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Public turns out to have their say regarding proposed zoning bylaw in Barriere

Committee of the Whole and Council meetings draw interest from public regarding zoning changes
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Over two dozen members of the public attended the District of Barriere Committee of The Whole Meeting last Monday

On Apr. 7, the District of Barriere held two meetings,

The Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting, which started at 4 p.m. and was scheduled to be finished before the regular council meeting at 7 p.m.  That isn’t quite what happened.

The COW meeting started just after 4 p.m. and almost immediately went into a closed session to hear three bid presentations for the Biomass Hot Water Heat that the District is considering.  These presentations were supposed to be completed by 5:40 p.m,, but in fact were not completed until 6:20 p.m.  Then the meeting went on to the rest of the agenda items.

One such item was a recap of several projects that the District has applied to receive grants for: a) two new wells at Bradford Park, with an estimated cost of $2.555 million; b) a water storage reservoir at Mountain Road, with an estimated cost of $1.45 million; c) a water loop between Bradford Road and Barriere Lakes Road, with an estimated cost of $350,000; and d) a water loop from the highway to Bradford Road to replace the water main, with an estimated cost of $1.51 million.  Grants for all four projects have been applied for.

The progress of the renovations of the HY Louie building was briefly  discussed - the roof is currently being replaced.

Then the committee got into the summary of comments to date on the Zoning Bylaw No. 111.

CAO Colleen Hannigan reported that some of the suggestions and concerns received to date have been included in the present draft of this bylaw.  One such change was to protect current property owners that have a singe wide mobile or manufactured home.  A clause was added that allows a manufactured or mobile home outside a mobile home park, existing at the passage of Bylaw No. 111, and not meeting the minimum width requirements, to be deemed to be an additional legal permitted use on that specific property, and can therefore be replaced.

There were over two dozen members of the public at this COW meeting, and as several of them wished to be heard, the meeting didn’t end until nearly 7:45 p.m.

Bill Kershaw asked if the bylaw covers strata buildings - council’s reply was yes, under zone RM.

Kathy Campbell, after voicing several concerns, asked if council members would consider tabling the first and second readings to another date, as she felt that the document could use a major rewrite.

Councilor Stamer, who was chairing the meeting, said that council would consider her comments when it came time to consider the readings.

Dave Baines stated that he felt the District should have just kept the old zoning bylaw as it was.

Shawn Fadear made the comment that he felt the bylaw was ‘house cleaning’ the existing zoning bylaw, and worth doing.

There was a very short break, and then the regular council meeting finally began, with one of the first items on the agenda being the first and second readings of the Zoning Bylaw No. 111.  Both readings were passed, with Councilors Stanley, Stamer, Paula and Kershaw voting in favour, and Mayor Humphreys and Councilor Smith voting against.  There will be an open house in the next week or two for further input from the public, before the third reading will take place at a future regular council meeting.

In other business, the proposed mill rates for the District were presented, as the final revised assessment values for 2014 have now been received.  These mill rates have not yet been approved.

• Residential - 3.45582/$1000 of assessed value

• Utilities - 21.59888/$1000 of assessed value

• Light Industry - 12.61375/$1000 of assessed value

• Business - 8.63955/$1000 of assessed value

• Rec Non-Profit - 3.45582/$1000 of assessed value

• Farm - 3.45582/$1000 of assessed value

The District is waiting for confirmation from the Thompson Nicola Regional District for the TNRD and hospital tax requisitions amounts, which should be in by Apr. 10.  Once the amounts are received, they will calculate a mill rate for them and prepare the Tax Rates Bylaw.

Council members passed a motion to waive the ball park and concession rental fees for the Softball BC Regional Championships that will take place in Barriere from Jun. 20 to 22.  In exchange, the Barriere Minor Ball Association will paint the announcer booths and dugouts within all the ball parks, except for the Main #1 announcer’s booth.

There will be a COW meeting on Thursday, Apr. 10, at 5 p.m. to discuss the HY Louie Renovation Project as well as a few other items.

The next regular District of Barriere council meeting is scheduled for April 28, at 7 p.m.