At the Feb. 6, regular District of Barriere council meeting, council members approved the final reading of the Council Procedures Bylaw number 100. Council members also passed several policies: the Per Diem Travel and Mileage Allowances policy number 17, the Budget Transfer Authority policy number 18, and the Council Attendance at Out-of-Town Meetings, Seminars, Workshops and Conventions Approval policy number 19.
Colleen Hannigan, District CAO, reported on several projects:
A public meeting will be held in the near future to answer questions from the general public around the costs and responsibilities of those areas that will be affected by the planned Downtown Core Wastewater Facility.
In Economic Development, it was reported that there are many groups planning to come to the Barriere area for tours as soon as the weather is better. These groups include people from Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan, and a number of groups from China. Their interest in this area is wide-ranged, from major mining projects, lumber, bio-energy, eco-tourism, and the Provincial Nominee Program.
Hannigan also reported that there are a number of private property owners that are taking snow, internal to their property, and placing in on the road allowance, generally adjacent to their property. This is creating at least two issues for the District: 1) liability for flooding other private properties; and 2) liability for unsafe conditions due to safety issues that are created by depositing snow (or any other material including unlicensed vehicles) on the road allowance. Staff members will be contacting those concerned in order to resolve the issues. Council requests that the citizens of Barriere take care when removing snow from their properties and to consider how it may affect their neighbours when it all starts to melt when deciding where to put it.
After some discussion, council members moved to participate in the Communities in Bloom project. Councillor Virginia Smith was appointed chair of this new committee and will be looking to the community for volunteers to help with this project.
The next general meeting of the council will be on February 20, at 7 p.m.