The City of Revelstoke’s financial focus group is being reformed after a two year hiatus.
Council passed new terms of reference for the group, which it hopes will have six members and present a report on the budget to council by October.
Council aims to have the 2016 budget finished before the end of this year
The terms of reference state the group will act as an advisory committee to council. They are expected to attend all budget meetings until the financial plan is presented to the public for comment. They will be expected to review financial material, provide comment and ask questions throughout the budget process.
Interested people can apply at city hall.
Big Eddy water protection being established
The City of Revelstoke will be amending its Official Community Plan in order to protect a portion of the Big Eddy Water District’s source.
According to a staff report, part of the Big Eddy’s water source is within city limits, but currently isn’t protected by any bylaws.
The proposal, which was approved by council, is to establish a development permit area, so any applications made near the source would have to be assessed based on their impact to the water source.
“It would impact new development occurring,” said planning manager Dean Strachan. “How that would be impacted would depend on the scale of development taking place.”
Mike Thomas, the city’s director of engineering, said the issue was raised during discussions with the Big Eddy Waterworks board of directors.
“This is one of the things we can do as the city to make sure we’re taking care of the Big Eddy Water District,” he said.
Telus installing higher tower
Telus was given approval to increase the height of it’s downtown communications tower.
The company asked to increase the height of the tower to 18.63 metres from the existing 14.9 metres in order to meet the community’s wireless needs.
The request was approved, though councillor Aaron Orlando asked staff to develop a policy for approving future telecommunications towers, saying the city is likely to see more applications in the future.
