[0:10] Call the regular council meeting of
Tuesday, September the 8th to order.
[0:14] There's a approval. There's an agenda
there for your approval. Recommendation
[0:18] that the agenda for the regular council
meeting of September 8th be adopted as
[0:22] presented. Can I have a motion please?
Councelor Nish and councelor Forester.
[0:27] Any additions? All in favor? Any
opposed? It is carried. Uh there is no
[0:32] public member here for commenting. So we
move to the consent agenda. Number of
[0:37] items on the consent agenda tonight.
There's council minutes. Minutes of the
[0:40] special meeting to close of August 24th
and minutes of the regular meeting of
[0:44] August 24th. There's a report for
receipt from the chief administrative
[0:48] officer. With regards to council
requests and inquiries, there's
[0:51] correspondence for approval. The request
for a proclamation for September the
[0:55] 21st is rail safety week. request for
proclamation of October 10th as national
[1:00] dental care day. Request for letter of
support from the city of Prince George
[1:04] with regards to the northern rural
homeowners grant. And there is
[1:08] correspondence for receipt which
includes a UBCM response for uh
[1:13] resolution that we submitted which was
deemed to be uh not fitting to the their
[1:19] requirements. Corporation of the village
of Slocan, support for continued local
[1:24] government climate action program and a
letter from Mike Hagen on behalf of
[1:28] Prince River residents with regards to
the support for regulated use of
[1:32] electronic scooters and ebikes.
Recommendation is that all the items on
[1:35] the consent agenda be approved or
received as requested. All in favor or
[1:40] sorry a move council and second
councelor did I hear it? Councelor
[1:46] Skelton Morgan. Thank you very much.
That's correct. Second, uh, any items
[1:50] you want to draw attention to? Councelor
Forster.
[1:52] » Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, the RCMP, I
believe, are going to be coming at the
[1:56] next meeting to discuss the uh, yes, I
think the specific request was actually
[2:02] scooters, not the ebikes. Um, but my
understanding is electronic scooters. We
[2:07] don't need to do a bylaw. They're not
currently legal in Prince Roert. It's
[2:12] not one of the cities that has the
availability of doing the trial.
[2:17] I can't comment on that. Uh, Deputy
Miller.
[2:20] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, e scooters and
and the like are um actually governed
[2:26] through a provincial pilot program that
the city is currently not a party to.
[2:30] So, we would if that was something that
council wanted us to look into, we would
[2:34] need to look at what the requirements
would be for that. But, there is a
[2:37] provincial regulation. We don't need a
bylaw for that.
[2:42] » Right. Uh, Councelor Cunningham,
>> we have a bylaw right now for helmets
[2:47] anyway. That's on the books.
>> Uh, Deputy Miller.
[2:53] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Our bylaw is
currently for non-motorized scooters.
[2:57] Um, it does not apply to ecooters uh or
anything ebike related. Um, and again,
[3:03] that's a provincial matter. So,
irrespective of whether we added a bylaw
[3:08] to to control that, it would it would
not supersede the provincial
[3:11] legislation. Okay.
>> All in favor? Any opposed? It is
[3:17] carried. Move on to reports. We have a
report from the chief financial officer
[3:21] with regards to permissive property tax
exemption bylaw number 3571.
[3:25] Recommendation that council consider the
repeal and replace of the permissive
[3:29] property tax exemption bylaw for 2027.
Motion. Councelor Randawa. Councelor AD.
[3:37] Discussion.
I noted on there um and I noted some bit
[3:43] of community discussion
um there's a rather significant uh tax
[3:49] exemption for uh Canf or for Patterson
properties and I know that has to do
[3:56] with the property that we lease from
them but I wonder if you might explain
[4:01] to us and explain to the public why
there's such a large exemption Mayor
[4:07] Cuchi.
>> Uh, thank you, Mayor. I'm going to defer
[4:10] that.
>> Thank you.
[4:12] » Uh, yes. So, the Campus Go property uh
is inclusive of the boat launch and the
[4:19] in order to have a public access for the
boat launch. Um, uh um Patterson had
[4:26] agreed to to allow the city to use it um
and and lease it. And because the city
[4:33] is uh non-t taxable, uh that portion of
Pisonson's ownership uh needs to be
[4:39] permissibly exempted.
