The Midway Trails Society has signed a 10-year Recreation Sites and Trails Agreement with the Ministry of Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations for the management of the hiking and biking trails south of the river.
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The village office has been receiving numerous animal related complaints lately. Therefore they have reminded dog and cat owners that under sections 8 and 9 of Animal Control Bylaw # 438 animals are not allowed to bark, cry or make noise that disturbs the peace.
“Please be considerate of your neighbors,” said a notice sent to residents. Dogs are required to be on-leash while in the village and that it is the responsibility of the dog owner to pick up after their dog(s)”
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A trial balloon about council’s appetite for rezoning that floated by resident Barry Poirier at the Oct. 26 meeting was shot down. Poirier had asked council to indicate if they would consider a rezoning of his lot at 516 Border Place from residential to its’ earlier class of MHS4 which would allow a single-wide mobile home. He says the unusual shape of the property makes his request a reasonable one.
The property was rezoned when the Official Community Plan (OCP) was revisited two years ago and council voted to support the finding of the OCP process.
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Oct. 23rd Councillor Marguerite Rotvold attended a West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital meeting in Castlegar. “The majority of the meeting was in camera, a presentation from IHA staff. We had an executive meeting with IHA staff on November 13. Items will be brought to our November board meeting and the in camera items will be brought out then.”
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Rotvold reported that an Oct. 30 Regional District Kootenay Boundary board meeting has changed the level of administrative support available to that part of the regional district west of the Paulson Summit by scheduling John MacLean, Mark Andison and Alan Stanley to work out of the Boundary office in Grand Forks for two days each month.
MacLean is the RDKB Chief Administrative Officer, Andison has recently been promoted to General Manager of Operations and Deputy CAO and Stanley is General Manager of Environmental Services.
Rotvold said this change is intended to give rural and municipal directors, as well as Grand Forks staff, better access to senior staff of the regional district.
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On the suggestion of Councillor Dick Dunsdon council has agreed to include in their discussions for the 2014-2015 budget consideration of instituting a Christmas voucher program for emergency services volunteers. “They are important to us and important to the area,” Dunsdon said.
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Council continues to discuss in general terms changes to the procedure bylaw, which sets the rules for their meetings. Topics being discussed include changing venue for council meetings from time-to-time, holding meetings in the afternoon rather than the evening and allowing question to be asked before the meeting rather than making residents wait until the end.