Canadian Rock Icons 54-40 to Kick Off West Fraser Centre Opening Weekend Celebrations

Supportive Housing Proposal

BC Housing has submitted an Official Community Plan and Rezone application to develop a supportive housing complex on Elliott Street. The proposal is for BC Housing to purchase 11 lots on Elliott Street to develop a supportive housing complex that would better meet the increasing mental health and addictions healthcare needs of the community and would result in the relocation of Season’s House from Carson Avenue. BC Housing will be hosting a public open house on Tuesday, August 15, 2017 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Quesnel Seniors Centre located on Carson Avenue that is available for the public to attend. The City’s Public Hearing for the proposed Official Community Plan and Rezone application has been rescheduled to Tuesday, August 29, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers.

Ticketing Changes for Business Licenses

Council approved the first three readings of proposed Bylaw 1831 that looks at policy around Business Licensing, if final adoption is approved, would see fines that would be stepped, and could occur daily, at $200 for the first offence, $500 for the second occurrence and $1,000 for the third occurrence. Also, Council approved the Policy and Bylaw Committee to review further enforcement opportunities that may be available regarding non-conforming businesses.

Northern BC Post Secondary Education Marketing Initiative

Council approved staff to submit a $20,000 grant application to the Northern Development Initiative Trust for a marketing initiative for the Study North BC campaign. The four post-secondary education institutions that operate in northern BC (College of New Caledonia, Northern Lights College, Northwest Community College and the University of Northern British Columbia) are working together to market northern BC as the place for students to study by focusing on the lifestyle that northern BC provides.

Bylaws

• Bylaw 1828 – Zone Amendment – Prohibit Shipping Containers in Residential Areas – Third Reading
• Bylaws 1829 & 1830 – OCP & Zone Amendments – Supportive/Transition Housing (Elliott Street) – Reschedule Public Hearing Date to 7:00 pm, August 29, 2017 City Hall Council Chambers.
• Bylaw 1831 – Municipal Ticket Information – Ticketing Changes for Business Licensing – First, Second and Third Readings.

Documenting the Lessons Learned

Pardon the pun, but we are not out of the woods yet. The wildfires burning to the south and west of Quesnel will continue to be a concern for some time and they’ll require significantly more effort to get them all out. It’s also important to remember that we are just entering the real forest fire season and we’ll all need to be diligent in our efforts to avoid creating any more forest fires as the parks reopen and people once again start entering the backcountry.

Unlike the Cariboo Regional District, the District of 100 Mile House, and the City of Williams Lake, the City of Quesnel did not have to activate its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during this recent event because there was never an imminent risk to the City. In lieu of a formal EOC, however, we held an Emergency Management Committee (EMC) meeting each morning to track everything that was going on and to actively learn from this situation so we can create a more robust and comprehensive Forest Fire Emergency Management Plan for the City. On Monday this week the City of Quesnel stood down its Emergency Management Committee, signaling that the risk level of the current fires is diminishing and we are returning to more normal operations at City Hall.

Over the coming months we will add to our own learning by collecting all of the lessons learned from the other communities involved in this most recent event, including the main evacuee host communities of Prince George and Kamloops. Our intent is to present a draft lessons learned document to Council in late August and seek Council’s approval to engage an emergency management specialist to help us take this raw material and turn it into a comprehensive and detailed plan that the City can use to guide our actions in any future forest fire related emergency.

One critical area we will want to canvass with the Cariboo Regional District is whether we need to break the Cariboo-Chilcotin into distinct sub-regions for emergency management, especially when there are multiple, simultaneous major events like we just experienced. There is definitely a case to be made that the North Cariboo has the capacity to manage forest fire and other major emergencies more directly from Quesnel through a joint CRD-City Emergency Operations Center. The North Cariboo has a different Health Authority than rest of the CRD; we have a separate, permanent Wildfire Branch base at the Airport and the capacity to host a larger firefighting camp and resources as needed; we have our own RCMP Detachment; the Ministry of Transportation has a separate office in Quesnel (located in City Hall); and, the City and CRD have local, trained staff and volunteers who can more directly manage emergencies based on more local knowledge.

I certainly believe we could have avoided a lot of the confusion created during this most recent emergency if we had been able to make more direct decisions here in the North Cariboo based on more local knowledge of our situation and our geography. I look forward to discussing this option with the rest of the Cariboo Regional District Board once the smoke, literally, clears from all of the communities in the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
In the meantime, I know I speak for all of the residents of Quesnel when I say that our hearts go out to the evacuees, especially those who lost their homes, as they return to their communities. And, our heartfelt thanks go out to all the volunteers, firefighters, health care workers, RCMP, and the many others who pitched in and who continue to work hard to provide relief for the evacuees, keep our community safe, and fight to get all the fires in our region out.

