In the story ‘Village of Burns Lake working on RV parking’ published in the Lakes District News’ July 8, 2015, edition, the Village of Burns Lake had already agreed to purchase a vacant lot downtown, but couldn’t proceed until bylaw 957, 2015, was adopted.
The reserve fund expenditure bylaw authorizes the withdrawal of $25,000 from the village’s land sales reserve fund for the purpose of buying “lot four, district lots 6308 and 6309.”
The bylaw has now been adopted and the village has recently purchased the property from its undisclosed owner for $18,300 – an amount equal to its assessed value for taxation purposes.
The property is located across Hwy. 16 from the Rexall pharmacy and adjacent to lands formerly occupied by the Shell service station.
Legal fees associated with the transaction added $800 to the cost of the lot, so the village did not require the full $25,000 authorized under bylaw 957, only withdrawing $19,100 from the reserve fund.
According to Sheryl Worthing, Chief Administrative Officer for the village, this property will be used to enhance phase two of the downtown revitalization plan.
The old Shell property will be landscaped, including new pavement, planters, grass and benches.
“The additional property will also be landscaped to match the Shell property with grass so it will have the look of one large lot,” explained Worthing.
The new property will allow the village crew to deal with water control issues and snow removal in the area.
“It will also allow for better traffic flow and maintenance of the laneway,” she added.
Work has already started and the village hopes to have the lot paved within the next two weeks. The entire project should be completed by early fall 2015.