>> Perfect. Thank you very much. Any other
[4:44] comments or questions? All in favor? Any
opposed? It is carried. We have a report
[4:49] from the chief financial officer with
regards to tax sale redemption extension
[4:53] bylaw 3572. Recommendation is council
consider the repeal and replace of the
[4:58] permissive property tax exemption bylaw
for 2027. Motion councelor Cunningham,
[5:03] councelor Nich. Any discussion? All in
favor? Any opposed? It is carried. We
[5:10] have a report from the chief
administrative officer with regard to
[5:12] building community strong fund
application. Recommendation is council
[5:16] authorizes staff to apply to the build
community strong fund uh direct delivery
[5:22] stream for funding toward the site
selection and detailed design of a new
[5:26] water treatment facility with a class B
cost estimate and that council directs
[5:31] staff to include 2.5 million in the
city's 2027 capital budget as a
[5:37] municipal matching contribution subject
to approval of the BCS BCSF application
[5:43] and execution of a funding agreement.
Motion councilors Ady and Nish any
[5:49] discussion
comments or question uh councelor
[5:53] Randawa
>> so that money will like we looking for
[5:59] tax on the public or it's coming from
legacy fund
[6:03] » uh shoocci
>> um thank you mayor at this point it's
[6:07] too early to to tell um we will be going
through the 2027 capital budget very
[6:14] soon. Actually, we're starting that
within the next couple weeks and it'll
[6:17] be presented to the new council. So, at
this point, we don't know where the
[6:20] money will be funded from.
>> Okay. I think um you know, I think it's
[6:26] worth pausing for just a second because
you know um lots of people pay very
[6:30] close attention to everything we do and
then lots of people pay almost no
[6:33] attention to what we do and that's why
we're get elected, right? is to make
[6:36] decisions. And so some people say, you
know, why aren't you doing anything
[6:41] about the water when in fact councils
for 10 years have been working on the
[6:45] water? The water dam needed to be
replaced first. There no point in having
[6:48] anything else if you can't don't have a
source of water. And so thank heavens
[6:52] the previous council did that work. That
work was completed while this council
[6:57] took over. If you remember, we went from
the lower lake to the upper lake and and
[7:02] all of that and and a lot of the boil
water issues uh subsided. Not all, but
[7:08] but a lot subsided because it's a
different catchment. So, water dam then
[7:13] this council had to deal with the water
pipes. We, you know, and so we've got
[7:17] the big project and we raised more money
than the community's ever seen from
[7:21] government funding and and uh and
that's why the streets are getting torn
[7:26] up and that's why all the you know
diversions and and detours are taking
[7:31] place and we're replacing those water
pipes
[7:35] to get ready for the final phase which
is water treatment. So right now Prince
[7:39] Rupert chlorinates their water our water
but that is all we do that water the
[7:44] water that we're drinking today is the
water that we've been drinking for 100
[7:47] years and and I remember in the 80s it
was declared some of the best water in
[7:51] the entire province. So um it it it's as
a natural source it's absolutely
[7:57] wonderful. It does have discoloration in
it. We know that um from the tannins in
[8:02] the water but um we need to go to the
full water treatment which will clarify
[8:07] the water. It it give more barriers of
protection. And so all of those things
[8:12] are coming to an end if you will in in
the water treatment program. This $5
[8:18] million is to get the early design, pick
a location for it, uh, and get a cost
[8:24] estimate that will allow us to, um, be
more effective in our fundraising,
[8:29] right? Right now, we kind of a finger in
the wind and say $75 million, but but we
[8:36] we don't know that. And so, that's why
uh, council is looking tonight to say,
[8:41] let let's get the two.5 million. Let's
match the 2.5 million. Spend the five
[8:46] and we'll have a much better idea of
what we're talking about. All right.
[8:50] Does that help? Uh did I get a vote on
that? All in favor? Any opposed? It is
[8:56] carried. Uh we have a report from the
chief administrative officer with regard
[9:01] to award RFP 2026
integrated project delivery services.
