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Road to be closed

Briefs from the September 8, 2014 Greenwood City Council meeting.
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At the regular meeting of Greenwood Council on Monday, Sept. 8, council agreed to permanently close the entrance to North Government on Hwy 3 as recommended by Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Ministry District Program Engineer Ryan Oakley wrote to council last month saying there is a history of motorists at this intersection who are travelling south along Hwy 3 perceiving the highway as continuing on straight—when it actually curves to the right. “The alignment of North Government street, which stretches off into the distance, causes this potential confusion and subsequent safety hazard.”

While council agreed to the proposed work there were some who expressed disappointment that what they view as more dangerous intersections weren’t given a higher priority.

The work will be funded and carried out by the ministry.

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Council voted to ask the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary planning department to put the Greenwood Official Community Plan on their 2015-2016 work schedule.

According to Mayor Nipper Kettle the OCP review is long overdue since they are meant to be a reviewed every 10 years and the last one for the city was signed in December 1996. The project will be returned on the agenda of the first regular meeting of December 2014, ensuring all members of the newly elected council are aware of the motion and the need to consider it during budget meetings in 2015.

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Council approved McArthur Centre kitchen renovation plans presented by the community association.

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Council approved expenditures for the ball field of $19,595 to recondition the field and just over $13,500 for the purchase of two sets of aluminum bleachers.

The Community Recreation Program grant of $263,200 is being matched with $52,640 from the city (20 per cent). To date the grant has built a new concession and washroom. The city has until March 31, 2015 to complete the project.

*** Resident Christopher Yates came to council complaining about the level of service he’d received from city hall; however, he was told that the issues he was raising were not, as is required by the Procedure Bylaw, related to the current agenda. He was told he would have to write a letter or apply to appear as a delegation at the next council meeting. He responded with a verbal attack on CAO Robin Dalziel and warned council that he would come as a delegation and ask them for a vote of non-confidence in the CAO. Dalziel later told the Times that he’d been caught off guard by both Yate’s statements at the council meeting and the email Yates had sent in earlier that day.

The CAO said he felt that Yate’s concerns were not presented in a proper manner, that as a personnel matter it should have been dealt with out of the public eye.