RDCK board, June 13: Housing Needs Report contract awarded
M’akola Development Services was awarded a contract for the Regional Housing Needs Report project. The contract is for a total of $83,711.
The RDCK has partnered with interested communities on the project – the Villages of Nakusp, Slocan, and Silverton. At the board meeting, Directors Suzan Hewat and Diana Lockwood said they would like their municipalities – Kaslo and Salmo – to join the project.
Due to provincial legislation, the RDCK must have an updated Housing Needs Report completed by January 1, 2025.
A Housing Needs Report describes current and anticipated housing needs in a community through data collection, analyzing trends, and community engagement. Its purpose is to identify gaps and better inform and understand what kind of housing is most needed in communities.
The last Housing Needs Assessment was completed in September 2020.
Two other proponents submitted proposals: Urbanex Strategies and Urban Systems. M’akola’s proposal budget was right in the middle.
New CBT management plan
Jocelyn Carver and Johnny Strilaeff from Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) presented the new Columbia Basin Management Plan (CBMP) to the board.
Carver is the chair of the CBT board of directors, and Strilaeff is the president and chief executive officer.
The CBMP is basically a strategic plan, said Carver.
“This iteration is quite purposefully a longer-term plan, to give us the time to try new and different things and to see them more fully expressed over many years,” she said.
The plan guides CBT’s strategic priorities for the next 10 years.
Developed over an 18-month period, the CBMP involved extensive community engagement, including visits to 23 Basin communities, online sessions, pop-up events, symposia, and a youth summit.
Themes that emerged were health and resilience, said Carver, within four main areas: organization, relationships, communities, and natural environment.
The CBMP will guide how the organization will prudently manage its assets and investments; how it will deepen relationships with Basin communities, Indigenous peoples, and people within Columbia River system area; how it will help Basin communities take action to continue being incredible and vibrant places; and how it will support community-led efforts to enhance Basin ecosystems.
With the new CBMP in place, the next steps for CBT are to refine and amplify its new and existing initiatives, said Strilaeff. A whole new suite of programs will be announced beginning in the fall, and long-standing programs like the ReDi grant will continue.
CBT is a self-sustaining organization, with all dollars generated coming from investments. A significant amount comes from hydroelectric project partnerships in the region, he said.
One of the turbines at the Arrow Lakes Generating Station, just north of Castlegar, is experiencing problems that has significant financial implications for the Trust, said Strilaeff, which could lead to some difficult decisions during the current fiscal year.
“I’m sharing this, not to sound alarmist, but to remind that, at the end of the day, the revenue that we generate has to come from these projects and investments, and from time to time we will encounter these types of challenges,” said Strilaeff. “We will work through them prudently, but it could mean that, on occasion, we do have to take a hard look at the programs we offer.”
CBBC fibre-optic project
Local governments in the Slocan Valley area are contributing Community Works funds over the next three years to the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation for its Backbone and Last Mile Fibre project, expected to be completed by the end of March 2027.
The project will bring high-speed fibre-optic internet services to Areas G, H, and K, and Salmo, Silverton, and New Denver.
Area H is contributing $288,019.52 per year; Area K is contributing $100,211.76 per year; and Area G (Salmo area) is contributing $126,863.76 per year. The Villages of New Denver, Silverton and Salmo are also contributing a total of $120,000 per year between them.
The total project cost is almost $82 million, with about $30 million coming from the federal Universal Broadband Fund.
UBCM appointments
The RDCK is requesting meetings with three ministries at this September’s Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference: Ministry of Finance to request an increase in the Homeowner Grant for individuals over 65 years of age; Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, to discuss the delay in water licencing approvals and the permit process and role of the ministry in riparian areas.; Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, regarding Recycle BC.
The meeting requests are for the board and RDCK as a whole. Individual directors may make their own meeting requests for issues unique to their areas.
In light of a rise in harassment, intimidation, and acts of violence aimed at municipal elected officials across the province, the board also passed a motion to recommend to UBCM that it work with the BC Government to identify and implement measures to protect all elected local government officials.
Kaslo/Area D FireSmart
The RDCK will continue to coordinate and deliver the Village of Kaslo and Area D’s FireSmart programming this year, even though the Village of Kaslo has secured its own funding for a FireSmart Coordinator/Wildfire Mitigation Specialist.
“It was deemed mutually advantageous for consistency of FireSmart program delivery for the RDCK to continue to deliver and coordinate the suite of FireSmart programs throughout Kaslo and Area D,” said the RDCK’s Nora Hannon in her staff report.
In years past, a seasonal, grant-funded Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, hired by the RDCK and supervised by the RDCK FireSmart Coordinator, has worked in Kaslo and Area D. To keep the FireSmart program consistent across the region, the RDCK will continue to coordinate the program and supervise the Village-funded position in Kaslo and Area D
The board approved a Municipal Service Agreement for this, when ends on October 31.
Area H Fire Service Agreement
The board approved a payment of $74,175 to the Village of New Denver to extend the fire protection service agreement for a portion of Area H to December 31, 2024.
Staff will continue to negotiate a contract renewal for a five-year term, effective January 1, 2025.
Nakusp/Area K shared services
Area K Director Teresa Weatherhead brought forward a motion for staff to review the operation of Recreation Commission No. 4 and the Nakusp and Area K Regional Services Commission, and to evaluate options for improving governance of Nakusp/Area K shared services. The board voted in favour.
Verigin Memorial Park added to heritage register
Verigin Memorial Park will be included on the RDCK’s Community Heritage Register.
Verigin Memorial Park is the burial site of Peter V. Verigin and his family members, located on a hillside between Castlegar and Nelson. A flower garden in the park overlooks the confluence of Kootenay and Columbia Rivers.
The park promotes community identity and sense of place, preserves history, demonstrates the diversity of RDCK residents, and is a wild, natural environment for outdoor recreation.
The Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ owns and operates the park.
Being on a heritage register means that the RDCK formally recognizes it as a heritage resource. It does not mean that the property is protected, and does not bring about any costs to local government.
Kootenay Mountaineering huts
Kootenay Mountaineering Club (KMC) will receive $50,000 to go towards the Grassy and Lost Lake Bonnington Huts Waste and Wastewater Management project.
The funds will be disbursed equally from the Community Works Funds allocated to Areas F, G, H, I, and J.
With the funds, KMC will install environmentally-sound timber frame barrel outhouses at Grassy and Lost Lake Bonnington Huts.
Castlegar Visitor Centre
The Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce will receive $60,000 for the West Kootenays Gateway Visitors Centre and Confluence Building.
The funds will come out of the Community Works Funds allocated to Areas I and J, with $30,000 being contributed by each.
Final touches are being added, and the grand opening of the new building is expected in August.
FCM
The board voted to endorse Village of Silverton Director Leah Main in applying for assignment to committees of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The RDCK will pay for Main’s expenses to attend FCM meetings.
Though not elected to the FCM board, Main was invited by the incoming FCM president and senior staff members to apply for a committee assignment, she said. Main was on the FCM board of directors for 10 years. Kaslo Mayor Suzan Hewat is the current RDCK representative on the board.
Rachael Lesosky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Valley Voice
