It was more reluctance and resignation than relief for the Rossland council members who attended their final meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Mayor Kathy Moore and four of the six councillors, including Janice Nightingale, Terry Miller, Dirk Lewis, and Chris Bowman, said goodbye to city staff and the two remaining incumbents, Stewart Spooner and Andy Morel.
“Everyone of you have made such a significant contribution and chocolate doesn’t do it justice,” said Moore, as she handed out gifts of chocolate to staff, council, and media. “We have gotten a lot done, and our list of accomplishments is vast, and I think we should all be really proud of the work we’ve done.
“Those of you who are stepping down can leave with a full heart that you’ve done well, and those who are striving to continue on, I hope that you will continue the ideas and work that we started here and carry on with new ideas and new people.”
Chief Administrative Officer Bryan Teasdale also handed out plaques to the mayor and each council member in recognition of their service to the community.
The light agenda allowed council to attend to business, while giving each member an opportunity for heartfelt farewells.
As part of the agenda, council was faced with disbursing the remaining $2,151 balance of the City of Rossland COVID-19 Community Support Fund.
The Rossland Curling Society (RCS) had requested $4,000 in its application, while Rossland Society for Environmental Action (RSEA) applied for $1,000.
Coun. Stewart Spooner put forward a motion to give RSEA $500 and award the remaining $1,651 to RCS. But after crunching the numbers, CAO Teasdale brought forth some welcome news.
“With the overall budget in the (COVID) fund we’ve been under on a couple other projects that we’ve paid money for, so if that changes council’s decision to grant both of these applicants full funding, we could definitely be able to cover that,” informed Teasdale.
Council voted unanimously to amend the motion to fund the full amount of both applicants requests, a fitting example of how council and staff have worked together to advance the interests of the community.
“And that’s the end of our funds,” said Mayor Moore. “I feel very good because we helped 27 groups.”
Council had originally set aside $100,000 from the COVID Relief Fund to create the COVID Community Support Fund that issued $50,000 in grants to community groups in 2021 and 2022. The Fund provided one-time grants of up to $5,000 to community groups impacted by COVID.
During the member reports city councillors signed off on their various committees and posts and wished the best to the incoming council and mayor.
“I would like to take the opportunity to say what an amazing experience for over the last few years working with this council and this staff,” said Coun. Terry Miller. “I talk to people all the time, and I am super proud and amazed at the work you guys are doing. My thanks go out to you.”
An emotional Nightingale said, “It has been my pleasure and an honour to serve the community, this council and staff, and I wish I could stay. So thank you very much for all your support.”
Coun. Dirk Lewis reported next, underscoring the need for volunteers for various groups, a search for someone to run the Food Security Group, and the importance of the bear hazard assessment, the energy task force, and progress of the Refactory.
“Like Terry and Janice said, I enjoyed working with all of you and staff, and I will miss it,” said Lewis.
Chris Bowman was the last to report, saying he hopes to run again in the future when he has more time.
“Collectively, this group has gone through some unprecedented times and lived through this with our community and done the best that I feel we can.
“I think we are leaving this city in incredibly good hands,” said Bowman. “Our group that we have working for the city and some of the people coming forth to take on this role, I tip my hat to them.”
As a sidebar, Mayor Moore also noted that she kept track of the agenda pages read over her terms.
“I’ve done if for most of my 14 years in local government,” said Moore. “I wanted to share that in this term alone, we read 20,089 pages of material for meetings and 15,504 pages in our weekly information packets.
“So, this is significant not just from a council point of view, but also because it represents a tremendous amount of time and effort for staff to put it all together.”
The newly elected council’s first meeting will go on Nov. 9.