, three is the 2026
strategic priority chart. Uh, no update,
[25:09] Sarah. Any questions? Anything from you,
Kevin, on that? No. Okay. Uh, four. Any
[25:15] no late items? Uh, five. Any new
counselor business?
[25:23] No.
All right. Uh, next.
[25:26] » Sure. I'll go.
>> Oh, go ahead, Councelor McDonald.
[25:29] » Uh, thank you, worship. just like to
highlight that uh this coming weekend
[25:33] will be the uh B Creek Chamber of
Commerce uh charity golf tournament
[25:38] raising funds for uh for the chamber. So
they continue their hard work here. So I
[25:44] uh congratulate them. Uh organizing a
golf tournament is never easy and uh
[25:49] they did it in a very quick efficient
manner.
[25:53] Thank you. Um, and yeah, so if uh
anybody out there is looking to golf
[25:58] this weekend, I know they're still
looking for some teams.
[26:00] » Thanks, Council McDonald.
Anything else? No. All right. Next, uh,
[26:05] six, adoption of minutes 6.1 public
hearing minutes from August 10th, 2026
[26:10] for adoption. Councelor Kemp, second,
Councelor Earl. All in favor?
[26:16] Opposed?
It's carried. All in favor?
[26:22] I was getting back to my older routines
when I thought I seen somebody pushing a
[26:26] button. I'm like, "Oh, where's the
screen?" Um, next 6.2 minutes of the
[26:30] regular meeting of council held on
August 10th, 2026 for adoption.
[26:34] Councelor McDonald, second councelor
Kemp. All in favor?
[26:40] It's carried. Any business arising?
[26:45] Uh, next correspondence. Uh, 8 8.1. We
have email from Crystal Hardy, president
[26:50] of Dawson Creek Kodiaks, um,
received on August 10th, 2026, regarding
[26:57] a request for swim passes uh, for o
August 24th to 28, 2026.
[27:06] » Councelor McDonald.
>> Thank you, Worship. I'd like to move
[27:09] that we grant the request for 120
complimentary swim passes for the Kodiak
[27:14] Saki tournament.
>> Thanks, Council McDonald. Second,
[27:17] councelor Sednik. discussion.
>> Um, as always, just want to confirm that
[27:22] this is within our uh our grant fund
still
[27:29] and sorry through you your worship.
>> I hit the button.
[27:34] » Yeah, you're on when the buttons.
>> Oh, okay. Sorry. My first uh meeting
[27:38] here at the new location. So, I can um
confirm that remaining in the city
[27:45] council's grant budget is $3,900. Uh 68%
of the current grant budget has been
[27:51] used and the estimated cost
we sorry I just need to find the email
[27:58] is um just under $700.
>> That's if they're all used, right? We
[28:03] reconcile after the fact.
>> Correct. And we will um they would
[28:07] typically when we do this um they're
eligible for only the span of the event.
[28:14] Um so they would be eligible for this
week barring that the pool is closed on
[28:19] Friday. Um so we would track the usage
over the four days and um only the
[28:24] amount that is used will get charged
against your grants budget and we do
[28:27] often find that um typically they do
come in less than what is projected.
[28:35] » Yeah. I guess the other thing to um
because the event started today is that
[28:41] allow city the city team enough time to
get them printed and get them over
[28:45] there?
I would probably defer that to
[28:49] » Yeah. Okay.
>> Ryan.
[28:52] » Thank you, Coun. Thanks, Melissa.
Councelor,
[28:55] » uh, thank you, worship. Just one or two,
uh, questions through to staff. Number
[28:58] one, is this, um, a new request or did
we get it? Okay, so it's new. Um, and
[29:05] then I guess a thought and and
as someone who's outgoing, I maybe
[29:10] making work for the next guys, but uh as
we get these these uh requests for inind
[29:19] recreation
access,
[29:23] um it might be worth looking at a policy
whereby we split this off from actual
[29:28] grants, which is dollars going out the
door versus something that yes, we need
[29:33] to put a number to it because there is a
cost, but we um
[29:40] it it's it's it's different from a
grant. It's different than us handing
[29:44] somebody a check. Um, and it might be
worth having a separate
[29:51] uh line item for
grant requests of this nature because
[29:56] they are essentially inind donations of
access to city facilities that are
[30:02] already operating with an existing base
co. you know, it doesn't cost us to send
[30:10] 50 extra people to the pool
what it would be if we were sending out
[30:15] giving out a check for $700. Um, and
just that given that these requests are
[30:22] becoming more numerous and that they do
seemingly add value to the events, uh,
[30:28] it might be worth looking at
a different stream um, for requests like
[30:35] this. But that's just a thought for uh
future council to maybe pick up.
[30:39] » Thanks, [snorts] councelor. Just to
comment on it um being a new request,
[30:43] it's also wasn't um this event wasn't
held in Dawson Creek before. Well, it
[30:48] was and then it went to our neighbors in
Tumblr Ridge for a few years and it's
[30:52] back here. So, any other comments? No.
Okay, I'll call this to vote. All in
[30:57] favor?
It's carried.
[31:01] Uh 8.2, 2. We have email from Taylor
Sims, executive assistant, city of Fort
[31:05] St. John, received on August 13th, 2026,
regarding a request for letter of
[31:10] support the aquatics facility and
fieldhouse project. Councelor Parslo.
[31:16] » Yeah, I'd like to speak about this uh
this one.
[31:20] » Receive discussion.
>> So, yeah. Okay. Receive discussion if
[31:24] you like.
>> Second, councelor.
[31:27] [laughter]
>> All in favor?
[31:31] It's denied. No, I'm just kidding.
[laughter] I'm kidding. It's carried.
[31:36] » So, um, this may be just a a little of
my personal quirks, but, um, I I'm
[31:44] looking at this as very similar to when
people hand me a petition to sign.
[31:52] Um, I don't sign petitions if I don't
understand what
[31:59] is really planned.
Um, and sometimes the people giving me a
[32:05] petition sheet don't know either. And so
I'm inclined to suggest that uh because
[32:12] this is a
a the scope of this project and the cost
[32:16] of this project, the scheduling of this
project um is there's so much discussion
[32:24] about it. I really don't know what is
what is right and what is wrong. What
[32:29] are what are we supporting?
It's if you if you are comfortable with
[32:34] supporting a sort of a a general thing.
We plan on building a new swimming pool
[32:42] and and a sports stuff. Um then Ryan,
you can do that. But I'm not comfortable
[32:47] supporting things that I don't
understand the scope and and cost of and
[32:53] and u so I would suggest that we invite
them uh city of Fort St. John to give a
[33:00] presentation to this council. Um I
believe they did give one to the
[33:04] regional district. So I'd like to move
that we invite representatives of the
[33:09] city of Fort St. John to give a
presentation to us about the project and
[33:14] be prepared to answer some questions.
Thank you.
[33:17] » Second councelor Sudnik. Any I guess was
there any discussion on the first? Well
[33:24] well just if there's discussion now
there can be. So go ahead, councelor.
[33:29] » Um, thank you, worship. I I guess um
my my concern is more with the nature of
[33:37] the letter they're ask. Is this just a
generic open-ended letter of endorsement
[33:41] for the project? I I don't see the
letter being addressed to anyone. We're
[33:45] just sending them back a letter saying
we support it that they can then
[33:49] presumably turn around when they apply
for grants or apply for anything else
[33:54] » and say we've got which I I mean
once again if I I guess more information
[34:01] as to councelor Parel's point would be
helpful but generally speaking we don't
[34:07] have we ever been asked to issue a
letter of this now usually when someone
[34:10] comes to us asking for a letter of
support it's for a specific grant or a
[34:13] specific initiative or going to a
specific person in government. Um
[34:18] whereas this is just kind of an
open-ended endorsement for something.
[34:22] That's my point.
support.
[34:26] » Well, I I I understand what we're
supporting, but once again, it's what is
[34:30] the I mean, not to be
uh uh
[34:36] mercenary about this because it's
obviously we all rise as a region and
[34:41] fall as a region, but there are times
when
[34:45] uh we do compete for resources as well,
whether it's from the provincial
[34:50] government, from some sort of grant
provider. Um, and are we in a
[34:56] unintentionally going to put ourselves
in position where we're competing for a
[35:00] grant against a project we've given an
open-ended endorsement to.
[35:04] Um, and once again, I I don't,
you know, generally speaking, this is a
[35:11] a project that's obviously near and dear
to the people of Fort St. John or some
[35:15] people in Fort St. John and they're very
passionate about it. But
[35:19] it would be I think useful to have that
conversation. But also if if they were
[35:25] looking for a specific letter for a
specific reason as opposed to just
[35:29] something that five years from now they
can still trot out and say well we've
[35:33] got the endorsement of the city of
Dawson Creek irrespective of how the
[35:36] circumstances may change.
I that's my my reservation I guess.
[35:44] Yeah. Thanks councelor.
Yeah, I don't know the question if
[35:47] there's any risk. I don't know if there
would be having we haven't had to do
[35:50] this before, but
>> I don't know. I mean, in support of the
[35:55] project, it's great for the region and
it's also, I believe, just sitting on
[35:59] the regional district board, I've um had
a bit of the presentation, but it is
[36:03] going to referendum this fall, too. So,
it'll be a lot more um clear on which
[36:09] direction that's going after that. But
yeah, I don't know if you want to add
[36:12] anything, Kevin.
>> Uh three worship. just going to add that
[36:15] um
we sought a letter of support from the
[36:19] city of Fort St. John regarding our
water security project and we went and
[36:22] made a presentation able to answer
questions and they were able to provide
[36:27] that letter. So I think you know to to
be fair to what councelor Parzo is
[36:31] saying I don't think that's a bad thing.
It enables questions. It's not that we
[36:34] don't support it but I think it's it's
helpful to have uh that information and
[36:38] and that opportunity to ask those
questions.
[36:40] » Yeah. and very clear in their letter
too. If you need more information,
[36:43] there's two individuals to request. So,
yeah, I think they're offering through
[36:47] the letter to come. So, yeah. Okay. Any
other discussion? I'll call that motion
[36:53] to vote. All in favor? It's carried. Uh,
next 8.3 we have letter from Caitlyn
[36:59] Tribel, artistic director with the
Dawson Creek Coral Society, received on
[37:03] August 18th, 2026 regarding a request
for letter of support for the BC Gaming
[37:08] Capital Projects grant application.
[37:12] » Councelor,
>> uh, thank you worship. I will move that
[37:16] we provide the requested uh, letter of
support.
[37:19] » Thanks, Councelor. Second, councelor
McDonald. Discussion.
[37:23] Call this to vote. All in favor? It's
carried.
[37:29] Uh, next nine reports. 9.1 we have
report number 26-128 from the human
[37:34] resource manager regarding a recruitment
selection and employment equity policy.
[37:46] » Councelor Parsaw, I just need some
guidance on procedure here. there's a
[37:50] list of policies
um
[37:54] and um I don't wish to be an impediment
uh but there's I think uh I there's some
[38:03] questions I have particularly around the
first policy which might impact
[38:08] discussion so
>> do you want to just make a motion for
[38:11] discussion
>> I'll make a motion for discussion then
[38:14] » second council McDonald all in favor
it's carried
[38:19] Go ahead, councelor Parslo.
>> Okay.
[38:26] Um, I want to
start off by saying obviously a great
[38:31] deal of thought and work's gone into
this and this is not some of this stuff
[38:38] how it's interpreted
um is often very interest. I really want
[38:44] to focus on the first policy,
recruitment, selection and employment
[38:47] equity.
