At the final council meeting for 2019, Trail Mayor Lisa Pasin decided she would re-visit a past custom of Silver City leaders by giving a mayoral address that looked back over the past 12 months and looked ahead to the new year.
“As we are circling the end of the fiscal year for the City of Trail and the end of the first year, just passed, of us being named to elected officials, I thought I would bring forward an old tradition of providing a year-end mayoral address,” she began Dec. 9. ” … I wish to express my gratitude to all our community members for your thoughtful and meaningful engagement through your volunteerism, conversations, and investments in our community.”
Priorities going
forward into 2020
Administration and Finance:
– The Collective Agreement with the city’s 75 unionized CUPE employees expires early in 2020. Collective bargaining should commence sometime in 2020 with the desired result of securing a fair and affordable new Collective Agreement.
– The LCCDTS/LCIC Economic Development agreement expires at the end of 2020. Council will be making a business decision regarding continuation of the service, which may include negotiations for a new agreement.
– The funding agreement currently in place, for recreation and library services with the Village of Warfield, is set to expire at the end of 2020. Contract negotiations for the extension of these services will occur.
– Establishment of a capital reserve fund, including building an annual contribution into the budget for the purpose of ensuring appropriate money is set aside to demolish the Old Trail Bridge, will play a key role in budget deliberations. It is important for the city to acknowledge this aging piece of infrastructure and take steps to appropriately manage the life of this asset.
– Initiation and completion of an organizational review as part of assessing the future structure and human resources needs of the city going forward, is planned in anticipation of several senior administrative staff leaving service of the City of Trail over the next few years. This review will be designed to ensure the city’s structure and position descriptions are properly defined as part of ensuring long term sustainability of the city’s operations.
Public Safety and Community Support:
– Assessing and implementing relevant ideas from the Community Safety Task Force’s “Community Safety Action Strategy,” as a way to positively impact the safety of our community as well as deal with societal pressures and outcomes that are negatively impacting our city, will forge ahead. I thank all the Community Safety Task Force members for their participation in this committee as we move forward together to ensure Trail remains a safe community for our citizens.
– Working collaboratively with the RCMP to bolster the uptake of the Citizens on Patrol Program, as well as commencing the Bike Patrol Program in the downtown core and through our high-risk areas, will continue. I encourage all our citizens to wholeheartedly engage in crime reduction strategies to minimize the effects of crime in our community.
– Collaboration with non-profit societies and governmental partners will continue as we assess housing needs with the City of Trail to ensure a wide scope of housing alternatives are available in the city, including that which would support our most vulnerable citizens.
Infrastructure and Amenities:
– Marketing the Union Hotel property, including facilitating the sale of the property and maximizing future use of the property, will remain a focus as we strive to diversify the city’s tax base as well as revitalize the downtown core. Maximizing use of the Union Hotel land is deemed important as the capital improvement, once approved, will shape usage of and amenities in the downtown core for years to come.
– Obtaining a design and cost estimate for the second access road to Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH), including development of a financing plan and securing funding which will further support KBRH, our regional hospital, will proceed. For generations now, the City of Trail’s citizens have proudly supported our hospital and have tirelessly worked to maintain a high level of investment in improvements to KBRH. It is exciting that $58 million will be invested in KBRH over the next several years as the Emergency Department is expanded and the Phase 2 Ambulatory Care/Pharmacy project comes to fruition. I am happy to report that the city continues to embrace KBRH as a core service within the City of Trail and will work to prioritize healthcare improvements and support the provision of health care for the benefit of all residents in the city and throughout the Kootenay Boundary.
– Completion of the $660,000 Groutage Avenue Esplanade Development Project, which will create public spaces and improve access from Jubilee Park through to the Columbia River Skywalk. We thank Columbia Basin Trust for the $237,000 grant to assist with this project.
– The continuation of and completion of the city’s Official Community Plan, which provides multiple stakeholders, including community members, the opportunity to provide feedback on the future direction of the City of Trail. We encourage all those interested to participate in the Official Community Plan process. As citizens, you have an important role to play in defining and shaping our city’s future direction.
– I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the excellent work of Communities in Bloom, the success of our city’s premier events of Silver City Days and Spooktacular, and the successful one-year of operation of the Riverfront Center’s integrated library and museum. Thank you to all involved for your dedication to service excellence and volunteerism in the City of Trail.
2020 Council Committee Structure:
After considering feedback from councillors regarding committee appointments, the 2020 Council Committee structure was set. I was pleased that council expressed overall satisfaction with their committee appointments from 2019, and wished to continue with their positions through 2020. I believe that consistency of leadership will work for the benefit of the committees as we round the calendar into year two of service to our community.
There are, however, three changes to report.
– Councillor Sandy Santori will replace me as chair for the Governance and Operations Committee and I will remain as his alternate. This role is familiar to Coun. Santori and I have every confidence in his ability to lead in this capacity.
– Councillor Colleen Jones will remain as the sole chair and council representative on the Silver City Days Committee. After one year as co-chair of this committee, I am confident that Coun. Jones will work productively with staff to ensure Silver City Days 2020 is a success.
– The newly formed Organization Review Committee, which along with council, will work to assess the future organizational structure and human resources needs of the city due to the anticipated departure of senior administrative staff, will be chaired by myself along with councillors Jones, Santori and Butler (Coun. Paul Butler). I look forward to all seven of your elected officials working together effectively as we work through this very important organizational review.
Council appointments will remain the same as follows:
– Coun. Carol Dobie will remain the lead for Communities in Bloom with Coun. Eleanor Gattafoni Robinson, alternate.
– Coun. Gattafoni Robinson will lead the Ambassador Program with Coun. Dobie as alternate.
– Coun. Dobie will lead the Columbia River Committee with Coun. Butler as alternate.
– Coun. Dobie will lead the Ktunaxa Treaty Advisory Committee with Coun. Jones, alternate.
– Coun. Jones will continue to lead the Greater Trail Home of Champions Committee.
– Coun. Robert Cacchioni will lead the Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, with Coun. Dobie and Coun. Gattafoni Robinson as alternates.
– Coun. Gattafoni Robinson will remain as the Historical Society representative with Coun. Cacchioni, alternate.
Economic Development Committees:
– Coun. Butler will remain as the Chamber of Commerce representative, with Coun. Gattafoni Robinson as alternate.
– Coun. Butler will lead the Lower Columbia Community Development Team Society with Coun. Jones as alternate.
Public Safety and Protective Services:
– Coun. Santori remains chair of the Community Safety Task Force with Coun. Butler as alternate.
– Coun. Butler will lead Protective Services with Coun. Santori, alternate.
Statutory Appointments or designations:
– Coun. Jones was appointed to the library board.
– Coun. Cacchioni will remain the regional district director with Mayor Pasin as alternate.
– Mayor Pasin will remain on the West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District board.
– Coun. Jones and Coun. Gattafoni Robinson will remain on the Riverfront Center Advisory Committee, as a result of their library board and historical society appointments.
– Mayor Pasin will chair the Major Industrial Property Tax Committee, with Coun. Cacchioni as the regional district representative and Coun. Santori as a member.
– Mayor Pasin will continue to chair the Trail Health and Environment Committee, Coun. Santori is alternate.
As well, the Deputy Mayor rotation will continue with four councillors participating in, and remaining on, the monthly rotation.
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