Quesnel City Council met Tuesday, Nov. 26, to discuss fees, bylaw changes and have an official introduction with the riding's new MLA.
Coun. Tony Goulet and Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg were absent from the meeting.
New MLA introduction
Newly elected Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Clare had his official introduction with Quesnel city council. He explained he would continue working out of the MLA office in city hall which was previously the office of Coralee Oakes as well as having an office in Prince George.
"I'm very much looking forward to establishing a good working relationship with each and every one of you on council," Clare said. "I have already hit the ground running as your member of the legislative assembly."
Clare said he has been to a caucus meeting and orientation in Victoria. He has been named the deputy whip for the B.C. Conservative Party. The whip is responsible for ensuring members of their caucus stay in line with the party, attend sittings on time and serve as the key communicators between the party leadership and the back benchers.
Coun. Martin Runge asked if Clare would consider meeting with council regularly to build a strong relationship, which Clare agreed to enthusiastically.
He also thanked previous MLA Coralee Oakes for her service to the region and said he has big shoes to fill.
Policy & bylaw committee report
Coun. Runge read the report from the policy and bylaw committee, which had several recommendations on changes to how the city communicates with the public.
Changes include reducing the number of newsletters to citizens from twice a year to once a year, removing cable television from the survey and engagement communications and having emergency incidents reported to media in a general message rather than specifically a Tweet.
One section of the report was removed as some councillors said it felt like it was censuring councillors.
"In commenting on matters pertaining to city business, elected officials must be aware of their commentary surrounding issues currently before them in council so as to not prejudice the public process," one of the items read.
"I feel like that's censoring our personal opinions," Coun. Debra McKelvie said.
Runge said that wasn't the intention of the report.
"If we're doing city business and we've decided on things and then your commentary doesn't follow anything that we voted on here, then our public process is being undermined," Runge said.
Coun. Scott Elliott agreed with McKelvie.
"If I vote against something I'm allowed to tell the public why I voted against it," Elliott said. "I still have my opinion and the people that voted for me, a lot of them demand to hear my opinion on these things. So I don't think this is appropriate."
Runge agreed that it can be read how McKelive and Elliott interpret it even though it wasn't the intention. He said the section of the report around elected officals' social media can go back to the committee for further review and to clarify the intention.
Financial sustainability and audit committee
Coun. Mitch Vik read the report from the financial sustainability and audit committee (FSAC) report.
The biggest item is an increase to fees for Quesnel residents starting January 2025.
Water rates are being raised from $286.84 to $315.52 for single family homes, mobile homes, apartments, each bed at G.R. Baker Hospital and each classroom in a school and for many other businesses and lot types.
Sewer rates are being raised from $307.28 to $322.64 for single family homes, mobile homes and apartments.
The full list of increases to water, sewer and landfill can be found as part of the council agenda starting on page 67.
Some costs for services at cemeteries are also being increased while plots will remain the same price, as well as small increases to airport fees.
Vik also spoke about changes to the heritage garden at West Fraser Timber Park. Approximately 30 to 40 per cent of the garden will be converted to grass.
"This garden was created and maintained by volunteers decades ago but unfortunately that volunteer base no longer exists," Vik said. He added that staff would be mindful of which plants are removed and will seek to donate them when possible.
Housing committee report
Coun. Scott Elliott gave the report on the housing committee. The city has applied for the housing accelerator fund once again, if successful the city could receive up to $3.7 million for housing.
Elliott said the steps the city has already taken cannot be included in its application. This includes initiatives like multi-unit housing incentives, E-permitting and modernizing the zoning bylaw and removing some of the barriers to development.
Elliott touched on the need for more housing for seniors looking to downsize so they can stay within Quesnel if they would like to and still own a smaller home like an apartment or condo.
An update on the Grace Inn demolition was given, two buildings have been demolished already. When the construction is done there can be around 50 units and it could take three years to build.
Elliott also noted there are plans to hire more care aids for the new long-term care facility that will be built in Quesnel's west side which needs to be kept in mind when housing is planned for and discussed.
SPCA contract
The city agreed to renew its contract with the SPCA for another year.
Elliott said the contract stipulates that they would be open eight hours a day when they are only open around 20 hours a week right now, he asked if they are still paid the full amount laid out in the contract. Acting city manager Kari Bolton said they are and she believes they have challenges around staffing which is preventing them from being open longer.
Runge asked if there were details on the numbers of animals the SPCA houses in Quesnel. Bolton said they have received those stats in the past and she could work to arrange the SPCA to present to council in the future. She added if the city operated its own pound rather than have the SPCA run those services it would cost significantly more for Quesnel taxpayers.
False alarm bylaw
The city raised the false alarm fee to $100 for fire alarms when there is a false alarm. This coincides with a new bylaw council passed at the meeting to introduce an RCMP false alarm bylaw.
The RCMP has reported to council that false alarms have been a problem for the detachment, the city modelled its bylaw off of Kamloops because it is the most clear of the nearby cities with similar bylaws to what Quesnel is looking for.
The fee will be for alarms which are set off due to improper installation or actions of the alarm users that could be solved without RCMP intervention.
The first time will be at no charge, the second time in a year will cost the owner of alarm system $100 and that will go up to $300 after that. The city will make businesses aware of the false alarm bylaw in upcoming mail-outs.
Community forest report
An information report was given on the status of the community forest agreement from 2020 where Nazko, Lhtako Dene, ?Esdilagh and Lhoosk'uz First Nations agreed with the city to come up with a community forest plan.
The community forest will be called "Three Rivers Community Forest" and the area has been secured. The next steps are to hire a general manager, sign onto a forest stewardship plan and meet with local licensees to begin transition planning for existing cutting permits for the area. The city expects the community forest to be operational by 2025.
The community forest plan has been funded through forestry operations, with the city highlighting no municipal funding or staff time has been used for the project.
Wildfire mitigation around communication towers
The city agreed to send a letter to provincial elected officials requesting risk-reduction actions to be taken on Drag Mountain to help prevent damage to communication towers located there in the event of a fire.
The towers at Dragon Mountain include primary 911 towers, CN Rail, emergency services, EMCON and enable communications for other essential groups. Neighbouring Green Mountain has faced threats from wildfires in 2017 and 2023 which highlights the need for mitigation at Dragon Mountain.
Curling club correspondence
Curl BC, sent a letter to council asking for help to put on the 2026 B.C. Curling Championships. The Quesnel Curling club asked the North Cariboo Joint Advisory committee to use the West Fraser Centre for the event without charge, which was denied with no help offered to help put on the event.
They asked the city to fund a third of the $16,250 while they would also ask the CRD for another third and fund a third on their own.
The letter to council says, in part, that the 2019 games generated over $182,000 to the local economy and drew in over 100 volunteers with hundreds of spectators watching the games.
McKelvie said she would support helping the event come back to Quesnel.
Runge, who was against allowing the group to use the West Fraser Centre without charge, suggested supporting it through council initiatives.
Council eventually agreed to support the event up to $5,417. The idea being that if the club found more groups to sponsor it, council would have to fund less towards it.
Elliott hoped that Lhtako Dene Nation might support the event if the CRD cannot approve the funding in time for the Nov. 30 deadline Curl BC had for announcing the venue of the games.
The next council meeting is set for Dec. 17.