Um
[38:52] I know some employers and I'm not saying
this is the city of Dorson
[38:56] are often charged with reverse
discrimination.
[39:01] Um and by that I think people mean
uh that uh generally mean the way way I
[39:10] interpret it is white males often are
put at a disadvantage because of their
[39:17] gender and ethnicity.
Um so if I read this um policy and I
[39:26] want to focus um
on some specific centers uh
[39:34] sections of this policies I don't know
quite [clears throat] what they mean. So
[39:38] let's just start off with 5D
under meritbased selection.
[39:46] Um D reads the city will select
candidates based on then D capacity to
[39:53] perform the requirements
of the position.
[39:59] Uh do would you care to expand what is
meant by that and what is include might
[40:05] be included?
[40:10] » Go ahead
>> through your worship.
[40:15] Uh so the capacity to perform the
requirements of the position is uh
[40:20] refers to a person's um
[40:30] I apologize clearly I'm struggling with
words this morning. Um, essentially we
[40:35] want to ensure that whoever we hire to
do this is the person who is going to be
[40:38] able to take on the full scope of the
work uh at a full-time uh or part-time
[40:45] depending on how it's posted um in a in
uh in [clears throat] that role uh long
[40:51] term. So that refers to not just the
skills, not just the qualifications, but
[40:56] their overall ability to uh complete the
work long term
[41:00] » fulfill it. So if I
>> Yeah, go ahead.
[41:03] » So would that include
um
[41:07] uh if a job may require
um some time extra time or dealing with
[41:14] emergencies being able to work at the
weekend?
[41:19] » Yep.
>> So how does that impact
[41:23] inversely
a female with young children?
[41:28] Uh I think that um
that is a nuanced
[41:35] uh and uh sometimes quite complicated
issue uh that we are re-evaluating our
[41:40] approach to um regularly as it comes up.
But essentially it boils down to um we
[41:47] have a requirement as as an employer um
to
[41:53] uh to the point of undue hardship to
accommodate
[41:58] that type of thing. Um, now if we have a
uh if we have a job where we might
[42:04] require somebody to be working outside
of school hours, for example,
[42:10] um
we would address any concerns that a
[42:15] person may have around child care, um
getting kids to and from school, all of
[42:20] that sort of thing. um through our uh
flexible work uh arrangements policy uh
[42:27] that allows us to support folks who
might have some of those concerns by
[42:33] adjusting some of their work hours to be
able to still get their work done. Um
[42:38] most commonly what it looks like is we
might shift someone's working hours to
[42:41] start after 9:00 a.m. so that they can
drop their kids off. Um that sort of
[42:46] thing. But ultimately uh if it is a
requirement of the job that a person is
[42:51] available on Saturdays to run certain
programming or something like that for
[42:55] example, we need to know that the person
hired for the position will be able to
[42:58] do that. Um and if there are some
concerns as far as the um
[43:06] uh the childcare aspect in particular,
which is a specific area where we are we
[43:10] are um
>> would in 5D would a determination of
[43:17] their physical capacity to engage in
lifting?
[43:21] » Yep. that be judged? Would you would
judgments be made
[43:26] u just based upon an interview or what
do what would you be based upon if if a
[43:32] job required
uh heavy lifting?
[43:37] » Yeah, you bet. through your worship. Um
we uh when we go through our recruitment
[43:42] process, we uh ask um our candidates
whether they meet the minimum
[43:50] requirements of the job, which does
include having physical agility um in
[43:55] order to meet job requirements. Some
have higher requirements than others,
[43:58] obviously. Um,
and we uh we do not uh just trying to
[44:09] think if before I make a blanket
statement. Outside of our firefighters,
[44:13] we do not have physical testing before
um before giving people uh a job offer.
[44:21] Um but it does often again come up
through um accommodation requests if
[44:25] someone has injured themselves or
something like that. uh and we work with
[44:29] someone at that point but not not during
the recruitment process uh other than as
[44:33] I said the firefighters.
>> I I recognize
[44:38] the word that you use the word nuanced.
I know and I respect that it is this is
[44:44] very difficult stuff
um administering it. Just moving on to
[44:49] sit C,
removing barriers that may disadvantage
[44:54] under representative groups.
Um,
[45:02] what sort of things are you referring
to? What barriers would there be for
[45:09] um
[45:13] I know language might be or the use use
of the English language might be a a
[45:20] barrier but I'd be interested in how you
mitigate that. Um
[45:27] um but uh what other barriers are there
besides language? of course uh through
[45:32] your worship. The um the primary areas
where we really start um looking at um
[45:40] removing barriers are around um driver's
licenses and criminal records checks.
[45:47] Those are the the two primary areas
where um we really evaluate does this
[45:53] need to be in here or does it not need
to be in here? Do we genuinely need
[45:57] someone to have a driver's license
because we may be keeping a whole
[46:00] section of the uh population? Um we may
be putting a barrier up to allow them to
[46:06] apply on a job. Um because realistically
you
[46:10] may not need to have a license for that
job. Criminal record checks is another
[46:13] area. Um and that is one that is really
uh you get a lot of pressure from um
[46:22] uh federal provincial um
uh regulation
[46:27] to ensure that you are not throwing up
again barriers in the way. Do we need to
[46:32] have a criminal record check for this
position? And there's a whole uh
[46:36] checklist essentially or flowchart that
you go through. Does it do this? Does it
[46:40] work with the public? Does it work with
vulnerable peoples? Is it uh a position
[46:44] of authority over others? And um so we
uh where this most often comes up is
[46:49] when we work with um our unions to
evaluate our jobs and we'll sit down and
[46:55] say, "Okay, are the requirements of this
job um being set in a way that are
[47:00] preventing people who would do a really
good job of doing it just because they
[47:05] got in a bar fight 20 years ago or just
because they only have their learner's
[47:10] license." Uh those are the two biggest
areas and while we do look at it u kind
[47:14] of in other areas um around experience
and that sort of thing. Does this job
[47:18] really require experience? Uh it's an
entry-level job. Why are we expecting
[47:23] four years of experience for an entry-
level job? Um the the primary areas
[47:28] where we look at it though are around
the um driver's licenses and and the
[47:32] criminal record checks.
[47:38] somewhere in this policy. I I have
another reference. I wanted voters, but
[47:44] you talk about I think correct me if my
interpretation is a misrepresentation
[47:51] that we want to have a workforce that
represents
[47:55] mirrors the composition of this
community.
[47:59] Does that mean we're going to have a
quot system? What does it mean?
[48:05] [clears throat]
>> Pardon me. through your worship. Uh what
[48:07] that means is that if we are doing our
jobs correctly during the recruitment
[48:10] process, um which includes things like
removing some of those barriers, which
[48:15] includes things like posting jobs in
places that you might not think of, um
[48:20] particularly places where um
folks who [sighs] um come from less
[48:28] well-represented groups might find them
easier. If we are doing all of the
[48:32] things that we should be doing, then our
um workforce should very closely mirror
[48:39] the makeup of our uh community.
>> So, we're not having a quota system.
[48:45] » Not absolutely not. No.
>> 8B.
[48:48] Something I don't understand. It may be
my
[48:52] last question.
[48:56] insured candidates are not excluded due
to barriers related to disability which
[49:01] I understand or other protected grounds.
What does that those words protected
[49:08] grounds mean?
Uh so protected grounds uh falls under
[49:14] both the Canada apologies through your
worship um the uh through both the uh
[49:21] federal and uh the provincial human
rights code and
[49:26] um
[49:32] I guess I'll I'll relate a little story
uh to to illustrate this. Um we have um
[49:40] someone who's a CEO in our region uh who
once had a chat with me about having um
[49:46] an interview in it must have been the
80s or 90s with um with a trans
[49:52] individual and how that was new ground
for them at that point. It it certainly
[49:58] wasn't as uh visible or or as accepted
as it is now. and how they sat down and
[50:04] they had a talk ahead of time about how
they were going to approach it to ensure
[50:09] that they weren't just being uh biased
against this person because they had um
[50:15] they were visibly visibly different from
what what they expected uh that person
[50:20] to look like. And uh that's essentially
what this boils down to is we have um a
[50:27] significant number of things that are
are protected. Uh sex, age, religion,
[50:31] country of origin. Um there's a whole
list and we need to be doing whatever we
[50:37] can to ensure that none of those factors
are considered during the recruitment
[50:42] process.
We do that through through a few
[50:45] different things. um primarily through
our um interview process being very
[50:52] transparent. We always have the same
questions for everyone. They are um
[50:57] they're rated on a on a scale where we
weight different questions heavier
[51:00] depending on how important they are. And
then we also have a section where we're
[51:04] like this is what a good answer should
tell you. so that we can be very
[51:07] consistent with um with our recruitment
process and ensuring that we are basing
[51:13] it on the person's skills and abilities
and not you know their family life or
[51:19] their first language.
>> So
[51:23] thank you. Yes, I I as soon as you
started illustrating protected grounds,
[51:28] I began to my mind was
not embracing that, but I I do embrace
[51:36] th those part those principles embedded
in protected grounds for sure.
[51:42] So if I'm, you know,
if I'm uh let's say in need of work and
[51:49] I uh I personally apply to the city,
you're saying that um I would be
[51:56] considered equitably be there would be
no seniors discrimination,
[52:02] no race discrimination,
no religion, no disability stuff. It's
[52:08] an equal
How does one
[52:13] this I think the city's been accused by
some people very unfairly. Um
[52:21] [snorts] uh and I'm just going to say it
but uh I'm just and then then asked a
[52:26] question you know it's like an old boy
club. Well it's not old boys let's say
[52:31] old boys and old girls club. How does
one guard against
[52:36] inherent bias? I mean I
I hated recruiting. I have strong
[52:44] biases, you know. Um
uh I just mean it's uh explicit. If
[52:50] someone came in into to be a
administrator in my school district
[52:56] wearing a nose ring, they may as well
turn around, right? They're the old
[53:01] days. Now it wouldn't it wouldn't bother
me. We all have biases. Some of them are
[53:06] ridiculous. Some of them are cultural.
Um, so is there a team approach to
[53:12] recruiting? It's can you can you paint a
picture how you go about recruiting for
[53:19] let's say a just a regular position in
the city?
[53:22] » Absolutely. Uh through your worship uh
it's uh bias is inevitable. Everyone is
[53:29] biased in some way. Um sometimes you're
aware of what your biases are, sometimes
[53:34] you're not aware of what your biases
are. Um something that I work with um my
[53:38] team on and with the managers on is
there's a
[53:43] a little dated but very educational
um bias testing center put out by I
[53:53] you have caught me flatfooted here but
I'm pretty sure it's it's Harvard um
[53:58] where you can go through and take
different tests and it'll tell you how
[54:01] biased you are in these different areas.
Um
[54:05] and then uh an area where I I
particularly do this is um before
[54:10] interviewing
um in some of our investigations uh
[54:16] we sit down as a team and we say okay
what are our biases? This is we're not
[54:22] here to judge each other's biases here.
We're here to identify the biases and
[54:26] then say okay here's here's something
where I know I might be biased.
