The maxim “If you build it they will come” seemed to gain currency on Monday night as the newly renovated Midway Senior’s Centre was the venue for village council’s regular meeting of June 16th.
The Midway Senior Citizen Branch #117 recently completed upgrades to the centre using a New Horizon’s for Seniors grant and council was invited to hold a meeting there.
This was also part of an initiative proposed by Councillor Richard Dunsdon a few months back to try to involve more residents in council meetings by occasionally holding regular meetings in venues other than council chambers and perhaps outside of the usual evening schedule.
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Three readings were given to two bylaws; final adoption will occur on July 21st.
A bylaw to Establish a Fire Department and to Regulate Fire Protection, Suppression and Prevention will replace Bylaw # 381. This bylaw is needed to provide language accommodating the rural fire protection service soon to be offered by the village. One change that will affect village residents will be that backyard-burning barrels will no longer be allowed.
The other bylaw that received three readings was a tweak to the procedures bylaw. Earlier this year council had rejigged the agenda so that in-camera meetings would be held prior to regular council meetings. At the time they thought that in-camera items, being of some importance, might be more wisely dealt with when everyone was fresh at the beginning of the evening. However council had come to realize that in-camera items were sometimes difficult to resolve in a 30-minute time-frame, so the earlier practice of holding in-camera meetings at the end of regular meetings will be reinstated.
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The Fire Response Service Agreement scheduled to be presented to Kettle Valley residents the following evening was adopted by council.
The village has allocated a budget of $50,000 for the rural fire response service agreement; the money is to be recovered by the village through annual fees.
Fees will be charged on an annual flat-rate and may vary from year-to-year depending on the needs of the fire department and the number of signed service agreements.
Property classification will be based on the Assessment Notice received in January of each year and rates are set out as: Residential $450 per year, Commercial/Business $650, Industrial $1,500, Utilities $1,500 and School $2,000.
Copies of the Agreement are available at the village office and the village is signing people up for the service, which is expected to begin on July 1st. Those who cannot make it to the office to get a copy of the Agreement can phone 250-449-2222 and one will be emailed to them for their review.
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Council continued their discussion of the role of the Boundary Economic Development Committee in the villages’ economic development future. Staff was directed to prepare a report detailing what the annual cost is to the municipality for participating in the shared regional service and what they are getting for that money.
Because the July 7th meeting is cancelled this will return to the agenda of the July 21, 2104 meeting.
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Council directed staff to begin the process of changing the zoning on village owned property on the north side of 5th Avenue across from the Riverfront Park campground restrooms to allow another restroom to be built there.