All members of Cache Creek council were present for the regular council meeting on April 19, which began at 6 p.m.
Zoning amendment bylaw adopted
Council voted unanimously to adopt Bylaw No. 6-001, which amends Zoning Bylaw No. 423, 1990 to include provisions regarding retail cannabis sales, cannabis production, and industrial hemp production.
The bylaw stipulates that no retail cannabis establishment can be located within 50 metres of any park or community hall, or within 150 metres of any school. The original stipulation was 200 metres from any school, but the distance was changed following a request from Williams Lake First Nation, which is interested in establishing a retail cannabis store less than 200 metres from Cache Creek Elementary School.
Spring clean-up
Coun. Sue Peters made a motion instructing staff to plan a spring clean-up event for the village. Coun. Wendy Coomber noted that the estimated cost of the event is between $4,000 and $5,000, and that the last time the subject came up, Belkorp sponsored it. “Do you think we could do that again?” Mayor Santo Talarico said that the matter could be discussed in camera, and a motion to that effect was passed.
Subsequent to the meeting, the village confirmed that there will be a spring-clean-up, with the date to be determined.
Letter of support
The Equality Project requested a letter of support from the village for their grant application to the New Horizons for Seniors program, to allow them to purchase a new furnace and air conditioner for their clubhouse on Stage Road.
Coun. Lisa Dafoe wondered how that would benefit seniors, noting that it was a seniors’ grant. Coomber replied that they did have a lot of seniors using the facility, and that the funding providers would decide whether or not the grant was appropriate. A motion to send a letter of support passed unanimously.
Signs for Semlin Road
Crista Ross of Learning Tree Childcare on Semlin Drive requested that the village install permanent signage on Semlin, notifying drivers that children are playing in the area and to slow to 30 km/hr. In her letter she noted that despite placing her own signs at the end of her driveway, asking people to slow down, drivers still use dangerous speeds on the street.
Council passed a motion to install appropriate signage as requested.
Emergency operations centre
Peters said that while the EOC has not been activated, there has been an informal meeting of the EOC group. She added that in the early morning of April 19 Cache Creek rose above the top of the culvert at Quartz Road, but did not breach the road, and that a crew had worked overnight to clear debris from the culvert.
Peters added that the village was being proactive, and hopefully would have a less traumatic time getting contractors this year. “We advertised and received a number of contractors who are willing to do work on behalf of the village.” She said that contractors will be contacted via rotation.
Chief Financial Officer Cristina Martini said that the village had joined the Voyent Alert! emergency alert system, and that the system was due to go live for residents of Cache Creek as of April 20, so that subscribers could receive messages about emergency situations.
Public budget meeting
Talarico had moved to take the meeting into closed session when Martini noted that the village needed to schedule a public presentation about this year’s budget, with the presentation to be livestreamed to allow for public participation. She suggested Thursday, April 29 as the date, and asked what time would be convenient for council.
Talarico said that he wondered if council could advise on that. “I think we should wait until council has a discussion about a few things and then solidify the date.” He added that council would do that fairly quickly.
On Tuesday, April 27 the village announced that there will be a virtual town hall meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 to present the proposed 2021 budget. The meeting will be livestreamed by the HUB Online Network on their Facebook page, and members of the public are invited to attend virtually and provide input.
The meeting went into closed session at 6:12 p.m.
All minutes and agendas for Cache Creek council meetings can be found on the Village’s website at http://www.village.cachecreek.bc.ca/. Meetings normally take place on the first and third Mondays of each month (with some exceptions), and begin at 6 p.m. The next regular meeting will take place on Monday, May 3.
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