By Andrea Arnold
Deputy Mayor Rosemary Hruby called the May 11, 2021 Council meeting to order at 7:04. Councillors Green, Smith, and Frederick were in attendance, as was Mayor Runtz.
Financial Audit
First on the agenda was a presentation on the draft 2020 Audited Consolidated Financial Statements by Micaela Roque and Tabitha Bosch from KPMG. The report showed that they anticipate a clean independent auditors report. There are a few minor changes and charges that need to be added to bring it up to date, but they shouldn’t cause any issues.
Child Care Action Plan
Council passed the motion to adopt the Village of McBride Child Care Action Plan as it was presented two weeks earlier at the April 27th meeting. One need for a change in the report was brought forward and a request will be made to have the name of the community changed to McBride.
Street sign replacement project funding
Council passed the motion directing Administration to prepare an application for submission to the CN Community Board’s CN Stronger Communities Fund for the Village of McBride Street Sign replacement Project; and they moved to support the project and commit to any associated cost overruns.
Community Foundations Endowment Fund Recipients
Included in the reports to receive for information was a list of the successful applicants for funding from the McBride Community Foundation Endowment Committee. Council wished to congratulate the following recipients: Valley Museum & Archives, McBride SDA Food Bank, Open Gate Garden, McBride Hospital Auxiliary, McBride & District Housing Society, McBride Centennial PAC, the Robson Valley Beekeepers as well as bursary Scholarship recipient Saeda Rose.
Proclamations
The motion concerning a proclamation was removed from the agenda at this point. In recent years Council has made it a practice to be very selective regarding proclamations, and have made a decision to only include them as motions after careful consideration.
Support for Elks project
Mayor Runtz removed himself for the following motion, as he is a member of the Elks. Council passed the motion to provide the McBride Elks Lodge #247 with a letter of support for the grant application to NDIT for their Hall upgrade 2021 project.
Concern regarding ski hill proposal
A letter from Ron Westlund was received for information only, regarding the Lucille Mountain snowmobile assisted ski hill proposal expressing concern on behalf of the Lucille Mountain Water Users Community regarding their watershed area. Councillor Green had discussed this with McBride Community Forest Corperation prior to the request for village support at the beginning of April. She reported that the area in question is adjacent to the watershed. CAO Tupy spoke to Theissen and McNaughton who confirmed that they are going through the public consultation process of the ski hill proposal. McNaughton also reported that there are stages to be followed and when they get to the appropriate point in the process, stakeholders will be contacted.
Bylaws pass
Council passed the motions to give both the Village of McBride Financial Plan for the years 2021-2025 Bylaw No. 799.2021 as well as the Municipal Property Tax Rate Bylaw No 800.2021 final reading and adoption. Interim Chief Finance Officer Sandy Salt provided a breakdown for what the average tax increase would be: $5.63/month for residential owners and $00.72/ month for business owners.
Audited consolidated financial statements
Council passed the motion to approve the 2020 Audited Consolidated Financial Statements as presented by KPMG LLP for the year ended on December 31, 2020. It was noted, and will be brought to the attention of KPMG staff, that the village name needs to be corrected in a couple of spots in the report before the final copy is prepared.
Business Facade Improvement Program Application
Council passed the motion approving a grant from the Village of McBride Business facade Improvement Program to Robson Valley Community Services for 50% of eligible facade project costs at 943 3rd Ave to a maximum of $5,000.
In-camera
Council passed the motion to proceed to an in-camera meeting for consideration of matters per Section 90 (1) of the Community Charter related to: (a) personal information about an identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for a position as an officer employee or agent of the municipality of another position appointed by the municipality; and (k) negotiations and replate discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal services that are in their preliminary stages and that, in the view of Council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were held in public.
The regular meeting was recessed at 8:04pm to conduct the in-camera meeting
