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Wednesday, December 16, 2015
VOL. 102 NO. 30
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Red Bluff Road rollover A single vehicle rollover was attributed to shaded icy road conditions. The driver was taken to the hospital with undetermined injuries. Karen Powell photo
Council reveals accomplishments, goals and plans for the future Last week council went over goals, and plans for the future. “Over the past year, Quesnel City Council worked well as a team and undertook a number of initiatives to ensure the continued vibrancy and resiliency of our community during this transition period,” the reports reads. “We also took proactive steps to make sure Quesnel thrives through this challenging period.”
Governance A significant portion of Council’s work is now done through three Standing Committees: Executive Committee (ECom), Financial Sustainability and Audit Committee (FSAC), and the Policy and Bylaw
Committee (PABCOM). These Committees conduct their business in an open and transparent manner and enable Council to dig deeper into the City’s budget (FSAC), refresh and update its policies and bylaws (PABCOM) and manage Council’s strategic engagement with the public and potential partners (ECom).
Budget
approximately 10 per cent reduction in the overall operating costs of the City, or an avoidance of an almost 8.5 per cent increase in general taxation. These operational savings allowed Council to increase taxes in 2015 only for the City’s Capital Reinvestment Reserve, a major step toward addressing a long-standing annual infrastructure deficit.
Council realized significant savings in the city’s operational costs in its 2015 budget and is continuing to find savings in the 2016 budget. Some of these cost savings came from a restructuring of staffing at City Hall. The cumulative result over these two budgets is an
Strategic Plan
Partnerships
Council adopted a new vision and mission in its strategic plan. A number of strategic decisions were also made and acted upon: for example, the dissolution of the Quesnel Community Economic Development Corporation (the
Council made significant progress in its relationship with the CRD Northern Directors, as evidenced by the North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee’s (NCJPC) decision to incorporate the soccer facility and the SD 28 contract
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economic development function was brought inhouse), the determination to proceed with the building of a new Public Works Building, a general framework for the City’s budget, the rationalization of Council’s “Legislative” and “Community Support” budgets, and decisions regarding the City’s future involvement in the West Quesnel Land Stability project.
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into sub-regional recreation. The NCJPC continues to proactively and collaboratively manage the Arena project. Council also worked cooperatively with the MLAs office and jointly made presentations to various Ministers at UBCM. The City received significant funding from the Province and the Federal Government toward its West Quesnel Land Stability project and will be investing $7.2 million in further dewatering initiatives in the West Quesnel slide area in 2016. The City also received funding from CCBAC and NDIT.
Initiatives
Council repealed and up-
dated a significant number of bylaws and created new ones that will help Council market the community as a progressive place to live and invest in. A new Master Parks Plan was created for the City that Council is now in the process of acting upon. A Task Force on Social Sustainability and Public Safety was initiated and its work informed Council’s 2016 strategic plan discussions, assisted PABCOM to develop new regulations regarding panhandling in the City and a panhandling information card was created that will be shared with downtown businesses in 2016. see PAGE A14