McBride Council: Tourism outlook, chickens and hockey tournament beer garden
By Andrea Arnold
McBride Mayor Gene Runtz called the February 25th Council meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council heard a presentation from Dannielle Alan regarding the current tourism outlook, discussed a future bylaw adjustment to allow limited chickens and approved the purchase of a new lawn mower.
In-camera removal
Council first voted on a motion to remove the in-camera portion of the meeting. Mayor Runtz explained that the report was not complete so Council would not have all the needed information. The agenda item referred to Section 90 (1): (c ) labour or other employee relations.
Councillor Joe Kolida asked if council could continue into in-camera even without this item to discuss other matters. Mayor Runtz responded that no, if this item was removed, no in-camera meeting would be held at all.
The motion was called to a vote, with three in favour and two (Councillors Tina Bennett and Kolida) opposed so the in-camera portion of the meeting remained.
Visitor Centre update
Council received a presentation from Dannielle Alan regarding the operations of the McBride Visitor Centre.
Council had received a report from Alan and she expected that everyone had read it, so she did not go over the points addressed in the report. The report gave a broad overview of the Visitor Centre operations, staff, visitor numbers and projects over the past 10 years. In her presentation, she did however address some of the challenges they are currently facing and observations they have made.
Following the events of the past summer, wildfires and highway closures, the Visitor Centre staff saw Valemount experience a drop in tourism and expect to see fewer American tourists in the Robson Valley in the near future due to the current geopolitical environment. Alan said that the goal of Visitor Centre staff is to sell the Valley, specifically, experiences within the Valley to visitors. They hope to have people stay a little longer then maybe they originally planned. An extra hour in McBride could result in buying lunch, and an overnight stay allows people time to travel to local attractions like the Ancient Forest. Either of these are creating financial growth to the local economy.
Alan says that overall the community focuses on authenticity, not a gimmick, so the community needs to be authentic. Markets, festivals and community events all contribute to that authentic community feel. Alan said that prior to COVID, McBride accommodations were filled almost every weekend in part because of some events that were happening. People were returning and bringing friends and family with them.
She says that the American tourism numbers have been on a steady decline, even those travelling through to Alaska, and she doesn’t expect that to improve. The European tourist numbers have seemed to come back strong after COVID and seems to be holding. The goal now is to increase the amount of time these visitors stay in the community, and have them post on their websites, blogs or other social media about their great affordable experiences in the Robson Valley. This earned media is publicity for the community that the community is not paying for and Alan sees it as something McBride could benefit from.
“We want people to come and explore,” she said.
Alan sees the Regional market as the strongest. People from within the region looking for budget friendly, environmentally centered and authentic experiences. These people are looking for family friendly activities and are often attracted by camping opportunities.
She pointed out several experience opportunities that are available through the work of volunteers – bike trails, Belle Mountain camping and trails, and snowmobile access upgrades to name a few. She also mentioned many events like the Robson Valley Music Festival, Pioneer Days and the Dunster Ice Cream Social.
She then turned to areas that are lacking in the tourism sector: a newer hotel/motel, more camping locations, car wash, limited dining options, guided adventures and no weekend automotive service options.
She concluded her presentation with requests for Council, outlining ways the community needs support to attract more visitors.
Alan says she wants to see increased support for community champions, those who are developing and executing new attractions and events, developing community. She would like to see more support for the recreation endeavors that the Community Forest is working on. Thirdly, she implored Council to continue to advocate for, develop and maintain the local backcountry access points.
“It is critically important that the Village continue to lobby the Province for the right to access our backcountry,” she said.
“I want to see people come visit here, fall in love with the area like everyone here has done, and buy property,” she said. “I want to see them live here and bring with them industry.”
Reports
Karen Stahl, financial consultant, gave a brief update on where Village staff are at reformatting procedures within the finance department and budget season. She said that the new procedures and reporting will be seen as they go through the budget and that this will help with transparency. Year end will be the focus at the beginning of March and they will shift to budget planning near the end of March. She hopes that through all these plans and changes, the audit process will be shorter this year, saving the Village some money. She also said that this year’s audit will be performed remotely.
Backyard chickens
In discussion during the portion of the meeting where they received documents for information, they touched on a letter from Angie Campbell-Power requesting that chickens be allowed in town limits. A limited number of birds, no roosters and with a set of rules was the request. No motion was needed aside from a vote to receive the document, but during discussion, much of council was in favour of the idea. Mayor Runtz pointed out that chickens are useful for compost disposal. Currently there are a few homes in town that were grandfathered into Village limits with chickens in place. Council agreed to look into what bylaws need to be changed, and what steps need to be taken in order to allow for residents to have a small number of chickens on their properties.
Beer Gardens endorsement
Council approved Cody Yetter’s application for a beer garden endorsement for the Buck’s Hockey Invitational Tournament on March 14th-16th at the Robson Valley Community Centre.
Lawn mower
Council approved the purchase of a new 2025 Stihl RZ560 Zero Turn Mower from Horseshoe Lake Ventures in the amount of 14,299.99 excluding taxes.
In-camera
As the in camera portion of the meeting was removed through a vote at the beginning of the meeting, the gathering was adjourned at 6:33 p.m.
