Quesnel councillors discussed their recent trip to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference, voted on a housing conversion in west Quesnel and approved grant applications during the Oct. 22 council meeting.
The meeting started with incoming city manager Joel McKay giving a brief introduction. McKay will replace Byron Johnson who left to pursue a job in Clearwater. McKay will take on the role starting in January. Deputy city manager Kari Bolton will serve as acting city manager until then.
"I hope to bring my expertise to take Quesnel in the direction that you wanted to go," McKay told council. "We have an extraordinarily professional staff from what I can see and I'm looking forward to getting to know each and every one of them."
Committee reports
Council went on to hear a report from Coun. Mitch Vik for the financial sustainability and audit committee report. Some of the highlights of the report include renewing the SPCA contract, noting the tax sale on Oct. 7 which saw two properties purchased, one by the city and one by a third party, and that the committee is working to get an update on the costs of Johnston Bridge improvements.
Coun. Martin Runge gave the policy and bylaw committee report. The committee finalized a sign for Bert DeVink's moose statue outside of Arena 2 which will include the name of the statue, DeVink's name, a safety note and a generic acknowledgement for the people who helped get the moose to Quesnel, refurbish it and get it placed outside the arena.
Runge also spoke about bylaws surrounding people camping on the city's riverbanks. He explained the city's policy is to recommend people camping on riverbanks seek other shelter due to safety concerns.
UBCM reports
Councillors then spoke about their key takeaways from UBCM.
Coun. Tony Goulet referenced a speech given by former MP Jody Wilson-Raybould and a conference on how municipalities can work with Indigenous nations.
"Key messages she was talking about were 'listen and learn.' I think those are important factors as we move forward on how we work together with our Indigenous partners," Goulet said. "Let's go in with an open mind and be able to move forward."
Goulet added that many municipalities shared similar concerns around public safety, climate change and homelessness and one of the top questions was how to fund solutions to those problems.
Several councillors shared they had meetings with Pacific Coastal Airlines and are interested in exploring the possibility of having them operate out of the Quesnel Airport.
Coun. Vik said housing was one of the top priorities of UBCM, he said he spoke with a former executive director of the Home Builders Association of Northern B.C. who floated meeting with Quesnel more often about housing priorities. Vik said he also spoke with Telus who works on using some of its underutilized properties for housing. He added that Telus has property in Quesnel and he thought the city partnering with the company on housing for their first project in northern B.C. is a good idea.
He also said he's hoping Quesnel can get a Tiger Dam, a type of deployable flood protection barrier for emergency situations like floods, which can help the city, First Nations and surrounding communities in the case of potential floods. Quesnel has access to a Tiger Dam through Emergency Management B.C. but does not have their own dam kept locally.
Vik also met with groups about treating manganese in Quesnel's water, he said one group told him chlorine can target the manganese without causing a smell or taste change in the water.
Coun. Scott Elliott talked about Hakai Energy Solutions, which he said is innovative in installing solar panels on residential, commercial, First Nations and municipalities' properties. They have worked with fire halls, school districts and other organizations around the province to add additional sources of power.
Elliott also said he heard from a group that works with municipalities to train staff on how to build positive relationships with Indigenous communities.
Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg spoke about tools local governments can use to confront residential school denialism. She also spoke about meeting someone who works to improve Canada's laws around identifying and protecting unmarked graves and burial sites at residential school sites.
She also spoke about the importance of having First Nations as part of regional districts.
"There are regional districts that actually have seats at the table for First Nations and it's not because they've been told they had to do it, it's because they know it's the right thing to do," Roodenburg said. "I'd much rather be ahead of the law when it comes to some of this stuff just because it's the right thing to do."
Runge gave his UBCM report, saying he was very happy to have gone. He spoke about some of the costs of climate change-related disasters and how to mitigate those costs following disasters. He spoke about costs related to flooding in Merritt a few years ago and how costs for repairs were covered largely by people and governments with only 7.5 per cent coming from insurance. He said they still have repairs they can't afford because their tax base isn't big enough and he worries about what could happen if Quesnel faces a similar disaster.
Pay raises and grant applications
Council will be getting a two per cent increase to remuneration Jan. 1, 2025. Council salary is tied to inflation. Council did not vote on this as it is set out as city policy and this information was shared to council for information purposes.
This will bump up the mayor's salary from $64,068.55 to $65,349.92. Councillor pay will increase from $21,685.73 to $22,119.44.
Council approved an application to the Northern Development Initiative Trust for $20,000 to go towards business facade improvements in Quesnel. Vik said it's a very important grant and he wants to work on improving businesses' awareness of it moving forward by sending documents out to organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and local BIAs.
They also approved an application for training for the Quesnel Volunteer Fire Department through the UBCM emergency preparedness fund.
Council then discussed a letter from the Fraser-Fort George Regional District about the closure of the Quesnel-Hixon Road. Council agreed to support the neighbouring regional district in asking higher levels of government to repair the stretch of road while emphasizing the north-south inter-connector project as the top road infrastructure priority of Quesnel.
Multi-unit housing incentive
Council then discussed a multi-unit housing development at 668 Doherty Drive. The property was approved to convert the two-storey commercial building into a three-floor building with 17 units of housing.
The property owners wanted to apply for the multi-unit housing incentive bylaw, which gives a decade of tax exemptions on improvements made to support multi-unit housing on properties. The plans for the building did not meet all of the requirements for the bylaw as the original plan didn't include outdoor spaces or accessibility options for at least 50 per cent of the units.
The property owners came back to council with a plan to add balconies to nine of the units and add an elevator. They were seeking an exemption to the requirement for all of the units to have balconies or a shared green space.
"This is not a code issue, this is not a building bylaw issue. This is a multi-unit incentive requirements issue," director of development services Tanya Turner explained to council. "It's a design feature that you typically require or you look to try and encourage in developments so that people have access to outdoor space." She added about the reasoning for the balconies as a requirement for the incentive.
Runge was the sole vote against the exemption, saying he wasn't comfortable with it.
First Nations correspondence and meetings
They then discussed a letter from the Nazko First Nation, saying the City of Quesnel hasn't meaningfully engaged the First Nation about matters that may impact them.
Staff said they have reached out to Nazko to arrange a meeting with Roodenburg and acting city manager Kari Bolton as a first step and suggested a staff to staff meeting between Quesnel and Nazko.
Roodenburg said the city has a protocol agreement with Lhtako Dene Nation and was intending on creating similar agreements with other First Nations in the surrounding area but those were stalled and she wanted to re-commit to building those agreements.
"When we started this process the idea was that we would work with each of the First Nations to create protocol agreements," Roodenburg said. "We need to make sure that we start working on protocol agreements with the other three nations that surround our community."
Council advised the public that the Nov. 5 council meeting will be a closed meeting between Quesnel's council and Lhatko Dene Nation.
The next council meeting will be Nov. 26.