Chris Stedile
Rossland News
Monday night, council gathered to discuss matters pertaining to the city, but first at 6 p.m. the official public input period for the budget was held.
Only one person showed up for the presentation.
“It was interesting.,” said Mayor Kathy Moore. “After the thing we did with Thoughtexchange I wasn’t sure whether we’d get more interest in the budget meeting or less.”
A less formal but more well attended open forum was put on several weeks ago with Thoughtexchange at the Miners Hall. Public input was plentiful and Moore said they heard a lot of great things, not only pertaining to the budget but the issues and concerns in Rossland as a whole.
Moore said council and herself will be doing three readings on the budget in the near future and are hoping to have the final reading and pass the budget by May 11.
Youth Action Network delegation:
The regular council meeting for April 27 opened with Youth Action Network (YAN) Co-ordinator Mike Kent providing council with and update of their ongoing activities and a special grant related request.
As a product of the city of Rossland, YAN is required to go through the city each time they apply for grant funding. Kent appeared before council to request permission to apply for grants up to $5,000 without the need to receive council approval each time.
The YAN space has seen great success over the year and Kent informed council that due to additional grant funding from the Columbia Basin Trust, he will be able to continue operating for another year. In addition to keeping the place running, grant funding is being applied for to fill the space with more interactive items.
“We have the really great problem of too many kids showing up,” Kent said, “some kids end up sitting around because there’s not enough for all of them at the YAN.”
Mayor Moore and council congratulated Kent on all the hard work he puts in and the great results the YAN produces.
Kent’s application was approved unanimously.
Rossland Council for Arts & Culture’s kiosk:
Larry Doell, with the Rossland Council for Arts & Culture, came before council Monday night to seek assistance in the installation of their newly created kiosk.
“If you could find it in your budget to help us create the two footings so we could have it installed,” asked Doell.
The spot is already picked out, located at the corner of Harry Lefevre Square, beside Ferraro’s.
Council raised several minor concerns with the board. Councillor Martin Kruyse asked who would be the one to look after and administer the board, to which Doell responded, the ‘Devil’s in the details’ and that not all had been sorted out in regards to that yet.
Mayor Moore said she is unsure how she feels about the overall design of the board, stating the colour threw her off the most with the gold reminding her of ‘Las Vegas’ and not quite fitting in with the look of Rossland.
Despite these small details, council seemed positive that the board would make a nice addition to downtown.
Redstone liquor license application:
The Redstone Resort golf course sent in their request to council for permission to seek out and obtain a liquor license for two new temporary use areas.
Councillor Kruyse described the matter as a ‘non-issue’ as he thought the club already had such a thing in place and saw no reason not to grant their request.
The decision was carried unanimously.
Silver City Days:
Mayor and council will be taking to the streets of Trail, May 9, to take part in their Silver City Days parade. The group will have no float or vehicle, just their trusty, eco-friendly bikes.