[9:06] Recommendation is the council authorized
staff to award RFP2000
[9:10] integrated major project delivery
service to the joint venture of Melhaney
[9:14] Limited and Associated Engineering BC
and authorize the chief administrative
[9:18] officer to execute the associated master
services agreement and subsequent
[9:22] project specific assignments in
accordance with the approved city
[9:26] budgets and funding agreements. Motion
please. Councilors ad councilors
[9:30] Randawa. Any discussion? Councelor
Cunningham.
[9:35] I know at the at this point that uh
there's no value to this contract, but
[9:42] when the contract kicks in, is there any
idea what the value will be?
[9:48] » CEO Pooie.
>> Um thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, at this
[9:52] point, I I can't really give you an idea
of what that is. It all depends on the
[9:56] project. So, uh and remember, this isn't
for construction. This is just for the
[10:00] consulting services for execution of
design and construction management. So
[10:06] we will be going out to public
procurement associated with all the
[10:09] construction and earthworks. This is
just to complete design and oversight
[10:14] for engineering. Um we will still be
doing our thresholds where we come in
[10:20] and uh and communicate to council when
we've done awards in you know over a
[10:25] million and and so on and so forth. So,
uh, at this point it's zero. We do have
[10:30] some projects that we want to get over
right away and get going on. Uh, but
[10:34] other than that, I can't tell you what
what it's going to be.
[10:37] » Councelor Ka,
>> my only concern is we're sort of giving
[10:40] them a blank check and the overview of
this. How's that going to be?
[10:46] » Coochie.
>> Uh, thank you, Mary. So, included in the
[10:50] report, it talks about an annual due
diligence report that'll be completed.
[10:53] We're likely going to use uh
Infrastructure BC, which is the same uh
[10:58] due diligence reporting that uh the
province of British Columbia uses for
[11:02] all of their major infrastructure
projects like their schools and highways
[11:06] and all of that. So, we've communicated
with them about an annual um uh report
[11:11] that can be completed, submitted to
council and to our funders. I think it's
[11:15] really important that we use government
money to the best way possible and it's
[11:20] important that we can show them that we
get the best value. So using their own
[11:24] auditing system to show them how we use
their money is how we would like to
[11:27] proceed.
>> Thank you. Uh councelor Nish.
[11:31] » Yeah, I just wanted to put a little
support behind this as well because you
[11:35] know I feel that you know we've all
learned lessons from the beginning of
[11:40] our our big project and and things to do
and things not to do. um you know, try
[11:46] to try and hit the ground running and
get things done. And sometimes that
[11:49] doesn't work as good as you want and and
you know, having to do a little bit more
[11:54] planning and and a and a and the the
ability to not really have the staff to
[11:59] do that. This is is going to be good for
that. you know, it'll allow us to to
[12:04] have the professionals that deal with
the stuff every day and help us move
[12:08] forward on on this water project because
we still have, I don't know, $150
[12:13] million worth of projects to do on that,
I'm thinking.
[12:17] » Yeah.
>> Yep. And and projects to follow, you
[12:21] know, as as we've talked about and and I
can't can't say it often enough, you
[12:25] know, we have two bridges that are at
end of life. They maybe have five or six
[12:29] or seven years left in them. Um, we have
a fireh hall that's end of life. We we
[12:34] are mandated by 2030 to have sewage
treatment, which
[12:38] we we know we can't do. Um, but there
there's a long list and and then we have
[12:44] recreation facilities that need
upgrading and and and refreshing and and
[12:48] um and by then we'll be ready to start
on something else. But the beauty of
[12:52] this approach is that um we don't have
to staff up and staff down and staff up
[12:56] every time. you know this organization
provides if we need a lot of them
[13:01] there'll be a lot of them and if we
don't need none of them the then you
[13:05] know the count goes to zero so I think
it's a I think it's a wise approach um
[13:11] all in favor any opposed it is carried
uh bylaws we have a delegation bylaw
[13:16] number 3564 recommendation that the
council consider fourth and final
[13:19] reading to the delegation bylaw 3564
2026 motion please councilors AD and
[13:25] Randawa Any discussion? Uh, councelor
Cunningham.
