Beginning Jan. 19, the office will be closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. There was considerable debate at Monday night’s council meeting about the need to close for lunch, but Administrator Robin Dalziel insisted the change would result in better service. It was finally agreed to implement the change and review it in three months’ time.
Currently lunch breaks are staggered for the four employees in the office. Everyone works seven hours per day, but the staggered lunch schedule means two and a half hours each day when someone is away. This sometimes means that staff handling a particular file or service might be away and a customer is told they have to return later.
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The Greenwood outdoor rink volunteers came to City Hall and were successful in getting council to rescind a 2013 motion to demolish the rink boards. Christopher Yates, Ray Harrison and Mike Goddard came with letters of support for the rink from Area E rural director Vicki Gee and the Greenwood Improvement Society.
A letter was sent to Vicki Gee thanking her for support and informing her that council is evaluating the role of the skating rink in the city and will confirm its status during the 2015 budget process.
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As part of his memo on the rink, Administrator Robin Dalziel had also recommended that a cost-free risk assessment process offered by the Municipal Insurance Association be initiated to assess the risk for the skating rink, curling rink, Lotzgar Park, smelter and smoke stack, public parks and city works facilities.
Instead council opted to request more information about the MIA offer. Councillor Darla Ashton cautioned against the risk assessment saying, “We might lose access to some of these things by going down that road.”
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After receiving complaints that the weekly transit bus is overfull, council will request that the service be evaluated to see if more capacity is needed.
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Council voted to enter the Berkeley Springs water tasting competition again this year.
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Council received a draft “Workplace Anti-Harassment and Anti-Bullying Policy and Program.” It will be back on the table for adoption at the regular meeting of Jan. 26. In the meantime it is being forwarded to the union and WorkSafeBC for their review.
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Council approved the city commencing negotiation with the RDKB to facilitate the development of a new Official Community Plan (OCP), depending on budget considerations.
Dalziel said he anticipates it to cost approximately $40,000 over two years. This compares to $80,000 and $120,000 to hire outside consultants, he added. The last OCP review for Greenwood was done in 1996.