Electoral process
Council voted to adopt an alternative approval process for the Washington Street Infrastructure Renewal Loan electoral process. For the alternative approval process, the City has to publish a notice of the proposed bylaw—in this case renewing the loan—in a local newspaper. After two notices have been published the public has 30 days to ask for a referendum by filling out an elector response form. If at least 10 percent of electors ask for a referendum, then one is held. If fewer than 10 percent ask for a referendum, the City can adopt the bylaw. If all goes well the deadline for submitting an elector response form should be in early November.
Amendment to purchasing policy
Mike Maturo, the city’s interim chief administrative officer, made a recommendation to council to add a clause to its purchasing policy that would allow it to reject a bid from any bidder who has been or is involved “in a legal action against the City.” Council voted not to adopt the recommendation, because they felt it was too restrictive. They were afraid that it would discourage firms with legitimate claims from starting litigations with the City, and that it would discourage firms who’d had legitimate litigations with the City from entering a bid. But they voted to reconsider changing the policy in the future, and asked staff to look into how other cities handle these situations.
Golden City Days
Council approved a request from Terry Brinson, coordinator of Golden City Days, to have the City help out with the events for Golden City Days. City staff will help move things around, and will provide things like barricades and no parking signs for the events. Council’s one concern was staying on budget because there were more requests from Golden City Days than there were last year, but public works confirmed that it shouldn’t be a problem. Council will have a chance to review the final budget after the events.
Sun Country Highway charging stations
Mayor Kathy Moore met with the Highway 3 Mayors’ Coalition Council recently and the group decided to make Highway 3 the “electric highway.” The coalition wants to have charging stations for electric cars available all the way along the highway, and as it happens Sun Country Highway is currently offering free charging stations. The matter needed to be discussed at the special council meeting because the deadline to apply for the free stations is August 15. The City of Rossland will need to pay for their installation, but wouldn’t have to pay any annual fees. Council voted to have staff look into the viability of having them installed.
