Greenwood council voted to send a letter of support to the Rural BC Project, an initiative funded by the three BC Interior Beetle Action Coalitions to work toward a long-term strategy for rural development and prosperity.
Their recently released position paper, titled The Pathway to Prosperity in British Columbia Runs Through its Rural Place – A long-term strategy for Rural Development, identifies 20 recommendations and steps to what they believe are necessary to reversing the tide of rural decline.
They argue that, with appropriate long-term rural development programs, the decline can be reversed.
The three beetle action coalitions (Southern Interior, Cariboo-Chilcotin and Omineca) now have the attention of government and are preparing to work collaboratively.
The coalitions maintain that the issue of rural decline should not be political. To view all of the position papers for the Rural BC Project online click on www.sibacs.com/rural-bc-project/
The Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition (SIBAC) has a vision for rural communities: allow for more local control and decision making; build strong economic development and business linkage to First Nations; and, to preserve the rural community lifestyle.
Putting a rural lens on decision-making is how Area C director and SIBAC vice-chair Grace McGregor puts it.
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Councillor Barry Noll told council that the contractors for the animal control service in Electoral Areas C and D and the Cities of Grand Forks and Greenwood have terminated their contract with the regional district effective June 1. Currently residents are to phone 1-800-355-7352 should they desire further information.
“So we are going to be on the hook for the next two or three months to look after our own bylaw enforcement,” said Noll.
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The city voted to follow the lead of the regional district and several other municipalities by establishing a reserve fund rather than purchasing carbon offsets funds from the Darkwoods Project in the Kootenays.
It was resolved that the city would calculate its 2012 carbon usage according to the Smart Tool and to set $25 per tonne into an account to be reserved for a positive carbon project in the area.
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Fencing and unsightly premises bylaws and how ticketing might be used to enforce them was discussed. Dalziel said he needed to do more research but was asking for guidance from council. “If council feels that the height of fences needs to be regulated and enforced then I have some incentive to try to make that bylaw work.”
A review of bylaws is needed to make sure fines listed in current bylaws are reflected in the ticketing bylaw, which was adopting in 1997. However, Kettle was concerned about the amount of staff time that would be required to do a review of the bylaws at this time.
In the end staff was directed to write a letter to a property owner whose fence is too tall according to the zoning bylaw.
Staff was directed to prepare a report on unsightly premises enforcement. In the meantime letters will be sent to owners of unsightly properties. Council members will submit lists of such premises to the administrator.
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The discussion of keeping chickens within the city has been deferred to the June 24 meeting. Council will also consider allowing beekeeping at the same meeting.