PROFILE: Castle manager shares community power tools.
COMMUNITY: Watoto choir sings its way north.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012
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Townhome reno project planned By Andrew Hudson Houston Today
Allan Wishart/ Prince George Free Press
TOWERING Win
HCS Wildcats centre Ruth Hamblin stretches for a jump ball in the senior girls single ‘A’ basketball final Saturday in Prince George. HCS won the final with an 80-63 win over Cedar Christian, capping a perfect season. Turn to page 15 for the full story.
Grant changes add District budget stress By Andrew Hudson Houston Today
Changes to a provincial grant are causing the District of Houston some extra budget headaches. At issue is the Small Communities Grant— an annual grant that Victoria transfers to B.C. municipalities with fewer than 19,000 people to help them
pay for basic services such as parks and street lighting. How much money each municipality gets depends on its population and the strength of its tax base compared to other parts of B.C. That formula hasn’t changed, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Sport, Culture, and Community
Development. What has changed is the timing of those grants. As the global economy slipped into recession in 2009, the province decided to “pay forward” some of the grant money so that small municipalities had the means to stimulate their economies. In the fiscal year of 2009, for example,
the District received $845,489 under the program. In 2010, that dropped to $134,247. Speaking in the B.C. legislature last week, the Hon. Minister Ida Chong said paying the grants forward is intended to give local governments more financial certainty. But in a municipality the size of Houston, Director of Finance
Tandra Bamsey said that such funding swings are big enough that the District would have to significantly raise and lower taxes each year. To put it in perspective, Bamsey said that $71,000 represents roughly two per cent of all the revenue that the District receives from all sources. See GRANT on Page 2
Renovations company Artisan Projects Inc. is planning major exterior upgrades to the Park Lane apartments, one of three apartment complexes it owns on top of the hill along Mountain View Road. But Artisan may have to delay or cancel its plans to renovate a larger set of apartments on Pearson Road and turn its Hillside Townhomes over to BC Housing as a low-income housing project. Doug Caya, Houston project manager with the Coquitlam-based Artisan, told Houston council last Tuesday that the company plans
“ “It really feels different than when we first came.”
- Doug Caya
to add fresh “curb appeal” to 21 apartments along Park Lane. Built in the 1980s to house workers at the Equity silver mine, those apartments are familiarly known in Houston as “rabbit hutches” for their dated, square-shaped look. “What we’re doing on those is changing the exteriors substantially,” Caya said. See RENOS on Page 2
To clarify Feb. 29 In the Feb. 29 story, “Huckleberry to invest over $100 million,” our reporter wrote, “Huckleberry’s extension plan got a green light in November, when a committee of B.C.’s “dirt” ministries and area First Nations permitted the company to log some 70,000 cubic metres of timber and build a new tailings pond.”
To be clear, Mines Operations Manager Bryan Deagle referred to the ministries using proper titles: Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Forest, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations. The Houston Today apologizes for any offense caused by the use of an improper term.