The future of Rossland City Council looks bright and spacious as council held its first meeting on Monday, Nov. 6 in the new City Hall at Rossland Yards.
Based on the ground floor of the 37-unit affordable housing complex, the council meeting room is large and well lit, with comfortable chairs, large desks, TV screens, great acoustics, and cutting edge technology, everything that the Miners Hall wasn’t.
“The technology that we have to bring people in remotely for the presentations, the cameras, the microphones, the speakers will allow everybody to hear and be heard, so I really think it’s a valuable asset for the community, considering we haven’t had a proper council chambers for over five years now,” said Mayor Andy Morel. “It is a real upgrade.”
Chief Administrative Officer Bryan Teasdale expressed his satisfaction with the welcome new space, where city staff can have their own offices, conference rooms, and space for administration and planning.
Mayor Morel opened Monday’s meeting commending staff for the work they’ve done to make it possible, the previous council led by Mayor Kathy Moore for making it so, and a thank you to the planners, consultants, contractors, sub-contractors and many partners and supporters involved.
“I want to say a big thank you to staff who has been exemplary in bringing this project to fruition, and to our senior staff especially,” said Morel. “Thank you to all those people who made this dream a reality.”
Rossland Yards is at about 50 per cent capacity, and the Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society (LCAHS) is accepting applications for residency.
The City of Rossland, LCAHS, BC Housing, and Columbia Basin Trust partnered to build the four storey mixed-use building and accessed over $7.6M in grant funding.
The project has served as a template for other municipalities in its cooperative and innovative approach in building affordable mixed housing managed by LCAHS, and combined with a civic space.
There will be an official Grand Opening of the new Rossland Yards building, located at 1920 Third Avenue in Rossland, celebrated on Friday, November 10.
The event starts at 1 p.m., with an official welcome at 1:30 p.m.
There will be light refreshments, an official ribbon-cutting, and a tour of the new City Hall and workforce housing units.