[13:29] » Okay. I I've mentioned this before and
I'll mention again. It's not so much a
[13:34] bylaw as a policy that I would like to
see when uh reconsider reconsideration
[13:40] of development permits decisions now
that we're going to be delegating power
[13:46] down decisions down to staff and that
that when the package is handed out as
[13:52] suggested earlier in that package is how
if you're not happy with the decision
[13:58] the steps you can take to do that
because we constantly hear people say I
[14:02] didn't know about that,
>> right?
[14:04] » So, if they get that in writing with the
package, then here it is. You were had
[14:11] it. Thank you very much.
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's it's it's in, as you
[14:15] know, it's in the bylaw. You know, a
person may appeal the decision to
[14:19] council, but if they don't know about
that, it's not very helpful. Any other
[14:24] comments or questions? All in favor? Any
opposed? It's carried. We have the de
[14:30] development approval information
amendment by law number 3565.
[14:34] A recommendation that council consider
fourth and final reading to development
[14:37] approval information amendment by law
number 3565 2026. Motion please.
[14:43] Councelor Nish, I saw your hand many
other times. So and councelor Cunningham
[14:47] any discussion
now. Councelor Nish. Uh the only
[14:51] question I have was uh being that we
have in place uh the development uh
[14:58] policy that has no cost for zoning
amendments and housing. I just want to
[15:04] make sure that that's still part even
though that this is written.
[15:10] » CO
Thank you. I'm going to defer to our
[15:13] deputy
>> deputy Miller.
[15:15] » Thank you. Uh yes, that was not uh
formed as part of the bylaw previously.
[15:19] It was a it was a separate policy that
came forward to council. So though
[15:22] that's still that's unaffected.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[15:25] » Any other questions? All in favor? Any
opposed? Carried. We have development
[15:30] procedure bylaw number 3566
2026. Recommendation that council
[15:35] consider fourth and final reading to
development procedure bylaw number 3566
[15:40] 2026. Motion. Councelor Forester.
Councelor Randalla. Discussion.
[15:46] All in favor? Any opposed? It's carried.
We have officers bylaw number 3567.
[15:53] Recommendation council consider fourth
and final reading to the officers bylaw
[15:58] number 3567206.
[16:03] Uh motion councelor Forester councelor
80. Any discussion?
[16:09] All in favor? Any opposed? It is
carried. We have corporate signing
[16:15] authority delegation bylaw number 3568
20266. Recommendation to the council
[16:20] consider fourth and final reading to
corporate signing authority and
[16:23] delegation by number 3568 2026. Motion
councilors Cunningham and Nish
[16:30] discussion.
All in favor? Any opposed? Is carried.
[16:35] We have freedom of information and
protection of private privacy
[16:38] administration by number 3569.
Recommendation is council consider
[16:43] fourth and final reading to freedom and
of information and protection of privacy
[16:47] administration bylaw number 256
sorry 3569
[16:53] » that should be three
>> 3569 thank you very much um uh motion
[16:59] councilors Forester councilors 80 any
discussion
[17:03] all in favor any opposed is carried we
have a permissive property tax exemption
[17:09] by law number 3571 recommendation
Council consider first, second, third
[17:12] readings to permissive property tax
exemption by line number 35712026.
[17:18] Councelor Forester and
>> C.
[17:23] » Oh, did you have your hand up? Councelor
Skelton Morvin, we'll get you in there.
[17:26] Yeah, sorry. Second council skeleton
Morvin.
[17:30] » Thank you very much. I note, and I
usually do at the beginning of the
[17:33] meeting, councelor Skelton Morvin is
joining us remotely this this evening.
[17:37] Um, so it's moved and seconded. Any
discussion?
[17:41] All in favor? Any opposed? It is
carried. We have a tax sale redemption
[17:46] extension by line number 3572.
Recommendation that council consider
[17:50] first, second, and third readings uh to
the tax sale redemption extension file
[17:54] by number 3572 2026. Councilors
Cunningham and Forester. Any discussion?
[18:00] All in favor? Any opposed? It is
carried. Council round table. Councelor
[18:06] Cunningham.