[54:31] Uh, I don't like the color purple and
this person's hair is purple, for
[54:36] example. Well, how am I going to
um deal with that? The number one is
[54:42] being aware of it. Number two is being
prepared for it. Um,
[54:48] and then it really comes down to
ensuring that you have multiple people
[54:51] involved at every step. Um
at the uh at the unionized level we have
[55:00] always the manager and generally the
supervisor as well. If not they'll pull
[55:04] in another manager to be there for the
interviews. For um management we always
[55:10] have at least two managers there. And
then uh it's just a matter of making
[55:15] sure that everyone
realizes that it's part of their job to
[55:19] call it out if they're seeing an issue.
say, "Oh, I don't think you're giving
[55:23] this person a fair shake because what
about this, this, this, and this?" And
[55:27] um I think the the main thing that
really helps with that for us and our
[55:31] team is just that constant um touching
base with everyone. How are you feeling
[55:35] about this? Have you thought about this?
Hey, let's talk about bias again. I know
[55:39] that you guys just heard from me not too
long ago about it, but let's talk about
[55:43] it again. Uh and I think that that our
um well I know that our managers uh work
[55:49] very hard to ensure that they are making
uh what Devon always likes to call the
[55:53] right choice not the easy choice when it
comes to um some of our recruitment uh
[55:58] decisions.
>> Thanks councelor Parslo. Thanks Lisa.
[56:02] Any other questions discussion?
No.
[56:08] Right. Anybody like to
>> um I have a question. I I looked through
[56:13] the entire report and I couldn't find
one um mention of it but it's something
[56:16] I wanted to gauge whether it's on your
radar as we are uh crafting these new
[56:22] policies uh the use of AI in the
application process and how are you
[56:27] screening for that and what are you
doing to ensure that
[56:31] you're not getting 100 applications
written by somebody's computer.
[56:39] Well, um, through your worship, I would
say that we, uh, don't
[56:46] » I I'm biased against it. So,
>> currently, um,
[56:51] but really where a lot of this stuff
comes out is in the interview, right? We
[56:56] do 90% of our interviews in person. Um,
and the ones that we do online as well,
[57:03] they're very conversational. It's not
like we we tend to focus on um comp
[57:10] competency based questions. So, it's not
like they can just look up what the
[57:13] right answer is because they have to
talk to us about um their experiences
[57:17] within their career and and how they've
managed to deal with certain problems or
[57:21] issues as they arose. Um will we have to
become more stringent in the future?
[57:26] Likely. Uh but uh currently it's not
something that's really shown up as an
[57:32] issue for us at this point. Thank you.
>> Thanks, councelor. Any other discussion?
[57:37] » No. Anybody like to move for a
recommendation?
[57:42] » Councelor Parlo. Thank you.
>> I'd like to move that report number
[57:46] 26-128
from the human resources manager
[57:50] recruitment selection employment equity
policy be received. Further, council
[57:55] approved the recruitment selection and
employment equity policy as presented in
[57:59] this report pending the required 30-day
review period. Further that the hiring
[58:05] hiring personnel policy hiring hiring of
staff policy and hiring dash you call
[58:11] employment opportunity opportunity
policy be rescended. And finally, the
[58:17] hiring guidelines for hiring policy and
hiring induction of a new employee
[58:22] policy be rescended and verted into
administrative procedures.
[58:26] » Thanks, Councelor Parslo. I have a
second. Councelor McDonald. Any
[58:29] discussion?
I'll call this to vote. All in favor?
[58:33] It's carried.
Just going to take a quick break here.
[58:38] Uh I'd like to call a regular council
meeting for Monday, August 24th. Back to
[58:42] order. Next order business is 9.2. We
have report number 26-145 from the
[58:46] general manager of major infrastructure
and development uh regarding the water
[58:51] supply system project phase 2 planning
and recommendations.
[58:56] » Councelor McDonald.
>> Thank you worship. I'd like to move that
[58:59] report number 26-145
from the general manager of major
[59:02] infrastructure and development regarding
water supply system project phase 2
[59:07] planning and recommendations be received
for discussion.
[59:10] » Thank you councelor McDonald. Second,
councelor Kemp. All in favor?
[59:15] It's carried.
Anybody?
[59:23] » Councilor McDonald.
>> Uh, thank you, worship.
[59:27] Um,
it's a great report. Um, the thoughts,
[59:33] the insights into it are extremely
strong.
[59:37] Um just on a a high level first
impression reading the report and
[59:43] breaking up uh phase 2 into A and B.
Um,
[59:51] I wonder
as you acknowledged in there that it is
[59:56] going to put us possibly behind when it
comes to
[1:00:02] um possible
grants, funding, etc.
[1:00:07] Um,
was that built into your cost
[1:00:11] projections that we received last
council meeting as well?
[1:00:20] So through your worship, council
McDonald, uh I don't believe I had any
[1:00:25] cost projections last council for the
phase 2 A 2B.
[1:00:29] » Sorry, I meant the overall.
>> The overall? Yeah, I don't believe so.
[1:00:35] Breaking the phases into phase 2 A and
2B should not change our grant funding
[1:00:42] um opportunities. What it's going to do
though likely with the 2A is uh we're
[1:00:48] going to miss some environmental timing
windows which means it'll push some of
[1:00:52] the field work. What we've done in 2A
essentially is taken all of the field
[1:00:55] work and the site work and moved it all
the geo the the technical work and moved
[1:01:02] it to a following year. Our concern as
staff, my concern was that I didn't want
[1:01:07] to go down too far down a path of of
carrying all these options and doing a
[1:01:11] lot of technical work on all these
different routes because we've we've
[1:01:14] narrowed it down to three different
options when we don't quite know where
[1:01:18] we're going to get to yet.
>> Mhm.
[1:01:20] » So, our feeling strongly and the
consultant team um generally feel that
[1:01:25] that we can comfortably put that forward
and carry those risks and we'll manage
[1:01:31] those when we get there. Um and it and
it won't it won't hurt us too much on
[1:01:35] the on the front end right now when
we've talked about the most important
[1:01:38] thing right now is is really refining
down to that finding that final solution
[1:01:44] and that starts with a lot of
conversations.
[1:01:47] But is finding that final solution going
to be contingent on a lot of that
[1:01:53] technical work, actual routing
investigation where we get on the ground
[1:02:00] looking at each route thoroughly um with
the professionals, the engineers, etc.
[1:02:06] Um,
so are are we going to be delayed in
[1:02:10] making that final decision that way or
are we hoping just through phase 2 a
[1:02:16] that'll narrow down from three to maybe
two or 3 to one or
[1:02:23] » without having the the true
technical side of the information?
[1:02:28] » Yeah, absolutely. Uh I don't believe
we'll be able to get to a single
[1:02:31] solution without that final fieldwork,
>> right? Um,
[1:02:35] but I believe as I mentioned in the
report, I think we can go a long ways
[1:02:38] with the work that we're doing. And the
reason that I recommended the the
[1:02:42] recommendation number two as it stands
is because it it sits as a strong middle
[1:02:46] ground. I understand recognizing the the
capital funding that we have um and the
[1:02:51] capital reserves that we have. This
gives council a way to move the project
[1:02:56] forward and set up next council and move
the project forward decently well
[1:03:01] without spending a lot of money. Uh if
we wanted to do all the fieldwork now I
[1:03:09] didn't put this recommendation in the
report but you're looking at probably
[1:03:13] 900 900,000.
So, we felt there was a strong balance
[1:03:17] here of some cash to keep the project
going, but also we recognize that we do
[1:03:22] need to have those conversations and
find those partners and there's there's
[1:03:26] a lot of value in doing that and we can
likely the risks that we would be
[1:03:31] pushing further in the project should
not be as um negative if we if we keep
[1:03:38] going at this time. Does that make
sense?
[1:03:42] » And just one more. So, sorry. Um just
you know mentioning that we're looking
[1:03:47] at possibly you know just short of a
million dollars for the cost on the
[1:03:51] technical um groundwork to be done.
As we've seen so often in the last four
[1:03:59] years every time we hesitate and wait to
do something the inflationary costs grow
[1:04:04] and grow.
Is there any worry about that? that if
[1:04:08] we wait another year, 900,000 turns into
1.1 now and we're at 200,000.
[1:04:15] » Yeah. Uh there there's value in that.
There's that's a a great point. Um
[1:04:22] my biggest concern right now is is
trying to make sure that we're we're
[1:04:26] taking the time to do it right. I don't
think uh we're definitely not slowing
[1:04:31] down by any means. We will be moving
quickly. the first seven months in that
[1:04:35] first phase that feasibility study uh we
crashed the schedule and hit it real
[1:04:40] hard. Uh so now as about I think this
next phase 2A is going to take some time
[1:04:46] because it is all about those getting
those those people together in those
[1:04:49] rooms the nations the um interested
parties the industry industry parties
[1:04:54] and also uh members of council and
chiefs and council and that that is
[1:05:00] going to take a good solid part of the
winter. Now, there is some environmental
[1:05:05] sighting eroding work we can do, but
again, if we have these conversations
[1:05:09] and we are able to narrow even further,
I'm really cognizant of of not doing
[1:05:14] work that's unnecessary.
As I've heard from our council, we need
[1:05:19] to we need to balance the costs and I I
felt that this was a strong balance on
[1:05:23] that. Meanwhile, also in the report, my
understanding is if it comes through as
[1:05:28] recommended, uh staff will be hitting
the ground hard trying to find that
[1:05:33] funding, external funding as soon as
possible. So hopefully we won't need to
[1:05:37] expend the full 500,000 before we find a
funding partner to to assist us with the
[1:05:42] planning process.
>> Okay, perfect. I just want to state that
[1:05:46] I appreciate
we are taking the time to do this,
[1:05:50] right, Devin? um there's a lot of
thought and um planning etc going into
[1:05:56] this and I totally respect it. I was
just curious on that
[1:05:59] » and as I mentioned if the full there is
a larger phase 2A it does not include 2B
[1:06:04] you're looking at 900,000 for that
larger and that will include
[1:06:08] environmental timing work that we would
be doing immediately to try to hit that
[1:06:12] window this fall. Whereas, if this
500,000 that we've requested in the
[1:06:17] recommendations, that would likely be
pushed until council were to make
[1:06:20] further decisions later in the spring
when we have more information available
[1:06:24] to us and we may have possibly narrowed
even more options at that time.
[1:06:29] » Okay. Thank you, worship.
>> Thanks, Council McDonald. Go ahead,
[1:06:31] councelor.
>> Uh, thank you, worship. So, that 900,000
[1:06:35] you just cited was not the cost for uh
phase 2b. It would be the cost for an
[1:06:39] expanded phase 2a.
>> Yes. Um, I guess I'll go through this is
[1:06:44] I had a a larger 2A that was involved in
this that that the project team had put
[1:06:48] together. We had reduced the scope
because the 900,000 seemed a little too
[1:06:52] much for where we're at, our capital,
water reserves, things like that. We
[1:06:56] wanted to provide something to council
that we felt was a strong balance as I
[1:06:58] mentioned. Um, the 900,000 would include
some some highly specific site work and
[1:07:04] technical work and routing work.
And do we have a price tag for 2B?
[1:07:11] » Not at this time.
>> Not at this. But we're guessing that
[1:07:14] would be the more costly of the two
simply because of the technical and on
[1:07:18] the ground.
>> 2B would be a continuation of 2A and it
[1:07:21] would come from those after those
discussions. We've had those engagement
[1:07:26] discussions we've narrowed down to only
a few options. Mhm.
[1:07:29] » And 2B we our feeling is that by the end
of 2B we would have we would be at a
[1:07:35] spot where we would have one single
solution.
