by Andrea Arnold
The McBride Council met for their regular meeting on February 26, 2019.” The meeting was called to order at 6:58 p.m. by Mayor Gene Runtz. Also in attendance were Councillors Smith, Green and Hruby. Councillor Frederick was unable to attend this week.
Councillor Smith will be attending the Fraser Watershed Restoration Conference in Kamloops B.C April 24 & 25, 2019. The Fraser Watershed Initiative, host of the conference, is working towards creating a $500 million restoration fun to initiate the largest restoration project in Canada-Restoring the Fraser Watershed. The project is a multi-year project that will require the involvement of people across sectors and throughout the watershed. Council felt it important to have representation at the event.
Another event to note is the McBride Water Intake Project Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. The date has been tentatively set for March 21, 2019. This date was chosen, as MLA Nicholas Simons, Powell River-Sunshine Coast is available to attend.
Councillor Green shared her summary from the Town Hall Meeting that she and the Mayor attended in Prince George on Caribou Closures. There was a lot of discussion followed by a motion to direct administration to draft strongly worded letters to the MLA, MP and FLNROD.” Also, council believes that the community needs to be informed regarding what has been discussed and will be holding a public meeting for this purpose. The meeting will be held on March 13, 2019 at 7:00pm at the Village Office.
Council passed a motion that will allow temporary street closure for Main St and Holdway St from 1st to 2nd Ave from 6-10pm on Friday May 31 and again 7:00am-10:00pm June 1st and 2nd for Pioneer Days. Council approved the use of a temporary toilet placed near the Beer Gardens outside of Bill Clark Memorial Ball Park in accordance with the Village of McBride Policy AD-15.
Council supported a motion to give a $250 grant in aid to the Sr. Boys Basketball team in their fundraising for a trip to Langley on March 5, 2019 for the Single A Provincial Championship.
An email from Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing was presented for information. The email states that communities under 10,000 people will receive a portion of Northern Capital and Planning Grant money. McBride, as part of the Regional District of Fraser Fort George, will receive some of this money. It is unknown at this point what figure between one and six million will come to the valley.
Council passed the motion to adopt Bylaw 782.2019 regarding the fee adjustment needed for the village to proceed with sending out bills discussed in the previous meeting.
Council approved the application from the local Veener Kings Hockey Club requesting a Beer Garden Endorsement for their tournament Saturday March 23, 2019. Proceeds from the event will go to the Food Bank.
Council passed a motion approving expenses for Mayor Runtz to attend the BC Mayors’ Caucus in Prince George BC March 31-April 2, 2019.
Council members agreed that they will travel to Clearwater on Friday March 22, 2019 for a face to face meeting with former Mayor J. Harwood, who was instrumental in getting some services back to Clearwater after the economic downturn there.
Council approved a motion to accept a proposal from BC Hydro to include another EV charging station in addition to the previous agreement, with no added charge to the village.
The motion that council approve expenses for all council members attending the Community 2 Community Follow up meeting with the Simpcw First Nations on Monday March 11, in Barriere B.C. was passed.
The open meeting was recessed at 7:57pm in order to conduct the Closed In-Camera meeting.