I'd like to uh bring it to the attention
[18:11] of the community. Most of the community
was there. The ILWU had a
[18:17] barbecue for Labor Day and uh many
unions had their displays there and
[18:24] that. But what I saw when I was there
was the community coming together to
[18:31] celebrate the history of labor in this
town, but also how important it is right
[18:36] now for us to look within and shop
within to support local not only in in
[18:43] town here but in the country because of
what's going on throughout
[18:50] the south of 49th parallel there that uh
I think it's very important that uh we
[18:56] shop in the community or shop down the
line and things like that. You know, by
[19:02] shopping on eBay and Amazon right now,
you're helping Donald Duck. So, I think
[19:07] it's uh it's something we should all
look at, especially strong union people,
[19:12] supporting other strong union people.
>> Thank you, Councelor uh Forester.
[19:17] » Thanks, Mr. Mayor. I I echo uh councelor
Cunningham's as somebody who was there
[19:22] wearing my 9 to5 hat. Um it was really
great to see all the unions come
[19:28] together. There was I think they said
they gave out over 1,400 plates of food.
[19:33] » Um significant success for many people
in our community. So that was wonderful
[19:38] to see. Um a couple of other things I
wanted to uh see if we could make an
[19:44] extension of the request. So, we've
already requested that the RC or I
[19:48] requested the RCMP come and talk about
the escooters. There's also been a lot
[19:53] of confusion uh in the public. We used
to have a media person for the RCMP who
[19:58] would give um media updates when there's
been significant
[20:04] or believe to be significant police
events. There would be a bit of a
[20:08] community update. Could we when the RCMP
come to talk about Easters, could we
[20:12] also ask to find out? Could we have
something like that returned to our
[20:16] community? If not, why not? Um I I
believe the person that did it is no
[20:22] longer in our community and that might
just be a maybe they need to train up,
[20:27] but could we find out if there's a
reason or a way we could get uh
[20:31] something Yes. something happened,
there's no risk to the public, that type
[20:34] of an announcement. Yep.
>> Um,
[20:38] and I think that was it. Thank you so
much.
[20:40] » All right, Councelor 80,
>> I won't repeat too much about the Labor
[20:46] Day event, but uh it was an outstanding
turnout and I would just make the point
[20:51] that we celebrate
um
[20:56] the union movement and what it's brought
um to workers in the union movement, but
[21:02] we should also remember that that has
meant
[21:06] um changes and benefits for people who
are not part of the union movement uh
[21:11] whether that's minimum wages or working
hours, labor labor standards and so on.
[21:16] So there there is a concentric circle
that goes beyond the lab the the formal
[21:21] labor movement as well. Um and it was an
outstanding event, loads of fun. Um, I
[21:29] have a question that was put to me and
and I I've since um received an answer,
[21:35] but I I imagine there are other people
wondering about the uh large equipment
[21:40] that is gathering up at the uh uh top of
6th Avenue West and what that means for
[21:47] the future of people in that area. And
I'm asking in particular because with
[21:52] school opening tomorrow or sorry today,
open today, full days tomorrow. Um
[22:02] last year we we saw how the busy traffic
on Prince Robert Boulevard is affected
[22:08] by um construction. The next most busy
traffic area is between the hospital and
[22:16] Roosevelt School and Annunciation School
at um the opening and closing of
[22:21] schools. So, I'm I'm interested in um
what that means for the people on 6th
[22:27] Avenue West in the foreseeable future.
>> CO Pooie.
[22:33] » Thank you, Mayor. Uh a great question.
As council can remember, we we awarded
[22:38] uh the 6th Avenue um corridor which is
between the library and um and
[22:45] Roosevelt. I believe it goes partially
around Summit. I'm not sure if it makes
[22:49] it all the way to the hospital. Uh it is
a large corridor. It is a um emergency
[22:53] services corridor. It is a busy transit
corridor. Uh nevertheless, that got an
[22:59] old pipe in it that needs to be
replaced. Um we have learned from uh
[23:04] other areas on how to do uh staged
closures so that we can keep as much of
[23:10] it open as possible. Uh one of the
benefits of Sixth Avenue is that there
[23:14] is a lot of workarounds in some of those
side streets like 7th and up on Fifth.