Mayor Bob Simpson

Email: bsimpson@quesnel.ca

Reputable and trustworthy sources of information

The current fire situation arose on Friday July 7. By Saturday, the rumour mill, amplified by social media, was in full swing and most people could no longer discern fact from fiction. It didn’t help that one media outlet reported that Quesnel was under an evacuation alert when we weren’t or that most media outlets were taking a “shock and awe” approach to reporting on all the fires. People were rightly beginning to panic.

It was that backdrop that caused me to try and provide people in the Quesnel area with a place to go for information and I started to post twice-daily updates on Facebook. Since the City of Quesnel did not need to activate its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) I was not in the same position as my counterparts to the south, who all had to immediately start making rapid-fire decisions to protect lives and homes based on the best information available to them at the time – which was initially sketchy at best.

It was fortunate that my Facebook updates were quickly accepted as being reputable and trustworthy, as they quickly became a place for people to get the information they needed. One result of meeting this need for accessible and easily digestible information was a precipitous drop in the rumour mongering on Facebook – which had an incredibly calming effect on people who were having a hard time discerning fact from fiction or who couldn’t pull the information they needed out of all the websites and news stories that began to overwhelm people with too much information.

As I noted last week, it took time to marshal all the resources needed to fight the fires created as a result of a less than an hour-long weather event. It takes even longer to establish the information and communications systems to inform the public about what is going on in a timely manner and to feed people’s appetite for meaningful information.

Those communications and information systems are now in place and people should now be able to go directly to source for the information they need. The key information sources are, of course, online — that’s the age we live in. The BC Wildfire Branch, Drive BC, the Cariboo Regional District, Red Cross, and the City of Quesnel websites all now have regularly updated information related to the fire situation here and throughout the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Weather and air quality information can also be easily found online too.

When sourcing any information (at any time) it is important to check the date of the report or story, ensure it is from a reputable source, and, as much as possible, get it from a “primary” source – that is, directly from the issuing authority (Wildfire Branch, CRD, etc.) not second hand. Facebook, generally, is neither reputable nor a primary source of information.

This week a new direct source of information on the Wildfire situation around Quesnel has been established at the new public washroom facility adjacent to the parking lot at Spirit Square where the BC Wildfire Branch has established a staffed information kiosk. We are also posting the printed daily updates of the wildfire situation on all of the community bulletin boards around the City.

Every agency is now doing what it can to provide timely and trustworthy information. It’s up to each of us to seek out that information rather than relying on less reputable sources.

By the way: only about three hundred people have registered for the City of Quesnel’s news releases and updates, yet this is the easiest way to get direct information on this fire situation as soon as it is posted, subscribe here.

Mayor Bob Simpson

Email: bsimpson@quesnel.ca

2017 Billy Barker Days’ Festival Cancelled

Quesnel, B.C. – July 11, 2017 – The not-for-profit organizations coordinating events for the 2017 Billy Barker Days Festival met on July 10th to consider cancellation of this years’ events.

The wildfires in the Cariboo are not contained and the weather forecast for this week calls for wind and high temperatures. This decision was not only necessary but made out of respect and empathy for those displaced from their homes and the personnel working on these fires.

The rationale for cancellation is as follows:

1.     Travel throughout the Cariboo is limited and the Emergency Operation Centre recommends that any unnecessary traffic be minimized on all highways in the area.

2.     Our area already has a high concentration of particulates in the air, which could worsen depending on the surrounding fires and winds. This can present medical issues for those with respiratory conditions.

3.     The RCMP – Quesnel Detachment are fully engaged in evacuation and traffic control (roadblocks) throughout the North Cariboo and not able to provide the required support for the festival.

4.     Prior to the increased urgency in our area, the Quesnel Fire Department sent a crew and a Fire Engine to assist 100 Mile House, so their ability to respond to local calls for service is limited.

5.     Currently, G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital is working over capacity due to receiving patients from hospitals in evacuated communities. Billy Barker Days always represents an increased work load, and their resources are already stretched.

6.     All emergency operations agencies agree that it is important that Quesnel is able to respond with assistance to our neighbors, should we need to accommodate evacuees or provide support. Additionally, should the wildfire situation impact Quesnel directly, we need to be in a position to move swiftly. We need to keep facilities, parks and personnel available and roads clear should the fire situation change and local support be required.

For up to date information, please visit the Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operation Facebook page or call their Public Information Line at 1-866-759-4977.

