Valemount Council: economic recovery, library donation, dust storms
Valemount Council discussed economic recovery efforts, a donation to the library and meeting with BC Hydro to talk about dust storms during the July 8th regular meeting.
Mayor Owen Torgerson adjourned the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Council voted to amend the meeting’s agenda to add a request from the Valemount Public Library and add one item to the in-camera portion of the meeting. After adopting the amended agenda, Council approved the minutes of the June 24th regular council meeting.
Economic recovery report
In November, the Village contracted consulting firm Strategies North to produce an economic recovery plan which would guide efforts to help local businesses recover from the knock-on effects of last summer’s highway closures. The firm’s contract ended in May, and while the Village requested more funding from the Ministry of Emergency Management to extend the firm’s contract, the request was denied. Strategies North worked pro bono for an extra month to tie up loose ends on the project, according to a Valemount staff report.
The firm shared a close-out report summarizing its work for the Village over the six-month contract. The report says Strategies North and the Village had meetings with 10 B.C. government officials, three Alberta government officials, and eight federal organizations. However, none of these meetings ended with a commitment to provide funds for Valemount’s economic recovery efforts.
According to the report, the Columbia Basin Trust has expressed interest in supporting an economic recovery project in Valemount. The report recommends that Village staff continue following up with the Trust to develop and implement a project.
Torgerson thanked Village staff and Strategies North for their work on the economic recovery strategy.
“This was a large endeavour… the instant relationship developed between the contractor and our team was quick, easy and efficient, and I believe they went above and beyond,” he said. “Hats off to the entire team at Strategies North for putting their best step forward.”
Councillor Hugo Mulyk agreed.
“That report was 130 pages, and I cannot believe how comprehensive, and how much information is held in there,” he said.
CAO Anne Yanciw told Council that Strategies North will be facilitating the Community to Community forum between Valemount and Lheidli T’enneh First Nation later this fall.
Payment philosophy
Council approved the Village’s new Compensation and Remuneration Philosophy, a document that will guide staff and councillors as they review the Village’s staff compensation and council remuneration practices. The document says the Village will work to ensure staff are compensated fairly with benefits and salaries that reflect those in similar municipalities, and that Valemount staff with similar responsibilities are paid equitably.
Public Library donation
Council approved a $368 grant to the Valemount Public Library to cover the cost of renting the Village’s tent for one day. The library will use the event for a free children’s event on Friday, July 18th, when the children’s performer Pico’s Puppet Palace will visit Valemount as part of a tour of libraries in the Northern Central Library Federation. According to Library Director Kira Chalupa’s letter to Council, the library’s indoor space is not large enough to host the event so they will set the tent up outdoors.
The grant comes from $4000 in funding which the Village earmarked for municipal donations in the 2025 budget. In March, Council approved a $485 grant to the Valemount Bear Cubs to cover insurance costs and to rent the Valemount Secondary School field. After money has been granted to the library, there will be $3,147 left for municipal donations.
Zoning bylaw
Council adopted an amended version of the Village’s Zoning Bylaw. Staff updated the bylaw in accordance with new provincial legislation.
The updates include changing the definition of a minor short-term vacation rental to mean an attached or detached accessory dwelling unit or room in the home. A major short-term vacation rental is only permitted in the principal dwelling on the property, rather than in additional dwelling units, under the updated bylaw. Additionally, staff recommend changing the minimum height of fencing around a home from three feet to four feet, and allowing two additional dwelling units per land parcel, whereas the current bylaw only permits one.
Council gave the amended bylaw third reading following a public hearing on May 27th, and staff sent the amended bylaw to the Ministry of Transportation for approval. The ministry approved the bylaw on June 26th, according to the staff report.
Economic development grant
The Village applied to the Northern Development Initiative Trust’s 2025 economic development capacity building grant, which provides funding to local governments to hire and pay an economic development officer. The Trust wrote to Council to inform them the grant application had been approved, and the Village will be awarded up to $26,333 to support wages for the economic development officer.
Mulyk said he was glad the grant had been approved.
UBCM meeting schedule
The Union of BC Municipalities is having its annual general meeting in September, where staff and councillors from local governments and First Nations can discuss shared issues and meet with provincial officials. The uUnion sent a notice in its email newsletter that spots to register for the convention have opened, which Torgerson highlighted to councillors.
Torgerson asked for a resolution for staff to book meeting spots for Village councillors and staff who want to attend. Council passed a resolution to book spots for Torgerson and all four councillors at the meeting.
BC Hydro meeting
During the Council reports section of the meeting – when councillors provide summaries of the meetings and events they’ve attended since the most recent council meeting – Councillor Donnie MacLean said she had a meeting with BC Hydro community liaison Susan Edgell to discuss dust storms. Torgerson and Simpcw First Nation Chief George Lampreau also attended.
Torgerson said during the meeting, Edgell said she would communicate MacLean’s concerns about dust to higher-ups at BC Hydro, according to Torgerson. However, she later sent an email encouraging Torgerson and MacLean to meet with BC Hydro representatives at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September and raise their concerns then.
Torgerson said BC Hydro has invited Valemount representatives for a meeting at the convention, and suggested passing a resolution to respond to Edgell asking her to meet with the entire Council before the end of summer, and requesting a decision from BC Hydro on how to proceed with dust mitigation before the UBCM convention. He said since BC Hydro released a report on Valemount dust storms in 2021, the village’s population has increased and the amount of snowfall in winter has decreased, so the topic needs to be revisited.
MacLean said she also brought up the dust storms during Hydro’s annual Columbia system operations update, when the company hosts an online talk and Q&A with Columbia basin residents. During the operations update, Edgell told her they could discuss it over the phone, so MacLean was surprised when Edgell told them to talk about the issue during the UBCM meeting after their phone call.
“She said, ‘I will phone you for a frank discussion,’ and the frank discussion turned into ‘This would be better for the UBCM [meeting],’” MacLean said.
Council passed Torgerson’s resolution to reply to Edgell with a request to meet again during the summer and ask Hydro to make a decision on how to mitigate dust before the UBCM convention.
Public Comments
Resident Junior Osadchuk said he read most of the economic recovery report included in the meeting agenda and thanked Village councillors and staff for their work on economic recovery.
“You guys did awesome, and those guys [at Strategies North] did awesome, but it just seemed like everybody was passing the buck on it,” Osadchuk said of efforts to lobby federal and provincial ministries for economic support.
“I can say with no doubt that we are a pin on their map,” Torgerson said. “While we may not see a cent of that 1.5 [million dollars] that we’re requesting, at least we are identifying a gap in the economic recovery portion of the emergency management wheel, because it’s a gap that’s nationwide.”
Torgerson added that the team had met with Shadow Minister for Tourism Tony Baldinelli, who is the MP representing Niagara Falls, Ontario. The city hosted hundreds of evacuees from Manitoba in the wake of wildfires that have ravaged the northern parts of the province.
“I just mentioned, ‘Warn your businesses to keep their cash registers on [to track expenses for hosting evacuees],’” Torgerson said. “There’s nothing in it for them in the end. There’s no government support for when you’re really nice.”
Osadchuk agreed that evacuations to different provinces are becoming more common, and said it’s a shame that there is no clear way for places that host these evacuees to receive compensation.
In-camera
Torgerson adjourned the open session of Council at 7:25 p.m. Council entered an in-camera meeting for consideration of four items per Section 90 (1) (a) and (d) of the Community Charter to discuss matters 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 or another position appointed by the municipality; and
(d) the security of the property of the municipality.
