Council backs BACA
Councillors say they’re willing to take a bigger role in the push for a fixed link across the Arrow Lakes.
They passed a motion Monday night to call for a meeting with local MLAs to discuss how replacing the existing ferry service with a bridge would benefit the community and area.
Council was responding to a presentation last month from the Beaton Arm Crossing Association. The group said it was renewing its push for a fixed link and wanted council’s support. Councillors did better than that Monday, saying they felt it was time council was more active in the lobby effort. Council’s going to contact provincial politicians for a meeting in the new year.
Red ink for library books
The Nakusp Library has just crunched its numbers for 2018, and they’re not great. The Library board is projecting an $11,000 deficit next year. Wages, technology costs, inter-library loan fees and just everyday expenses have all gone up.
Library Chair Paula Rogers pointed out in a letter to village council the library has not received a cost-of-living increase in its grant for years, and asked for $5,000 to help reduce the library’s deficit. The board says it will fundraise to cover the rest of the shortfall.
Right now the Library is funded by the RDCK and the Village to the tune of $86,000 a year. The increase would add about $2.50 to the average tax bill.
NABS nabs council support
The project to build a world-class mountain bike trail just north of town is proceeding apace; the Nakusp and Area Bike Society has finished Phase One, and is now looking for $500,000 for Phases 2 and 3. It went to council Monday night seeking moral support. Council agreed with the request, and will provide a letter of support to the bike group for its application to BC’s Rural Dividend Program. The upcoming two years of construction for Phase 2 and 3 would see another 15 kilometers added to the existing trails, as well as a 30-unit campground, kiosk and staging area. NABS would hire local labour and contractors for the work.
Special zoning for Green Door
There are a million little hurdles the proponents of the Green Door multi-use facility have to jump over to get to their goal. But there’s one less after Monday’s council meeting. The developers couldn’t build their project on the land as it’s zoned now- a kind of commercial designation called C2. C2 just didn’t allow for the various things that the Green Door project will hold. So the administration created the project’s very own zoning, a variation on C2, that will allow activities like rec centre/wood fired heating plant/fish farm/swimming pool/bowling on the site. The zoning change also shows the project has council support, which makes funders less nervous.