Quotes:

Mayor Bob Simpson, City of Quesnel
“The City of Quesnel fully supports the Billy Barker Days’ Society’s decision to cancel this years’ event. This is the right decision during this uncertain time and, our focus needs to be with those affected and those fighting tirelessly to assist and mitigate the ongoing emergent nature of the wildfire situation throughout the Cariboo.”

Maureen Murray, President, Quesnel Billy Barker Days’ Society
“Out of respect for the wellbeing of our community, the Billy Barker Days Society has decided to cancel the 2017 Billy Barker Days Festival.”

Tim Cawdell, Executive Director, Quesnel Downtown Association
“The Quesnel Downtown Association feels that proceeding with the Billy Barker Days Festival would put locals, visitors, and vendors in an unsafe situation and have cancelled their Gold Dust Mall event.”

Ray Jasper, President, Quesnel Rodeo Club
“The Quesnel Rodeo Club has cancelled the 2017 rodeo. This decision was made in consultation with emergency services, the Billy Barker Days’ Society and all other event and City representatives. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those on the fire lines including some of our Rodeo members.“

Dustin Brown, Quesnel Auto Racing Association
“The Quesnel Auto Racing Association supports the decision to cancel the Billy Barker Days’ festival and will not be proceeding with Crash to Pass or the Saturday races, as safety of our racers and the public comes first. Our thoughts are with those affected by the fires.”

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Media Contact
Teann Ingram
Communications Clerk
E: tingram@quesnel.ca
T: 250-991-7475

Single-Use Plastic Bags

Quesnel concerned student, Maya Knauf, provided Council with information regarding single-use plastic bags bans in countries such as Rwanda, China, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Bali and Macedonia, California, Mexico City. Other communities considering single-use plastic bag bans are Victoria, Montreal, Chicago, Austin, Seattle and New York. In 2010, approximately 2.86 billion plastic bags were thrown away in Canada. A direct and ongoing challenge for the community is non-recyclable plastics, this includes plastic bags, are contaminating the community’s plastic recycling waste stream at the local landfill and community satellite recycling sites. Next steps include the Policy and Bylaw Review Committee to explore local government best practices around single-use plastic bags.

City’s 2016 Annual Report

Council has approved the City’s 2016 Annual Report. This report contains messages from Mayor, Councillor and City Manager, a community overview, 2016 Asset Management, 2016 Highlights, 2016 and 2017 Strategic Plans, 2016 Consolidated Financial Statements and 2016 Permissive Tax Exemptions. Please visit the City’s website to view this full report.

Spirit Centre – Public Accessible Washrooms, Water Bottle Refill Station, Leases and Non-Profit Bookings

The newly renovated Spirit Centre, that is expected to open just in time for Billy Barker Days on July 13, 2017, will have public washrooms (all wheelchair accessible), a water bottle refill station that is also wheelchair accessible, a 610 sq. ft. open lobby space and a 384 sq. ft. boardroom space that will be available to use by non-profit organizations at no charge, and four office spaces that can be leased. Effective August 1, 2017, two of the office spaces will be leased; one to the Barkerville Heritage Town and one to the Quesnel Downtown Business Improvement Association.

Grace Inn Motel Conversion to Housing

Council gave third readings for the OCP and Zone Amendment Bylaws for the proposed development to convert the Grace Inn Motel to a high-density multi-family residential housing complex with conditions that a Section 219 Covenant be filed on title and the Proponent enters into a Housing Agreement with the City. The Grace Inn is located at 530 Carson Avenue.

Water Upgrades to Pinecrest Water Reservoir – Award of Contract

Council approved the contract to perform civil, mechanical and electrical upgrades to the water distribution system near and at the Pinecrest Water Reservoir to Acres Enterprises Ltd. in the amount of $1,699,900 plus applicable taxes.

Bylaws

Bylaws 1806 & 1807 – OCP & Zone Amendments – Grace Inn Motel Convert to Housing – Third Reading

Bylaw 1815 – Cariboo Pulp and Paper Landfill Expansion – Final Adoption

Bylaw 1824 – Off Leash Dog Park – Zone Amendment – Stood Down – Pending Ministry of Transportation’s Conditions/Restrictions

Bylaw 1828 – Zone Amendment – Prohibit Shipping Containers in Residential Areas – First & Second Readings AND Set Public Hearing Date to 7:00 pm July 25, 2017 City Hall Council Chambers

Bylaws 1829 & 1830 – OCP & Zone Amendments – Supportive/Transition Housing (Elliott Drive) – First Reading AND Set Public Hearing Date to 7:00 pm, July 25, 2017 City Hall Council Chambers.