[1:07:37] » Okay. And it's not advisable to do them
in tandem just because we still have to
[1:07:42] do the stakeholder engagement with
various partners on the front end. So
[1:07:47] spending that money investigating
options that may not be viable based on
[1:07:52] those conversations
might as well split them apart and keep
[1:07:57] it until after the fact. The biggest
risk to the city is that carrying
[1:08:00] multiple options through um heavy
intensive investigation because there's
[1:08:05] archaeological reviews, there's
environmental reviews, there's a lot of
[1:08:08] permitting and regulatory reviews. It
can become very expensive very quickly.
[1:08:12] » Okay?
>> So, the conversation is we need to
[1:08:14] balance that with with trying to narrow
down. There's nothing wrong with having
[1:08:17] a couple options. A couple options is
good. Uh but if we can get down to only
[1:08:23] a few from the ones we have, that would
be even better.
[1:08:28] Okay.
[1:08:31] Um,
[clears throat]
[1:08:34] I think that was was my chief uh is
yeah, just making sure that we're
[1:08:40] I mean, I guess if if I want to play
devil's advocate for someone out there
[1:08:45] uh looking at this conversation who
maybe is
[1:08:49] opposed to who who thinks the need for a
new water source is overblown and um
[1:08:57] that
we're uh we're overshooting the mark and
[1:09:02] we just need to build another reservoir
or what have you. Um, seeing us move
[1:09:07] forward in this kind of incremental
phase
[1:09:11] may not be perceived as us being
cautious. It may be more a matter of,
[1:09:17] you know, incrementally you get so far
down the rabbit hole that you have to
[1:09:22] continue with it. you know, we're we're
um walking ourselves into a situation we
[1:09:27] can't back out of because the sunk costs
are going to be such that
[1:09:32] um you know, you have to keep moving
forward. Um and I don't believe that,
[1:09:37] but I could imagine there might be some
people out there who are going to watch
[1:09:40] this who will think that is as as this
is how big expensive projects get
[1:09:47] » the multiplex.
>> Yeah. as councelor Parsov all people
[1:09:50] would know um as you ferry these large
projects get them to the point of no
[1:09:56] return so that you're you're
essentially trapped by your own
[1:10:04] um so so yeah that once again I don't
think that's the case but I could see
[1:10:08] someone cynical about our intentions
here viewing this and saying well no
[1:10:13] this is just a matter of by the time you
actually get to decision-m point you've
[1:10:18] dumped three and a half $4 million into
this and you can't it's too late to turn
[1:10:23] back. So, um I don't think that's the
case, but a cynical person may draw that
[1:10:29] conclusion.
>> Council Parzo looks like he'd like to
[1:10:33] add something.
>> Are you good, Council? Good for now.
[1:10:35] » Thank you, Council. Go ahead, Councelor
Parlo.
[1:10:39] Yes, there's lots of random thoughts
going through my mind, but uh I I want
[1:10:45] to unto it with uh I too appreciate the
work and the writing. Uh it's it's good.
[1:10:54] So I want that out front. This is not
intended to be criticism at all.
[1:11:01] I'm working on the I'm not working. I am
uh I believe correct in saying that
[1:11:11] this whole
bureaucratic
[1:11:16] engagement
consultant stuff
[1:11:22] at great cost.
um is is judged and you have been told
[1:11:29] that this is a a necessary prerequisite
for any real consideration by senior
[1:11:38] governments. Is that correct? I I've
I've read it somewhere that this is
[1:11:44] basically the process that is been
dictated to you
[1:11:50] » uh through your worship.
>> Correct. So through your worship to
[1:11:53] council parzo there's a number of
permitting involved regulatory reviews
[1:11:56] that need to happen as well as um
obviously most recently the UNRIP and
[1:12:03] province's duty to consult that duty to
consult through the province falls on us
[1:12:07] and our project uh as well as
environmental archaeological impacts uh
[1:12:12] regulatory impacts we have many of our
solutions go through agricultural land
[1:12:17] commission agricultural land reserve
lands uh there's also other potent
[1:12:21] potential impacts to other pipelines in
the area. One of the one of these
[1:12:25] solutions crosses a number of existing
pipelines. All of those require
[1:12:30] technical reviews, technical or
regulatory reviews. Every regulator,
[1:12:35] ministry, agency that we're going to be
going to is going to be requiring a
[1:12:39] number of highly detailed technical
reports. So,
[1:12:43] uh yes, it is it is the process. Uh the
process exists obviously for a reason
[1:12:49] and it takes a number of consultants to
do a 50 kilometer pipeline because there
[1:12:54] is interferences every couple hundred
meters along this as well as obviously
[1:13:00] the most important cultural engagement
that we do with our nations and our
[1:13:03] neighbors to make sure that we are not
impacting or creating any cumulative
[1:13:07] effects. Um as the courts have have
proven is something that we need to to
[1:13:13] engage on.
Right.
[1:13:18] So, are we
um facing
[1:13:23] an emergency with our water system?
Um
[1:13:30] not this year for sure, but in future
years, we we're at risk, are we not?
[1:13:35] with the with the uh environmental
science predictions for this area being
[1:13:43] a drought area.
So do you have any um timeline? Do you
[1:13:50] have some mile posts
um with some timelines because
[1:13:58] you know the good reporting etc. We were
facing an emergency.
[1:14:06] We had a pretty good
situation this year that we feel secure
[1:14:13] at this moment, but that could change
quickly. Am I correct in saying
[1:14:19] you're not in? Yes.
>> Yeah. Through your worship. Um
[1:14:23] [laughter]
I had sent something out to council uh
[1:14:26] last week. It was one of our watershed
reports and so
[1:14:30] » we are feeling very good about it. But
it was nice for my staff to bring us
[1:14:34] back to reality a little bit and and
share that although uh if you look over
[1:14:40] the last three or four years the river
is doing quite well but if you look over
[1:14:43] the historical narrative over the last
20 years we are actually at the 50th
[1:14:49] percentile uh for flows. So we are still
low. So the question becomes, is this
[1:14:55] year the blip in the radar where we had
a decent year and the previous couple
[1:14:59] years are more the norm or is it the
other way around? I was just reading an
[1:15:04] article this morning about uh the El
Nino that is is all but guaranteed for
[1:15:09] this coming winter.
>> Uh and really now the discussion is just
[1:15:14] how severe it is going to be. It's not
whether it'll happen, it's just how bad
[1:15:18] it'll be. Um and so for us that
typically results in lower than normal
[1:15:23] snow and warmer than average
temperatures throughout the winter. So
[1:15:28] um I'm certainly concerned that at this
stage the uh this year is the blip and
[1:15:34] we're next year we're back to maybe
something that looks maybe like last
[1:15:38] year or the year before. Um, so from an
emergency standpoint, we have done a
[1:15:44] great amount of work to to establish
um a response and a solution to an
[1:15:50] emergency. So we've got that um with the
province uh that if we get in a spot, we
[1:15:57] have the ability to provide emergency
source water. Uh that coupled with our
[1:16:02] reservoirs gives us time to manage it.
Um
[1:16:07] so that is that is a solution. Um, it's
not necessarily a long long-term
[1:16:12] solution, but all honesty, if it takes
us a couple of years to go through uh
[1:16:17] the process that Devon's talking about,
we have the means and the plan to ensure
[1:16:23] that during those years of of planning
and
[1:16:27] [snorts] constructing a future water
supply, uh, we have security for the
[1:16:31] community through that emergency plan
that's been developed.
[1:16:36] » The Thank you. So we're I'm on the same
page with you. That's good. So the other
[1:16:44] thing now that that I want to comment on
because I the writing is very good.
[1:16:49] However, writing
is not a very good way of communicating
[1:16:54] to the to many many groups of people
uh me being one of them. Most people's
[1:17:02] leads as you know is visual.
And so I strongly recommend that you
[1:17:09] think about all these translitations
that you do need to have some engaging
[1:17:16] visuals,
infographics, whatever you want to call
[1:17:20] them, easily understood. Okay. Um
it's some attention because giving a
[1:17:29] report like this to
is a waste of time, right? It needs to
[1:17:35] be done. But you could use this material
um that I to to develop
[1:17:44] clear
uh images, right? The picture is worth a
[1:17:49] thousand words and you'll need to
>> I just need to put our fantastic
[1:17:54] directory communications Melissa on the
spot then her and the comm's team have
[1:17:58] been doing a fantastic job with
infographics and I think they're already
[1:18:01] down the path on exactly what you're
talking about. Good.
[1:18:04] » Yeah.
[1:18:09] » Are you good, Councelor Parzo?
>> Are you looking for
[1:18:13] » I was wondering if we would see some of
those one day.
[1:18:18] » Go to the city's Facebook page
>> through your worship to councelor
[1:18:21] Parslo. Uh, of course, we will share
those with you. Uh, we uh do have an
[1:18:27] excellent team that I am working with um
on infographics and materials. We also
[1:18:32] have um been actively making sure that
we're taking photographs whenever
[1:18:36] possible to ensure that we can describe
um this is as easy as possible. Um it is
[1:18:42] a difficult one to describe to the
general public. So you're correct. We do
[1:18:46] need to make sure that we are providing
visuals um that are easy to understand.
[1:18:52] » Thanks Melissa. Thanks councelor
Parsler. Go ahead councelor.
[1:18:55] » Uh thank you worship. Just uh another
quick followup through to staff. So uh
[1:18:58] recommendation number three with respect
to the environmental assessment office
[1:19:03] and how the new understanding of the
project may change the interplay between
[1:19:10] us and them. Does that have a meaningful
impact on the overall uh budget of the
[1:19:16] project? Is that and was that taken into
account in previous estimates?
[1:19:22] So through your worship um yes obviously
if if we the the current project uh that
[1:19:29] we and the work that we've done
certainly indicates that we're we're
[1:19:34] below the threshold that would require
um the environmental assessment office
[1:19:39] and that whole process that uh
would save us uh an incredible amount of
[1:19:47] time and with time comes expense. um
there's just a lot of process and for
[1:19:52] all the right reasons, but this project
uh honestly just it's um it just
[1:19:58] wouldn't be required with what we're
looking at. So, so that is a uh that is
[1:20:03] a positive for sure. So, it definitely
be savings.
[1:20:07] » Cool. Thank you. Thanks, councelor.
Thanks, Kevin. Any other discussion?
[1:20:11] No. Somebody like to move a
recommendation?
[1:20:15] » Councelor Parslo.
>> I'll move recommendation two.
[1:20:20] The council approved an additional
allocation of 500,000 from the water
[1:20:24] capital reserve for the water supply
system project to undertake the phase 2A
[1:20:30] work program as outlined in this report
with additional funding to be
[1:20:34] incorporated into the next amendment to
the 2026 financial plan bylaw and
[1:20:40] carried forward to 2027 as required.
>> Thanks councelor Parslo second.
[1:20:45] Councilor McDonald discussion.
Call this to vote. All in favor? It's
[1:20:52] carried.
Thank you, councelor Parzo. Councelor
[1:20:55] Roll, go ahead.
>> Thank you, worship. I'll move
[1:20:57] recommendation number three. Um that
council authorize staff to conclude
[1:21:01] participation in the environmental
assessment office process if staff
[1:21:06] determine continued participation is no
longer necessary or beneficial to the
[1:21:10] project. Further, that staff report back
to council regarding that decision.
[1:21:14] Thank you councelor second councelor
McDonald discussion
[1:21:19] I guess for those that are watching
Kevin I mean the main reason for this is
[1:21:22] just the uh the amount of volume.
>> Yeah. So through your worship, the uh
[1:21:29] environmental assessment uh act has uh
thresholds within it. And so with uh all
[1:21:37] the work that we've done uh with our
current uh use, future demand, uh
[1:21:42] projected population growth, economic
growth, all those things indicate that
[1:21:46] we are well below that um threshold. So
there would it would make no sense for
[1:21:51] us to ask uh for for those volumes.
