The Quesnel Museum renovation project has received $415,967 through the federal Canada Cultural Spaces Fund Program.
This funding will be allocated over the government’s 2020-21 fiscal year.
Elizabeth Hunter, the City’s museum and heritage manager, received the letter of funding approval from Steven Guilbeault, the minister of Canadian Heritage, Oct. 27, and the news came to Quesnel council during its Nov. 3 meeting.
The renovations to the building that houses the museum and the Quesnel Visitors’ Centre are underway.
Updates include a new front façade with an accessible and energy-efficient entrance, redesigned layout to improve traffic flow and a new year-round accessible bathroom. The “behind the scenes” space will be reorganized to meet museum and public health standards, creating a meeting room and catering kitchen, an office and a curatorial workspace, according to the City’s website. The project will also separate the ventilation systems for the building and the public bathrooms and will address drainage issues to reduce safety hazards in the winter.
The work is scheduled to complete in the spring of 2021. The museum has been and will remain closed during the renovation, but the Visitors’ Centre is operating temporarily from the Billy Barker Days office.
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Council adopted the City of Quesnel’s comprehensive fees and charges bylaw at the Nov. 3 meeting. The bylaw establishes the fees and charges set out by the City for services. The fees will come into effect Jan. 1, 2021.
Two new fees are being added for 2021.
Starting Jan. 1, all commercial cardboard going over the weigh scale at the landfill will be charged $50 per tonne to help offset the cost to process it, which is more than $100 per tonne, explains Bolton. There will be a $5 minimum charge.
Residential cardboard can continue to go to the recycling depot for free.
As well, there will be a charge for mattresses being dropped off at the landfill starting Jan. 1, 2021. Mattresses would cost $10 each if the load was 150 kilograms or less, or $10 each plus weight as garbage.
Landfill fees have increased from $80 per tonne to $90 per tonne for mixed waste, from $100 per tonne to $110 per tonne for demolition land clearing, and from $200 per tonne to $250 per tonne for asbestos. As well, an interest charge has been added for all invoices that are over 30 days.
When it comes to the landfill, the maximum tonnage has also been lowered to 150 kilograms for residential.
READ MORE: New landfill fees being proposed in Quesnel for 2021
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Coun. Mitch Vik, the council liaison to the North Cariboo Seniors’ Council (NCSC), told fellow councillors the recent housing surveys conducted by the NCSC were completed, and results were shared at the most recent NCSC meeting.
“There were a really interesting statistics that came out of that survey,” he said.
Sixty-eight per cent of seniors who took the survey indicated that their residence will not be suitable for them in the next five to 10 years.
“That is a staggering number that shows how many people are going to require some measure of proper housing in the very near future,” said Vik.
Eighty-nine per cent of seniors who took the survey indicated they do not want to leave the community, and they want to age in place in some fashion.
Sixty-three per cent of respondents indicated they have 100 per cent equity in their current residence.
“That illustrates that if there was some housing option for them, they have the money to actually take advantage of suitable housing, whether that’s a gated community, condominiums or whatever,” said Vik.
Another survey was conducted for landlords to address housing inventory.ds and owners of applicable housing. That’s by virtue of the fact there is such high demand in the community; there’s little motivation for landlords to list their opportunities for residence on a website to be viewed by seniors.”
However, the NCSC’s co-ordinator, Anna Rankin, researched all the opportunities that are available for seniors in the community, such as available suites.
“She’s done a phenomenal job collecting that data, and we’re still going to have that as an information page on the NCSC website,” said Vik.
The survey was a great partnership between the City of Quesnel and the NCSC, added Vik.
Vik also told council that the NCSC received iPads from the City, and the seniors’ council is going to be partnering with Literacy Quesnel and its Learning Centre to offer seniors an opportunity to learn how to use that technology.
The NCSC has successfully completed its yard maintenance program, and the council received received permission from the grant funder, the Quesnel Community Foundation, to use the residual funds from the grant to provide snow removal services to seniors.
“It’s really enlightened the group that this is a program that really requires sustainable funding because the demand is so great from seniors,” said Vik.
Vik told council the NCSC is hosting its AGM Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Quesnel and District Seniors’ Centre.
editor@quesnelobserver.com
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