From Creston town council’s Jan. 31 regular meeting:
•The Creston Valley Rotary Club is proposing to take on construction and fundraising for a pavilion in Centennial Park. The structure would provide a place for parents who take their children to the splash park or playground to sit in the shade. The club also hopes to build a senior’s gym in the same park this summer.
•Council voted to pay the $3,742.79 tab for the town’s membership in the Union of BC Municipalities. The figure is a five per cent increase over the 2011 cost.
•A travel bag bearing the Town of Creston emblem will be donated to the Creston Valley Rod and Gun Club for its annual fundraiser on Feb. 18.
•Council will discuss the way grants-in-aid are distributed in the coming weeks.
•Council voted to continue to advertise in the Creston Valley Thunder Cats 2012-2013 program.
•Coun. Jerry Schmalz will represent Creston at a BC Community Forest Association annual conference and AGM in Kaslo in May. Schmalz is council’s representative on the local community forest board.
•A meeting with BC Transit officials and council will be arranged to discuss local public transportation service.
•The official opening of ArtWalk 2012 will be held in the Spirit of Creston Square on June 30. Council responded to a request to provide the area at no charge to the organizing committee.
•The Town of Creston will co-ordinate with Community Pride to set up display and information booths in the 2012 Home, Garden and Leisure Show, hosted by the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce.
•Further subsidy of rental rates for users of Prince Charles Theatre will be considered in upcoming budget deliberations. The $5,000 allocated for subsidies last year has not been used up and council voted to allow Prince Charles Secondary School, which operates the theatre, to administer the funds. The decision was opposed by Couns. Wesly Graham and Schmalz.
•A request from the owner of Cherrywood Estate, commonly referred to as “the bunker”, on Vancouver Street and Northwest Boulevard for council to extend a five-year property tax exemption to the property’s future development was referred back to the owner. Under the bylaw, it is the obligation of the property owner to apply for tax relief in a development, convincing town council that the development meets a number of criteria designed to benefit the community. There is no development proposal for the property at this time.
• Graham requested that staff explore funding opportunities from the federal government to commemorate the War of 1812. The issue will be taken on by councillors, who will also refer to the chamber of commerce and Community Pride.
•The Town of Creston, in concert with the chamber of commerce, is once again embarking on a branding process, which has been contracted to a Kimberley company. Mayor Ron Toyota will represent the town on a five-person committee, along with another council representative. Couns. Scott Veitch and Schmalz both volunteered for the position and no decision was made on their selection.
A previous branding program that was contracted to two local business people has largely been relegated to collect dust on a shelf that contains dozens of other consultants’ reports.