>> Okay. Thanks, Captain. Go ahead,
[1:21:56] councelor.
>> Sorry, just an added bit of context
[1:21:58] because I did not initially understand
this myself when [snorts] it it became a
[1:22:03] big deal. Um, but basically when we
apply for a permit for X amount of
[1:22:08] water, whether or not we ultimately use
that water is secondary to the fact that
[1:22:13] the amount the permit is for, which gets
pulled out of the available inventory of
[1:22:17] water. So if we're asking for way way
way way more than we need whether we use
[1:22:21] it or not um for all the other users of
that water effectively
[1:22:28] that amount is is pulled out of what's
available for them. So it's a lot more
[1:22:33] work a lot more expense and a lot more
contention essentially to
[1:22:39] get more water than we need.
>> Thanks councelor and any other
[1:22:44] discussion call this to vote. All in
favor? It's carried.
[1:22:51] Council McDonald.
>> Thank you, worship. I'll move that uh
[1:22:54] recommendation number four that council
direct staff to prepare correspondence
[1:22:58] to the province of British Columbia,
including the office of the premier and
[1:23:02] the ministry of housing and municipal
affairs, requesting financial support to
[1:23:06] advance the water supply system project,
and requesting consideration of funding
[1:23:11] opportunities toward shovel ready
status.
[1:23:13] » Thank you, council McDonald. Second,
councelor Sednik.
[1:23:17] Discussion. Councelor.
>> Uh, thank you, worship. And I guess
[1:23:20] just, uh, touching on the concern I
raised earlier. What would we define
[1:23:25] shovel ready status as for this project?
>> Through your worship, counselor, I
[1:23:32] believe I may have defined it in the
report just for the public's knowledge,
[1:23:35] but it's buried in a lot of text, so I
understand. Shovel ready would be ready
[1:23:39] for procurement of construction
services.
[1:23:42] » Okay. So, basically ready for tender. Uh
yes, that includes preparing the
[1:23:46] procurement documents which would be
extensive for a project like this. Yeah.
[1:23:50] » So just if we were to generically put an
figure to it because we know that
[1:23:55] essentially bringing something to shovel
ready can be between 10 and 15% of the
[1:23:59] overall cost of the project.
>> Yeah. Uh yeah projects big and small
[1:24:03] that is the estimate we use. 10 to 15%
is for your consultation. So it could be
[1:24:09] depending on what solution we ultimately
land on anywhere between 15 and $30
[1:24:14] million.
>> You're likely closer to getting ready
[1:24:16] for for procurement. Shovel ready is is
a portion of that. So you're you're
[1:24:20] probably closer to 8 to 10% of a of the
construction value of the project.
[1:24:25] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[1:24:26] » Thank you.
>> Thanks, Council. Councelor McDonald.
[1:24:29] » Thank you, worship through you. I'm just
wondering if uh this recommendation
[1:24:33] should be expanded for communication
with the federal government as well.
[1:24:41] » So, uh through worship, yes, I think um
we should. We just haven't uh had that
[1:24:48] conversation yet. So, that's why I
wasn't in here, but I think that's going
[1:24:51] to be the next logical step is to reach
out to the federal government as well.
[1:24:56] » So, should we amend the motion then or?
Again, we're having that conversation
[1:25:01] now. [laughter]
So, if if council would wish, we can
[1:25:06] certainly add that uh that we could move
that to our uh local MP and to the uh
[1:25:12] housing and infrastructure uh minister
at the federal.
[1:25:17] » Okay. I'd like to move that we amend the
motion to include our local MP and the
[1:25:21] housing infrastructure minister.
>> Minister of federal minister.
[1:25:26] I'll
>> second. Second council all
[1:25:31] discussion
I'll call the
[1:25:35] council.
>> Um so just to be clear Kevin through
[1:25:38] through to staff. Sorry your worship. um
it's prudent to do so at this time and
[1:25:42] just recalling our conversations with
the premier um suggested that provincial
[1:25:49] support
would be intended to bring us along to
[1:25:54] the point where we were shovel ready and
then able to seek federal support. So,
[1:26:00] are we we're not worried we're jumping
the gun or it's prudent just to keep
[1:26:04] them in the loop or
>> I think can I I think but a bit of our
[1:26:07] discussions we've had federally and
proincially it makes sense to add this
[1:26:10] in there because if we can get both on
board right now then that helps as the
[1:26:15] project goes along. So, yeah.
>> Welcome.
[1:26:22] Any other discussion? No, we'll call the
amendment to vote. All in favor?
[1:26:28] It's carried. The motion as amended. Any
discussion?
[1:26:33] Call that to vote. All in favor? It's
carried. Thank you.
[1:26:40] Um
that was four, right? Yeah. Right. Uh
[1:26:45] next order of business is 9.3 report
number
[1:26:50] um and just before I move on, thanks
Devin for the report and everything on
[1:26:54] there. Appreciate it.
Um, next 9.3 we have report number
[1:26:58] 26-153
from the community culture and
[1:27:02] recreation manager regarding community
services refund transfer credit policy
[1:27:10] counc
[1:27:15] 26-153 from the community culture and
recreation manager regarding community
[1:27:19] services refund transfer credit policy
be received further that council approve
[1:27:24] the community services refund transfer
credit policy attached to this report
[1:27:27] pending a successful 30-day review
period.
[1:27:29] » Thank you, councelor. I'll second
councelor Kemp discussion.
[1:27:34] » Yeah, I think it's a great initiative.
Um,
[1:27:37] you know, it's it's when dealing with
the public if we can have a clear set of
[1:27:43] rules and standards and policies in
place to ensure that people have a
[1:27:48] [clears throat] consistent experience
across the board when they're they're
[1:27:52] coming into our facilities. that's uh
ultimately leads to a better more
[1:27:56] consistent experience for the public.
So, good work.
[1:28:00] » Thanks, councelor. Councelor Parslo.
[1:28:04] » Yes. I'd like to
talk about the policy uh considerations
[1:28:12] 3 C
which reads a withdrawal request
[1:28:19] received after the program has started
will be prrated and subject to a 50%
[1:28:26] withdrawal fee on the prrated amount.
the remaining amount of the program fee
[1:28:34] will be issued as an account credit.
I find that overly generous. Um,
[1:28:42] you've uh started a program based upon a
commitment
[1:28:48] presumably. I'm making this up from my
well I arrange a lot of art courses. So
[1:28:54] that's
let's use that as an illustration and it
[1:28:58] may not apply. If it doesn't, tell me
how it doesn't apply. So I I engage a
[1:29:06] instructor
based upon
[1:29:10] uh uh a number of participants taking
the class or the course.
[1:29:17] Um if that number drops prior to the
course um
[1:29:25] so many days I can secure maybe some
other additional people
[1:29:34] if I can't
I cancel the course
[1:29:39] I can't afford to lose money
[1:29:44] if if I enter if I start off the course
with sufficient numbers
[1:29:51] um and somebody halfway through wants to
drop the course. Tough.
[1:29:58] We've made a financial commitment. Now
you've got the exceptional circumstances
[1:30:04] as a later clause which I do accept. But
if I've made a commitment and there's no
[1:30:10] exceptional circumstances,
uh, why should the rest of the taxpayers
[1:30:17] pick up your your the whim of you
deciding, well, I really don't like it.
[1:30:25] So, it's I the rest of the stuff, as I
say, it's D is fine, right? The rest of
[1:30:32] it is fine. I just find C is rather
[1:30:39] Thanks, Council Parzo. Go ahead,
Lindsay.
[1:30:43] » Uh through your worship to council
Parlo. Uh we did discuss this quite
[1:30:47] quite a lot. Um most of this policy is
coming from um the pool. So, we find a
[1:30:55] lot of times young kids, they'll be
three years old, their parents think
[1:31:00] that they're ready for swimming lessons
and they'll come in and they will scream
[1:31:05] and cry. The instructor has to take all
of their time with that one particular
[1:31:10] child uh sacrificing the safety of the
other kids. So, in those kind of
[1:31:15] circumstances, that's where we're seeing
this withdrawal after the program has
[1:31:19] started.
So, we wanted to make it that could be
[1:31:23] included, you're right, it could be
included in the exceptional
[1:31:25] circumstances for sure. Um, but as a
customer service point of view or like
[1:31:33] we thought too last week we did um an
equestrian camp also, this could be
[1:31:38] those exceptional circumstances, but
kids who have never been around horses
[1:31:42] show up to camp on the first day and
find out that they're actually allergic
[1:31:46] to horses. Um, so that's why we put that
in there just as a customer service.
[1:31:51] Nice and quick. We can give that
withdrawal and then the money still does
[1:31:54] stay with community services because
it's a 50% fee on the withdrawal.
[1:32:02] » Council parcel button.
>> You've given two very good examples, but
[1:32:08] I think they're covered off by the
exceptional. This policy doesn't just
[1:32:13] apply to the pool. It is all recreation,
right?
[1:32:17] So yes, I
would concur with the decisions around
[1:32:23] the equestrian program
um which uh I've heard very good things
[1:32:29] about by the way um and uh the pool
decision. Uh that's just the good
[1:32:36] judgment of veteration and what most
people I would hope would do as well.
[1:32:42] But it's the on a whim and I think uh I
don't think you need I guess the C
[1:32:50] because the way you would administer D
is is in my mind very satisfactory.
[1:32:58] So that's just
a concern I have.
[1:33:01] » Thanks councelor Parslo. Go ahead
councelor.
[1:33:04] » Um
thank you uh your thank you to staff for
[1:33:08] the report once again. Um I did note uh
the the uh item C that councelor Parslo
[1:33:15] um
highlighted earlier but I satisfied by
[1:33:19] your answer and I figured um yeah the
customer customer service piece and the
[1:33:23] fact that it is retained within the city
as an account credit so it'll be used
[1:33:26] for another program and it keep them in
the
[1:33:31] um in the tent so to speak. Um, I guess
question just kind of and I apologize if
[1:33:38] you're not uh able to speak to this, but
I think it's worth
[1:33:41] asking. Um, how does this policy align
or compare to other city- owned
[1:33:48] facilities that are leased by nonprofits
that offer offer coursework and
[1:33:52] programming like KAC, like the art
gallery? Um,
[1:33:58] is there any interest on their end in
aligning policies? So, not to say
[1:34:03] obviously we don't want to do what
they're doing and run their thing, but
[1:34:07] uh a consistent policy around this could
also be useful for anyone offering these
[1:34:12] kind of amenities in the city. So,
there's a a consistent expectation.
[1:34:17] » Yeah. Through your worship to councelor
Earl. Um we can definitely approach KAC
[1:34:21] and the art gallery to discuss that. Uh
the aquatic customer service supervisor
[1:34:26] did check with other municipalities
though before we wrote this policy um to
[1:34:31] check to see what they were doing and
it's it's fairly consistent. Everyone's
[1:34:34] a little bit different but we
>> and yeah the nature of what you're
[1:34:38] offering it could be very different.
>> Yeah.
[1:34:40] » Um and not necessarily to to approach
them and and suggest they do it but I
[1:34:46] know a lot of these nonprofits struggle
to maintain
[1:34:51] up-to-date best practice policies. So it
might be a valuable resource for them
[1:34:54] just to provide to say this is what the
city is doing now in case you're
[1:34:58] interested.
>> For sure. Yeah.
