Valemount Council: whistle cessation, Blue River mine, street paving

By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG

Valemount Council discussed train whistle cessation, a mining project near Blue River and paving Dogwood Street during the June 24th regular meeting.

Mayor Owen Torgerson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Council amended the agenda to include a letter from the president of Capacitor Metals, a mining company working on a project near Blue River. Then, Council adopted the minutes of the June 10th regular and special meetings and moved on to hear the evening’s delegation.

Whistle cessation presentation

Two consultants with McElhanney Ltd., Caleb Marttinen and Joel Taker, presented a report on how the Village could safely implement a train whistle cessation policy. The Village contracted McElhanney to produce the report in November 2023, but the firm is still waiting for clarification from CN on details such as how long crossing gate arms need to stay down.

It would cost the Village nearly $1.6M to upgrade railroad crossings if a whistle cessation policy is adopted, according to a quote CN provided McElhanney in January. The cost would include brushing vegetation for increased visibility around crossings, re-seeding dirt paths where people cross tracks between official crossings, and upgrading the crossing gate arms to come down earlier, among other items.

Whistle cessation report

After hearing from Marttinen and Taker, Council reviewed a staff report about the potential whistle cessation policy. The report recommends that Council either direct staff to research grants and communicate about next steps with CN, or that the Village not proceed with whistle cessation.

Councillor Pete Pearson said he is in support of researching grant options, and continuing with the policy if staff find there are sufficient grants to cover the crossing upgrades.

Councillor Donnie MacLean asked if staff have done enough research to know if the entire cost of the upgrades could be covered with grants alone.

“Roll the dice – that’s grant writing, right?” Torgerson said. “We just have to hope that luck’s on our side.”

Council voted to proceed with researching how to implement a whistle cessation policy.

Official Community Plan

Council voted to adopt the amended Official Community Plan Bylaw. Staff updated the bylaw to reflect changes in provincial housing legislation. The amendments permit short- and long-term rentals of accessory dwelling units as long as the units comply with the Village’s zoning bylaw and building code regulations.

Cemetery Bylaw

Council voted to adopt the amended Cemetery Bylaw. Staff amended the bylaw to remove the fees and charges for cemetery use, because the Village is consolidating all of its fees and charges under one bylaw.

Fees and Charges Bylaw

Council voted to adopt the amended Fees and Charges Bylaw, which has been updated to include the fees for using the cemetery. Additionally, new fees have been added in anticipation of a columbarium – a place to store and display cremated remains – being added to the cemetery this fall.

Pearson thanked staff for including a table in the report with the columbarium fees for similar communities, including 100 Mile House, Courtenay, Golden, Hope, Revelstoke and Smithers.

“Since we don’t have experience with a columbarium, that was good information,” he said.

Blue River mining

President and CEO of mining company Capacitor Metals, Chris Grove, wrote Council a letter requesting support for the company’s application to the federal government’s Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund.

The company will use the funds to work on a project in Blue River, where Capacitor Metals hopes to install a mine for tantalum and niobium – metals used in electric capacitors, which store electric energy. According to Grove, the project could support the creation of 165 local jobs. Grove added that Blue River’s Electoral Area representative, Lee Onslow, has already provided a letter of support for the grant, which he attached to his email.

Section 25 of the Community Charter says local councils cannot provide a “grant, benefit, advantage or other form of assistance to a business.” Torgerson said this section prevents councils from supporting one business in particular, but suggested writing a letter of support for the local mining industry in general.

Torgerson added that he has discussed the project with Simpcw First Nation Chief George Lampreau.

“They [Simpcw First Nation] are in favour of the project, they are in favour of economic development here in the northern territory,” Torgerson said. “Not singling out Capacitor Metals, but writing a letter in favour of… responsible, sustainable mining, I’d be in favour of that.”

Council approved writing a letter in support of the local mining industry.

Public Comment

Resident Junior Osadchuk said CN’s quote for the cost of upgrading railroad crossings will likely be out of date by the time the Village implements a whistle cessation policy.

“It’s really early stages,” Osadchuk said of the project. “We know how CN works in any kind of process – it could be years. That number is out to lunch.”

He asked if the Village has data on how many similar rail crossing systems are in place across B.C.

“I know most of the western Highway 16 communities are already silent,” Torgerson said, naming Port Edward as one example.

Osadchuk said he does not believe the Village will be able to get enough grants to entirely cover the cost of railroad crossing upgrades, and will have to draw on taxes.

“It’s a roll of the dice,” Torgerson said. “There’s been other communities that have been successful in obtaining [grants] from Transport Canada… we don’t want to put this on the taxpayer. They’ve suffered enough by being woken up every single time the train goes through.”

Osadchuk also asked if there are plans to pave Dogwood Street, since resident Helen Park sent a letter to Council asking if the Village would request for the Ministry of Transportation to pave the street. The Ministry is repaving sections of Highway 5 and Whiskey Fill Road this summer, and Park hoped the same equipment and workers would be able to pave Dogwood Street.

Torgerson said there are no plans to pave the street this year, but the grindings from the Highway 5 repaving project – that is, crushed pavement that can be repurposed to construct new roads – may be available for the Village to use on Dogwood Street.

Osadchuk added that since VCTV Station Manager Michael Peters stopped covering Council meetings, it has become more difficult to find out about upcoming meetings. Peters used to post reminders about meetings on the Valemount Bulletin Board Facebook page, and Osadchuk said it would be helpful for the Village to post reminders on the page. Torgerson said the Village posts meeting dates on its own Facebook account.

In-camera

Torgerson adjourned the open session of council at 7:41 p.m. Council entered a closed session for consideration of one item that falls under Section 90 (1) (g) of the Community Charter to discuss matters related to:

(g) litigation or potential litigation affecting the municipality.