Mayor Runtz called the Special Council meeting of September 12, 2023 to order at 7:00pm.
Water update
The first item that council received was an update regarding the Dominion Creek Community Drinking Water System and Conservation. Administration reported that an open house/information session has been scheduled for September 28th at the Robson Valley Community Hall at 7:00pm. Also, Administrative staff have added a daily water use page onto the Village of McBride Website. The daily water use is illustrated on a bar chart that compares water usage with the same day last year. The whole graph covers the last 30 days of water use comparison. The page also includes a Save the Date notice for the open house as well as the July 11th news release – Urgent Need for Water Conservation.
Invitations
Council addressed an invitation to upcoming sessions on the Heritage Conservation Act Transformation Project. Council directed administration to register one staff member for one of two online sessions, either on September 26th or 28th. Both Mayor Runtz and Councillor Joe Kolida plan to attend sessions on the topic at the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities conference.
Also, council discussed an invitation sent by Stewart Guy, for a webinar on Municipal Protected Area Project to be held on October 4, 2023. Councillor Kolida expressed interest in attending, providing his schedule will allow. Mayor Runtz asked administration to gather more information on the webinar before a final decision on who will attend is made.
National Day of Truth and Reconciliation
Council passed a motion directing staff to purchase an “Every Child Matters” banner prior to September 30th, National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. The decision was made following a discussion spurred by a request from Jodie Lukow, Indigenous Education Worker. Lukow asked if a crosswalk near the elementary school could be painted orange. Following that, each child, wearing a glove, could then leave their handprint on the orange. Although council was in support of honouring the day in some way, they felt that the limited time between the meeting at the 30th would not allow for this idea to come to fruition at this time.
Institutional housing bylaw
Council gave third reading to Zoning amendment bylaw No. 818, 2023- Institutional Housing zone for Seniors. Following this reading, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is required to sign off on the bylaw before it is brought back to council for adoption.
In Camera
Council moved to an in-camera meeting for consideration of matters of the community Charter related to Section 19 (1) (a) personal information about an identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a position as an officer, employee of agent of the municipality or another position appointed by the municipality, (c ) labour relations or other employee relations and (k) negotiations and relate discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal service that are a their preliminary stage and that, in the view of the council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were beheld in public.
The public portion of the meeting was adjourned at 7:13pm.