[1:34:59] » Um and similarly uh what kind of
integration do we have through the
[1:35:06] city's website for say once again
organization like the art gallery or KAC
[1:35:12] it just to give them another outlet to
have people sign up for course work. Are
[1:35:17] they able to utilize the city's
recreation portal
[1:35:21] » through your worship? They are not. Uh
they all have their own registration
[1:35:27] portals. Um ours is it's called NextREC.
Um and it's just just for city
[1:35:33] facilities or just for city programming.
Um unfortunately, we can't add anybody
[1:35:38] else to our licenses. And we have an
administrator of our program as well. So
[1:35:44] the way that they do it is is different
than ours. I know KPAC use a
[1:35:47] registration system as well.
>> Yeah.
[1:35:49] » Um I'm not sure about the art gallery,
but
[1:35:51] » Okay. Yeah. I was just once again
wondering for the sake of consistent
[1:35:54] experience communitywide if that was
something that was an option, but thank
[1:35:58] you.
>> Thanks.
[1:35:58] » Thanks, Council. Any other discussion?
No. Thanks, Lindsay. I just want to
[1:36:04] thank you for the report and your um
ability for to go above and beyond with
[1:36:09] the customer service aspect. It's much
appreciated. So, thank you. Um I'll call
[1:36:14] us to vote. All in favor? Opposed?
[1:36:19] One opposed. Councelor Parslo. It's
carried.
[1:36:24] Uh, next 9.4, we have report number
26-155 from the general manager of
[1:36:28] community services regarding naming and
development of new park, Finn Park.
[1:36:34] Councelor Kemp. Oh,
>> thank you, your worship. I'll move the
[1:36:37] recommendation the report number 26-155
from the general manager of community
[1:36:42] services regarding naming and
development of the new park Finn Park be
[1:36:46] received further council approve Finn
Park as the official name for the new
[1:36:50] city park located at 1125 118th Avenue
and further that staff be directed to
[1:36:56] bring forward as part of the 2027
capital budget process a request for
[1:37:00] council's consideration for the
development of the playground area
[1:37:03] including playground structures and
equipment, fencing, signage, site
[1:37:07] preparation and improvements and all
other related components required to
[1:37:11] establish the playground area.
>> Thanks, Councelor Kemp. Second,
[1:37:14] councelor Parslo. Discussion.
Call this to vote. All in favor? It's
[1:37:20] carried. Uh, next 9.5 report number
M26-157
[1:37:25] from the chief administrative officer
regarding memo regional aviation fuel
[1:37:31] price comparison. Councelor Parsaw
>> move that report number M26-157
[1:37:38] for the CAO re regional aviation fuel
price comparison
[1:37:43] which compares Dawson Creek's aviation
fuel prices with available prices at
[1:37:48] selected regional airports be received
for information. Thanks councelor
[1:37:51] Parislo. Second cam councelor Kemp
discussion on the information.
[1:37:57] Call us to vote. All in favor? It's
carried.
[1:38:02] Uh next 9.6 we have report number 26-159
from the corporate officer regarding
[1:38:07] land acquisition 5202nd
Avenue and 12007th
[1:38:13] street.
>> Councelor Parslo.
[1:38:17] » No sorry. Okay.
[1:38:23] Councelor McDonald. Thank you.
>> Thank you. I'd like to move that report
[1:38:27] number 26-159 from the corporate officer
regarding land acquisition 520 122nd
[1:38:33] Avenue and 12,000 7th Street be received
for the council direct staff to add the
[1:38:39] following properties to the city land
sale list for sale at the respective
[1:38:44] appraised market values. um 5202nd
Avenue at $237,000
[1:38:51] and 1207th Street at $498,000.
>> Thank you, Councelor McDonald. Second,
[1:38:56] Councelor Kemp. Discussion.
Call us to vote. All in favor?
[1:39:02] It's carried.
Uh, next 9.7 we have report number
[1:39:07] M26-160
from the capital project projects
[1:39:11] manager regarding memo 100 Avenue
drainage and roadway maintenance update
[1:39:16] and long-term infrastructure planning.
[1:39:24] Uh, councelor Sudnik. Thank you worship.
We'll move recommendation report number
[1:39:29] M26-160
from the capital projects manager
[1:39:32] regarding memo 100 Avenue drainage and
roadway maintenance update and long-term
[1:39:36] infrastructure planning be received for
information.
[1:39:40] » Uh thank you councelor Sednick. Second
council McDonald any discussion?
[1:39:45] Kevin assuming this one will be
communicated with
[1:39:49] residents up there. We had a couple this
is where we had a couple letters on this
[1:39:52] one right?
>> Yeah. So through your worship, what we
[1:39:55] can do is um we can actually send this
report to them just to ensure that
[1:39:59] they've got it. They can see what the
plan moving forward is.
[1:40:01] » Okay. Okay. Thank you.
>> All right. Oh, councelor.
[1:40:06] » Um thank you worship and thank you staff
for the report. I think it's uh great to
[1:40:12] to very prudent and and it'll be I'm
sure um somewhat reassuring to some of
[1:40:18] the residents of that area. um when we
and I'm try and be
[1:40:26] very
[1:40:32] um ask question basically saying to what
extent when we are planning these
[1:40:37] undertakings
is this motivated by political
[1:40:42] considerations or squeaky wheel getting
the grease versus actual
[1:40:47] priorities compared to other aspects of
the community cuz there's several areas
[1:40:52] in the community that could use some
love. Um how are we ensuring that this
[1:40:58] specific area isn't crowding out other
um other priorities so that we're not,
[1:41:05] you know, not that they don't deserve to
have their their concerns addressed, but
[1:41:10] there's once again plenty of areas in
the community that need some attention.
[1:41:15] And um how are we we triaging those
things and not just are are is this
[1:41:22] consistent with our plan or are we kind
of somewhat upending the plan to because
[1:41:26] we got some letters of people who aren't
happy about drainage.
[1:41:31] » Wow. Through your worship that's a it's
a loaded question.
[1:41:34] » It is a loaded question. And while I I
don't I I don't want to diminish their
[1:41:39] concern or their frustration, um I also
want to ensure that we're allocating
[1:41:44] capital funds in an equitable fashion
that are ultimately not, you know, we
[1:41:48] look at what it costs to replace a road
that's failed. I want to make sure we're
[1:41:51] not neglecting those roads that we could
get in and and save some money on if we
[1:41:57] do it right now in order to
um you know
[1:42:03] » so uh this particular uh avenue 100th
Avenue uh was in or is in our plan for
[1:42:10] 2028 for resurfacing. So that's one
issue. That's just the road service
[1:42:14] issue.
The other issues that have come forward
[1:42:17] uh through the conversations with the
property owners is is the drainage
[1:42:21] that's not unknown to us but maybe
hasn't been elevated to a higher higher
[1:42:26] priority. So I would say uh there's kind
of two parts to this. Uh the paving was
[1:42:30] already identified and was going to be
addressed. Um the request from the
[1:42:35] property owners is that it gets
expedited perhaps. Uh there's some
[1:42:38] immediate stuff that needs to be done
and and as it should and and we're doing
[1:42:43] that. So, the paving probably it's
probably on time as per the plan. The
[1:42:50] drainage uh you see here is is a bit of
a bigger issue. We can we can just
[1:42:55] maintain the ditches and just kind of
have the same as we've always had. Um
[1:43:00] what we're proposing is that we look at
a bit of a bigger uh picture because if
[1:43:05] we want to uh what we talked to council
prior about considering urbanizing this
[1:43:10] and moving away maybe from ditches
>> storms longterm benefits
[1:43:15] » but it has short-term uh capital pain
that comes with it perhaps. So, um I
[1:43:22] would say that this storm plan and that
consideration of urbanization is going
[1:43:27] to that's where you're probably seeing
the um
[1:43:31] » crowding rising to the top a little bit
quicker than maybe it would have.
[1:43:34] » Okay.
>> Not that it shouldn't have. Um, and I
[1:43:36] guess just when with respect to costs, I
know, um, on a a cost,
[1:43:42] uh, from a cost standpoint, getting in
there and doing everything at once
[1:43:47] versus paving and then going back and
doing, is that stand for urbanization or
[1:43:52] is that just when you're already
replacing an existing storm sewer?
[1:43:56] » Yeah. So the
>> the challenge is is we could go pave the
[1:44:00] road, but if we're going to do
urbanization ultimately, uh that road
[1:44:04] elevation might be different in the
future. So we need to make those
[1:44:08] considerations now. So everything, you
know, will will fit together. So um
[1:44:14] again, albeit this might take uh some
time and some money to to do the plan, I
[1:44:20] think it's it's probably the right thing
to do. We have talked internally about
[1:44:25] the Park Hill area and that road network
of
[1:44:29] needing and wanting to do something in
that area to talk about this, but
[1:44:32] frankly as we go through the budget
process, there is always so many things
[1:44:38] that uh are considered and and it just
it hasn't made it till this point. So,
[1:44:43] um
>> yeah.
[1:44:44] » Okay. Yeah. Once again, I don't want to
diminish the the value of people
[1:44:49] advocating for their neighborhood or
their block when they feel like they're
[1:44:52] being underserved or they're or I that's
a perfectly valid part of the democratic
[1:44:57] process. Um, I just, you know, I want to
make sure that council is is
[1:45:03] understanding
uh the tradeoffs and making sure that
[1:45:07] we're not inevit unintentionally costing
ourselves more money 10 years down the
[1:45:13] line because someone lit a fire under
our ass for this.
[1:45:17] » Yeah. So,
>> pardon my language, sorry. you will know
[1:45:20] that staff will always be bringing um
priorities forward based on uh
[1:45:26] engineering reports and data. Uh but
that's always subject to change in this
[1:45:31] room or at the council chambers of of
there's always some political influence.
[1:45:36] That's your role. That that's what your
job is. So that
[1:45:39] » we accept that that that will happen
from time to time and sometimes for very
[1:45:42] good reason. So um but our our
recommendations will be driven on
[1:45:47] planning documents.
>> Much appreciated. Thank you. Thanks,
[1:45:50] [snorts] councelor. Councelor Parlo.
[1:45:57] » I'm still smiling about this, but uh I I
this this report has struck a chord with
[1:46:03] me. Um I really like it. I like the
structure of this report. You know, one
[1:46:09] of the things that Jim Shu many years
ago shared was some standards as it
[1:46:16] relates to responding to presentations
whenever you you're seeking uh cons uh
[1:46:25] opinions, collaboration,
you share what you've done,
[1:46:31] right? What you plan to do. Now, I'm not
saying that you've this this has never
[1:46:36] been done before this format, but I love
it because it shows that we've listened
[1:46:43] or staff in this case has listened and
we're doing something about it or if we
[1:46:48] can't do something about it, it would
explain why we couldn't. So I just want
[1:46:53] to commend I love this structure and I
really that was one of the things that
[1:46:58] uh when Jim presented that
10 15 years ago I don't remember
[1:47:04] [clears throat]
it really resonated me this is a classy
[1:47:07] way
you know if you go out you consult
[1:47:12] share what you've done with the
information
[1:47:16] what you're not going to do and why so I
just uh and I know Kevin, you give all
[1:47:23] the love out you could possibly give,
but if we don't give him enough money to
[1:47:28] do that or the taxpayers don't, we can't
spread it around is rather thin. Yeah.
[1:47:34] But anyway, I love the metaphor of love,
you know, as for council. But seriously,
[1:47:40] I do like this structure. Has it been
used before like this? But that's what's
[1:47:44] hit me, you know.