[23:18] So we will be um making sure that
whenever there's a closure of a certain
[23:23] block that there is a workaround and and
that that that uh active um
[23:28] transportation uh can can move around
those areas. The um the part uh up by
[23:35] Roosevelt in the gravel area that has
been blocked off by NAP construction is
[23:40] a is a material layown area. Um it is a
big gravel patch that can be used to put
[23:45] pipe down and and store equipment in
preparation for for the works. Um the
[23:51] where we are working on all the traffic
management plans right now and looking
[23:55] at what those phase closures look like
and as soon as they get approved we'll
[23:58] be uh doing mailers out to the people
that are going to be affected throughout
[24:03] uh that corridor as well as putting
media blasts out to to the entire
[24:07] community. councelor.
>> And one more thing, having having given
[24:11] all of the school kids an extra day off
in my previous remark, um they must feel
[24:18] feel short changed because I'm sure they
were at school. Uh wishing all of them
[24:22] and the teachers who will work with them
and the EAS and the administrators an
[24:27] excellent year.
>> Yeah. Excellent.
[24:31] » Uh councelor Randawa.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, same note
[24:35] like uh he thanks for the update on the
six and people still asking about the
[24:40] like paving on the crest view and east
11 if you have any update for the
[24:45] people. See Ouchi. Uh thank you very
much. Uh so paving on it's Victoria
[24:52] Street and from Crestu down Victoria
Street and what we're calling phase one
[24:56] of 11th. Uh that is uh the quote is has
come in I believe either today. I
[25:02] haven't looked at it or it'll be in in
the next day or two, but it will be done
[25:06] during the next uh sunny stretch. There
is uh some valve work that just needs to
[25:10] be done first, but uh the plan is to
have first lift done on all of that
[25:14] gravel uh right now and then uh for then
after the winter and after phase two is
[25:21] complete, they'll do first lift and then
there'll be a monolithic single lift
[25:24] that goes over the second part of
everything al together. So, uh, the plan
[25:29] is by the end of the month it will be
paved.
[25:34] » Councelor Cunningham,
>> while we're on paving for Nars Doll,
[25:38] those two patches are
>> Are they going to get done?
[25:44] » Uh, thank you. We're just wait. They've
been approved. We're just waiting for a
[25:48] little bit of good weather. We
prioritized obviously the Second Avenue
[25:51] Bridge to get that done before the
school season. Um that paving took three
[25:57] or four days. That's just the the way it
needed to be paved. Some of it had to be
[26:01] done by hand and then and then uh
several lifts after that um to make sure
[26:06] that water doesn't um stay on that
bridge. It's really important that water
[26:10] sheds appropriately off that bridge or
you can have hydroplaning. So, uh, we
[26:14] use a lot of good weather for that one.
And, uh, I understand we're coming into
[26:18] stretch of good weather here pretty
quick. And we have, uh, all of the sites
[26:22] that we, uh, discussed with the capital
paving program will be completed.
[26:26] There's several water patches that are
in town that will be completed. And then
[26:30] the 11th and Victoria will be completed
all by the end of the month.
[26:36] the um and and people have commented on
it. The the quality of the work,
[26:42] at least from a layman's point of view,
on Second Avenue Bridge, appears to be
[26:46] marvelous. It's it's a wonderful smooth
surface and and uh and really well done.
[26:53] Um I I only have a comment with regards
to the Labor Day um celebration that I I
[27:00] uh my vantage point is ever so slightly
different in that I celebrated the
[27:04] building and and the way it's being used
and the way it's being shared um with
[27:10] the community. Uh I I had a chance to
talk to the president there for some
[27:16] time and you know in in and amongst
everybody else that was working the the
[27:20] Prince Lions were busy cooking and
serving and doing their thing and
[27:25] apparently they meet free of charge uh
at at the hall and and uh and and Keith
[27:32] took great pride and pleasure I think in
being able to speak about how that
[27:38] building can be and an asset in
community building and um and so kudos
[27:45] to to the leadership at ILWU and and to
the membership because uh you don't have
[27:52] to do that but it it it does make for a
better community. Thank you. Anything
[27:57] else?
[28:00] Motion to adjurnn. Motion uh councelor
Forester seconded councelor Randawa. All
[28:06] in favor? Any opposed? It is carried.
Meeting a jerk.