The City of Greenwood will likely contract out small projects to take the workload off city crews.
Mayor Nipper Kettle got council approval to have staff look into the possibility of contracting out. “Our city workers are extremely busy and they have many chores that they have to do,” he explained. “It would seem beneficial to all the parties if we could get moving on some of the projects that need to happen.
“It could also help in beautification of the city – in other words, taking down the band shell, getting rid of the old gazebo and the old skating rink. I don’t think we are putting any of our city workers out of work here. Having the flexibility to be able to go out and hire someone as a contractor and clean up some of those properties or do some of the jobs that there are that our crews cannot get to because they are too busy.”
Kettle added, “If we are going to start getting work done we are going to have to be able to have a little bit of leeway in being able to offer some of these smaller jobs Greenwood Councilors Colleen Lang and Barry Noll look over a proposal to purchase magnetic signs that can be used during parades. to our local contractors.”
Councillor Colleen Lang noted that contracting out has been done in the past with the works crew being consulted beforehand.
Councillor Darla Ashton expressed concern about the impact on the city budget.
A motion passed to recommend that city staff source out options with (Public Works Foreman) Randy Smith to contract out smaller city projects without impacting the positions or creating excessive liability issues.
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A letter came to the city from fire chief Roy Terashita regarding concerns about emergency planning that came to light during a gas leak on North Kimberly last month.
According to the chief ’s letter, “The area was blocked off and secured and then evacuation of the area to a one block radius was done. The members stayed on the scene until FortisBC Natural Gas arrived on site.
“One concern arose through this incident,” wrote Terashita. “As we were evacuating the residents of this area, we were asked where they should go. We did not have an answer other than clear the area, maybe go for coffee, or just wait a block away until the situation was resolved.”
Terashita asked three questions: Do we have an emergency plan in place; where would the residents be martialled; and who organizes the emergency response teams?
The mayor admitted there had been an oversight in that the fire department should have been given a copy of the agreement the city has in place with the regional district. “I thought that the mustering station that we had was at the city parking lot,” the mayor added.
Dalziel said he would contact Regional District of Kootenay Boundary Deputy Regional Fire Chief Dan Derby and report back to council.
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A motion was passed to provide Oliver Glaser with a letter supporting his application for a liquor license for the rugby tournament on the August long weekend. It was noted that shower facilities for the tournament participants are proving to be a challenge and that the soccer goal posts still need to be retrofitted.
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Kettle reported parking problems on Copper Street, particularly between 2:30 and 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoons when the Legion is running its meat draw. “We need to try to get residents and business owners/employees to use the free city parking lot,” said Kettle. “Heavy local use of parking for the meat draw is hurting local businesses.”
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Council voted to purchase two magnetic signs for $55 that will be used by the mayor during parades.
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Council made appointments to the Board of Variance. John Hunt, Art Mudrie and Nelson Quimet were appointed as members; Jeff Fraser and Jack Ritchie are alternates.