>> Yeah. So through your your worship,
[1:47:49] honestly, I I I can't say but I agree. I
think it is great and we'll certainly um
[1:47:54] make sure that Dne receives the
accolades he deserves on this and and
[1:47:59] something for us to take away when we're
we're dealing with this in the future.
[1:48:02] » Yes, it's that second sentence, you
know, that uh in the in the purpose,
[1:48:06] right, that I think is an important
uh standard to keep to if if that's the
[1:48:14] right word. Thank you.
>> Thanks, Councelor Parzo. Thanks, Kevin.
[1:48:17] Any other discussion?
I'll call this to vote. All in favor?
[1:48:23] It's carried.
Next order business 10 bylaws 10.1. We
[1:48:27] have report number 26-156
from the city planner regarding zoning
[1:48:32] amendment 26-01 bylaw number 46362026
for consideration of adoption. Councelor
[1:48:39] Cam.
>> Thank you worship. I'll move the
[1:48:41] recommendation that report number 26-156
from the city planner regarding zoning
[1:48:45] amendment 2601 BA number 46362026
be received for the zoning amendment
[1:48:52] 2601 by law number 46362026
which provides for a sightspecific use
[1:48:59] to permit a school wood metal shop with
the existing building on the subject
[1:49:03] property be adopted.
>> Thank you councelor Kemp. Second
[1:49:06] councelor Sudnick discussion
call us to vote. All in favor? It's
[1:49:11] carried. 10.2. We have report number
26-163 from the city planner regarding
[1:49:16] OCP amendment 26-01 bylaw number 4639
2026 and zoning amendment 26-02
[1:49:25] bylaw number 4638
2026 for consideration of third reading
[1:49:30] and adoption.
[1:49:35] » Councelor Kemp.
>> Thank you worship. I'll move the
[1:49:37] recommendation that report number 26-163
from the city planner regarding
[1:49:41] additional community plan amendment 261
bylaw number 46392026
[1:49:47] and the zoning amendment 2602 bylaw
number 4638206
[1:49:52] be received for that the official
community plan amendment 2601 bylaw
[1:49:56] number 4639206
and zoning amendment 262
[1:50:01] by number 4638 2026 which resates the
property at 1636 999th Avenue from
[1:50:08] industrial to commercial and reszones
the property from M1 light industrial to
[1:50:12] C2 general commercial to permit the
continued operation of a fitness
[1:50:17] facility be given third reading and
adopted
[1:50:20] » thank you councelor Kemp second
councelor McDonald discussion call us to
[1:50:24] vote all in favor it's carried
uh next 10.3 we have report number
[1:50:31] 26-116 from the corporate officer
regarding land sale 632 2 and 6 286th
[1:50:38] Avenue and 153796th
Avenue bylaw number 46372026
[1:50:44] for consideration of first three
readings. Counc.
[1:50:47] » Thank you. Your worship. I'll move the
recommendation that report number 26-116
[1:50:51] from the corporate officer regarding
land sales 632 and 628 106th Avenue and
[1:50:56] 153796th Avenue bylaw number 46372026
be re received. Further that land sale
[1:51:04] bylaw number 46372026
which formally records the disposition
[1:51:09] of three former city-owned properties
and the acquisition of two properties uh
[1:51:14] 10424
and 1042817
[1:51:18] street through the completed land
exchange with 1342000
[1:51:23] BC Limited be given first three
readings.
[1:51:25] » Thank you councelor second. Councelor
McDonald discussion
[1:51:30] call this to vote. All in favor? It's
carried. Next 10.4, we have report
[1:51:36] number 26-165 from the city planner
regarding official community planned
[1:51:40] amendment 26-02,
bylaw number 4642,2026,
[1:51:45] and zoning amendment 26-03,
bylaw number 4641 2026 for consideration
[1:51:52] of first and second reading.
Council,
[1:51:56] » thank you. be worship. I'll move that
report number 26-165 from the city
[1:52:00] planner regarding official community
plan amendment 26-02 bylaw number 4642
[1:52:05] 20226 and zoning amendment 26-03
bylaw number 46412026
[1:52:11] be received. Further that official
community plan amendment 26-02 bylaw
[1:52:16] numbers 4642 20226 and zoning amendment
26-03 bylaw number 46412026
[1:52:23] which redesates
the subject properties to parks natural
[1:52:27] areas and trails in the official
community plan and reszone the
[1:52:30] properties to P1 parks and natural areas
in support of flood mitigation purposes
[1:52:35] begin first three first and second
readings. Thank you, councelor. Second,
[1:52:39] councelor Kemp. Discussion.
Call us to vote. All in favor? It's
[1:52:44] carried. Next. 10.5, we have report
number 26-167 from the director of
[1:52:50] development services
uh regarding nuisance abatement cost
[1:52:54] recovery bylaw number 46432026
for consideration of first and second
[1:52:59] reading. Uh, councelor McDonald.
>> Thank you, worship. I'd like to move the
[1:53:04] report number 26-167
from the director of development
[1:53:07] services regarding nuisance abatement
cost recovery bylaw number 4643 2026 be
[1:53:14] received. Further that nuisance
abatement cost recovery bylaw number
[1:53:18] 4643 2026 which establishes a mechanism
for the city to recover costs incurred
[1:53:24] in addressing repeated nuisance activity
at properties be given first and second
[1:53:28] reading.
>> Thank you councelor McDonald. Second
[1:53:31] councelor Kemp. discussion
>> through your worship. I'd just like to
[1:53:36] say that uh the city's done a great job
on this bylaw. A lot of thought and
[1:53:42] process has gone into it to make sure
that the city is on a very good stable
[1:53:49] footing in regards to
[1:53:54] recovering the cost of uh these
nuisances nuisance properties, but we're
[1:54:00] in a good legal standing to do so. Um it
was a lengthy process to create the
[1:54:05] bylaw but I appreciate the thought and
uh work that has gone into it to make
[1:54:10] sure we are in a good position as a
community.
[1:54:14] » Great. Thank you councelor.
>> Uh thank you worship. Yeah. No, this is
[1:54:18] I mean
I I think um a reluctant kind of next
[1:54:25] step. Anytime we as a government are
seeking more power to
[1:54:34] deal with people on their personal
property, we always have to be very
[1:54:37] cautious. Um and people sometimes give
us some very good reasons to seek that
[1:54:43] authority. Um
and uh I think similar to the um I guess
[1:54:51] it's nuisance as opposed to false alarm,
but we we um enacted a similar
[1:54:55] chargeback scheme for businesses that
were um
[1:55:01] not responsibly using emergency services
or or municipal government services. I
[1:55:06] think it was last year and I guess this
is a continuation of of that or a
[1:55:11] different avenue of that. Um not
necessarily a false alarm but nuisance.
[1:55:17] Um I guess a question through you to
staff. What provisions do we have in
[1:55:22] place to ensure that this is not being
abused by a particularly latigious
[1:55:28] neighbor? And you know, we're not going
to end up with two two old dudes arguing
[1:55:34] over rose bushes um calling bylaw on
each other making escalating claims of
[1:55:41] misconduct
cuz that's you know where my mind goes
[1:55:45] is yeah 95% of the time it's for a good
reason but you're always going to have
[1:55:49] those particularly latigious people who
are going to abuse the process
[1:55:53] » because they can't have [clears throat]
a civil conversation with their neighbor
[1:55:56] » right so through your worship um I'll
I'll start and then maybe Bill can can
[1:56:00] add to that. But I think that's part of
this process uh which is where council
[1:56:06] are the ones that actually deem it a
nuisance. So the complaints could come
[1:56:09] in. Um the complaints though are
the nuisance is driven by actual
[1:56:16] responses to by you know RCMP emergency
services. So again verifying that
[1:56:21] there's some checks and balances. Um, I
think through that process alone, you
[1:56:25] could probably verify whether they are
legitimate concerns or not, cuz if
[1:56:30] they're false alarms, let's call it. I
mean, obviously staff isn't going to
[1:56:34] bring that forward as a nuisance
property to council. That's going to be
[1:56:38] cut off at at that process. Um, but
again, if it does get in front of
[1:56:43] council, council has the ability to deem
it a nuisance. Uh, the property owner
[1:56:48] has an ability to come in and appeal and
have those conversations. So there's a
[1:56:51] number of opportunities for everybody to
have their their say
[1:56:55] » and ultimately council will be the one
that determines it. So um I think that's
[1:57:00] important for the public to understand
that this is not
[1:57:04] some power that we will grant to a bylaw
officer or somebody else within the
[1:57:09] organization that could you know it
keeps those checks and balances. Um,
[1:57:14] okay. And I guess the the next question
would be if someone disagrees with the
[1:57:19] decision of council, um, is that
something they have the ability to
[1:57:24] pursue in the courts as far as
and and how do we need to be dotting our
[1:57:29] eyes and crossing our tees to ensure
we're not opening up a whole new avenue
[1:57:34] of potential expense and
>> right
[1:57:37] » frustration?
I'll look to Bill, see if he's got any
[1:57:40] comment on that. I go ahead. Yeah, thank
you. Through your worship to councelor
[1:57:44] Earl, um there is a uh response time in
the bylaw where the owner can come to
[1:57:51] council
>> for reconsideration.
[1:57:54] » Okay. Um
>> sorry I was just going to add that
[1:57:58] normally in these things that um there
is no appeal
[1:58:03] uh you know like the planning decisions
and such and such when council makes a
[1:58:07] decision there isn't a mechanism for
people a higher court so to speak. Um,
[1:58:13] so I guess the question is Bill is once
if council makes the decision
[1:58:18] » uh of the nuisance property um and it's
justifiable I think
[1:58:23] » the decision is made
>> and I guess you know that's always the
[1:58:26] thing is there's you know a fine line
between um you know you might not be
[1:58:34] particularly keen with how someone
manages their property or their
[1:58:37] household but there's a difference
between that and somebody who's doing
[1:58:41] blatantly anti social things to the
detriment of their neighbors. Um, and we
[1:58:45] just need to make sure that we're, you
know, understandably there's some
[1:58:49] reasons we're pursuing this, but we need
to make sure it's not just council, a
[1:58:54] future council,
you know,
[1:58:59] making life harder for people they deem
socially undesirable without, as you
[1:59:04] said, some justification.
Um, so no, that that I appreciate that.
[1:59:10] I just wanted to um
follow up a little bit to make sure
[1:59:14] because this is a new authority the city
is going to have. So anytime we seek
[1:59:20] that um we should make sure we we
interrogate what our motives are and how
[1:59:26] the public can expect that to manifest.
>> Yeah. So through your worship, the the
[1:59:31] process and the power really is, and
Bill, correct me if I'm wrong, is very
[1:59:34] similar to the remedial action process
where we have the ability uh with
[1:59:40] someone's property. If it's a hazard, um
if it's a nuisance, if there's issues
[1:59:44] with it, we council has that authority
to go through the very similar process
[1:59:49] um where staff has to present uh the
reasons why we should deem it as such.
[1:59:55] the property owner has an opportunity to
come in and and uh appeal andor provide
[1:59:59] a a restoration plan. Um so I just want
to be it's not new. It's it's slightly
[2:00:07] different or maybe expanded into a
slightly different way, but it's it's
[2:00:11] the process is is the same as what we
already utilize with remedial action.
[2:00:16] » Thanks councelor. Thanks Kevin.
Councelor Parlo,
[2:00:19] » does the city have a what a noise bylaw?
It does, doesn't it?
[2:00:24] Yeah,
>> it so would a rowdy party uh repeated
[2:00:32] rowdy party uh
which violates the noise value, could
[2:00:38] that be considered to be a nuisance
property because
[2:00:42] uh of the noise emanating on a regular
basis from it
[2:00:47] » through your worship to councelor Parlo
cor you're correct. Yeah. nuisance um
[2:00:52] defined in the proposed bylaw does speak
to noise, loud music, revving engines,
[2:00:58] frequent late night attend attendance of
vehicles, uh etc. So, it does speak to
[2:01:05] it. So, a barking dog
[2:01:11] or a cat that goes into my property and
repeatedly ds up freshly planted plants.
[2:01:22] Would that property be um
where that cat emanates from or from
[2:01:29] where the dog that repeatedly barts from
the deck every morning waking me up?
[2:01:35] Would that be a nuisance property?
[2:01:42] Are you referring to me because we're
neighbors?
[2:01:44] » Sorry. Are you referring [snorts] to me
because we're neighbors?
[2:01:48] » Um I'm just
>> No. The regional district doesn't have a
[2:01:52] noise bylaw that I'm aware of. Maybe it
needs one. Are you? You've been very law
[2:01:58] abiding since you've lived there. So I
have no complaints to file against you
[2:02:04] yet.
[laughter]
[2:02:05] » Thanks, Councelor Par.
>> Seriously, about dogs and cats, uh, you
[2:02:09] know, is is that covered? Would that
make it a nuisance property? through
[2:02:14] your worship to councelor Parslo's
question. Um that would be directed to
[2:02:19] the animal responsibility bylaw in my
opinion which we're in the process of
[2:02:24] unwinding. So
>> oh I don't why why would you do that? Uh
[2:02:29] why would you take it to that one rather
than deal it with through this? What
[2:02:33] would be
what would be uh your discerning factor?
[2:02:39] Was it because they're an animal
of a nonhuman nature?
[2:02:45] » Uh through your worship to councelor
Parzo because staff have been directed
[2:02:50] to
resend the animal responsibility bylaw.
[2:02:56] Everything regarding barking, dogs,
animal like animals at large speaks to
[2:03:02] that is spoken to in that bylaw. So
>> I see.
[2:03:08] So, human animals under this and other
animals under the other.
[2:03:13] » No, seriously, that's fine. That's fine.
>> Thanks, councelor Parcel.
[2:03:18] Any other discussion?
>> Thank you, Bill. And thanks for all the
[2:03:21] work on this. [snorts] Um, all right.
I'll call this motion to vote. All in
[2:03:25] favor?
>> It's carried. Uh, next, mayor's business
[2:03:29] 11.1. I just had a meeting with
Salvation Army. Actually, a couple of
[2:03:34] them uh there's just a new area manager
in the region. So, they came in, met
[2:03:38] with me. They're just talking a little
bit about uh their future and plans and
[2:03:42] what the needs are in the community. So,
I'm just kind of uh connecting them with
[2:03:47] the city team to to look at that and and
to know if there's areas where they
[2:03:51] could help in the social service
department. So, that was good. Uh Kevin
[2:03:55] and I met with Lori from the regional
crown council meetings. I think that was
[2:03:59] our second or third time. Um was great
meeting. uh extremely beneficial and
[2:04:03] there's so much um that comes out of
those meetings. So grateful that she
[2:04:07] comes out of her way to come up here.
She's also uh we did suggest maybe um
[2:04:13] the next time that she comes up if she
could time it were around a council
[2:04:15] meeting so everybody could be available
for that, but then she also mentioned
[2:04:19] that she's going to be down in uh
Vancouver for UBCM. So she's suggested
[2:04:24] um some times for that. So once we get
all our information, if you guys can
[2:04:27] just make sure you respond to to Kathy
on what works, um it's definitely
[2:04:31] worthwhile meeting with her. Um Kevin
and I went up and met with uh MP Zimmer
[2:04:37] just on the water project just to kind
of give him a brief overview and just to
[2:04:41] kind of try to get more to that federal
minister and to get some support there.
[2:04:47] Uh the Ravali plaque. So, um, Ross and
Cindy Ravali and their family actually,
[2:04:53] um, donated or contributed to the
multi-use courts, the building of that,
[2:04:58] uh, when we were building it, they
donated. So, there's a beautiful plaque
[2:05:02] that's been put up there. I don't know
if anybody's seen it. Um, but it's great
[2:05:05] job by the the city team to put it up.
They were very pleased by it. It's very
[2:05:09] it's nice. Um, so we had a a little
ceremony or present picture really there
[2:05:14] last week and a visit with Ross and
Cindy. So, [sighs] uh, Tormolene Energy
[2:05:19] was in town, um, as well and met with,
uh, council, myself, uh, councelor,
[2:05:25] counselor parzlo, and councelor Mcdonald
um, and Kevin attended. I just want to
[2:05:30] thank them for their time as always to
come up and, uh, to educate us. Uh, I
[2:05:35] had a couple things I just wanted to add
to this um that came after uh the agenda
[2:05:41] went out, but I just wanted to um thank
the city team for the signage on it's
[2:05:46] 8th Street and the corner of Co-op
there. They put up that way signage on
[2:05:49] the fenced area there. Um uh just
pointing downtown talking about tourism
[2:05:55] Dawson Creek. Uh like what a phenomenal
way to clean up that corner and I just
[2:06:01] wanted to thank them. It it looks
amazing. So, thank you Melissa and
[2:06:05] [snorts] Courtney um for the work. It
just uh yeah, just really looked good
[2:06:09] and cleaned up a lot that had a leaning
fence and not looked great for a long
[2:06:14] time. So, it's just yeah, it's just
nice. Um also just wanted to just
[2:06:20] mention too that the playground there's
a couple new three new playgrounds that
[2:06:24] are almost complete. So, just a thank
you to them as well for that. Um and
[2:06:29] then another one I had a meeting on
Friday with Northern Health just around
[2:06:32] doctor recruitment. So I just wanted to
touch on that as well. Um just some big
[2:06:37] wins on the retention and recruitment.
So this meeting was just directly with
[2:06:40] Northern Health. Uh but I just wanted to
share a few things. So there is three
[2:06:44] new family doctors um this year. There
is by fall of 2027 there's planned to be
[2:06:50] seven um new. Uh there is some things
that can can change but there's been a
[2:06:55] lot of work done on the retention and
recruitment and there's a lot of things
[2:06:58] moving that are um you're starting to
see the results of the last 3 years
[2:07:03] really of the efforts that have been put
in. Um so that was just some good news.
[2:07:07] They've also just signed an orthopedic
surgeon which will be here in the fall.
[2:07:11] Another good news. Um yeah so just
really good there. It was a lot of good
[2:07:16] news. The one downside is is we're
running out of of facilities to house
[2:07:22] family physicians. So all um with the um
three new ones that are coming, pretty
[2:07:30] much all of the medical clinics are
going to be full. Uh one of them does
[2:07:34] have a specialty physician in it. Maybe
two of them actually do, too. So there
[2:07:38] might be a little bit of room there. Uh
but there's a need in the community for
[2:07:41] another facility uh to house family
physicians. So, um I I did run some
[2:07:48] ideas by her and she did get back to me
this morning on some of that. I just uh
[2:07:53] not can't share them publicly yet, but
there is an opportunity out there. So,
[2:07:58] um but yeah, uh any questions on any of
that?
[2:08:03] No. All right. Uh next 12, uh chief
administrative officer operational
[2:08:10] updates. Over to you, Kevin.
>> Thank you, worship. Um, couple quick
[2:08:14] updates. Uh, reminder for council and
everybody else out there that the pool
[2:08:19] will be shut down August 29th to October
2nd for the
[2:08:25] annual uh maintenance shutdown period.
So, um, people will often ask why, how
[2:08:32] come? Um, it's important for us to uh
take that time uh to maintain the
[2:08:39] facility.
If we don't, um, we will have more
[2:08:44] shutdowns in the future as we're, um,
dealing with unnecessary or unscheduled,
[2:08:50] um, you know,
um, repairs. So, it's important for us
[2:08:55] to take this time each year and and
maintain, as I've always said, that uh,
[2:09:00] pennies on the dollar to maintain it
because uh, we certainly can't afford to
[2:09:05] rebuild a new pool sooner than we than
we should have to.
[2:09:10] Um quick update. Um we had a power
surge, bump something this morning in
[2:09:18] the community, specifically downtown. Uh
we had reports of at Kpack that there
[2:09:23] was something going on there. They could
smell some electrical
[2:09:29] um those electrical kind of burning
smells you can tell. So something
[2:09:32] happened there. don't know uh what
equipment may or may not be damaged, but
[2:09:37] we also uh had similar instance at the
memorial arena. Um and so we had some
[2:09:44] challenges first thing this morning with
the ice plant. Um we were at risk of
[2:09:48] losing the ice. Uh right now uh we have
the plant running and things are
[2:09:54] maintaining and hopefully starting to
cool off with some work that we'll have
[2:09:58] to complete later today. But knock on
wood, right now we seem like we're we're
[2:10:02] holding our own. So, let's hope that
continues.
[2:10:05] » Thanks, Kevin.
>> Yeah,
[2:10:07] » not great news, but good news.
>> Yeah. Thank you,
[2:10:12] » Councelor McDonald.
>> Thank you, worship through you to uh CEO
[2:10:15] Henderson. Our uh ECD contract position
that we were developing. Is there any uh
[2:10:22] further progress on that or
developments?
[2:10:25] » Yes, through your worship. Actually, I
was going to mention that and sorry I
[2:10:28] didn't. Um so, we are at a spot that
we're going to put that out. Um, we were
[2:10:32] just actually talking on Friday, just
ironing out some details. We're at a
[2:10:36] spot um where we're we're going to get
that advertisement out. So, we're there.
[2:10:41] » Beautiful.
>> Thank you.
[2:10:43] » Thanks, Council Tom. Thanks, Kevin.
>> Um,
[2:10:49] all right. Next. Uh, 13 diary. Nothing
there. 14 consent calendar. Anybody want
[2:10:54] to lift anything? Motion to accept.
Councelor Kemp. Second. Councelor
[2:10:59] McDonald. Call that to vote. All in
favor? It's carried.
[2:11:04] Uh, no media question. 16, recess
meeting,
[2:11:08] recess to close meeting 16.1, resolution
to move into the meeting of council
[2:11:12] closed to the public for agenda item 5.1
and 5.2, section 91 C, labor relations
[2:11:19] or other employee relations. Agenda item
5.2, 2 section 91J information that is
[2:11:25] prohibited or information that if were
presented in a document would be
[2:11:29] prohibited from disclosure under section
21 of the Freedom of Information and
[2:11:33] Protection of Privacy Act and section
91K negotiations and related discussions
[2:11:38] respecting the proposed provision of a
municipal service that are at their
[2:11:42] preliminary stages and that in the view
of council could reasonably be expected
[2:11:47] to harm the interests of the
municipality if they were held in
[2:11:49] public. and section 92B, the
consideration of information received
[2:11:55] and held in confidence relating to
negotiations. Uh, one between the
[2:11:59] municipality and provincial government
or the federal government or both
[2:12:03] between the municipality and another
local government or between another
[2:12:07] local government and a third party
and between the municipality and a first
[2:12:12] nation or prescribed indigenous entity.
Agenda item 6.1 section 91G litigation
[2:12:19] or potential litigation affecting the
municipality. Councelor [snorts]
[2:12:24] Kemp second councelor McDonald. Call
that to vote. All in favor?
[2:12:28] It's carried.
Thanks everyone.