The call for applicants was released through the City's Social media stream with further details available on the City of Prince Rupert website.
“The new police detachment is a project that will serve our community for generations to come, and will be a real anchoring development at the entrance to downtown. We wanted to take the opportunity to showcase a local artist and also to celebrate what makes Prince Rupert unique with this opportunity.” -- Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond
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| Artists rendering of New RCMP detachment currently under construction (click to enlarge) |
It was a quick and seemingly at times, an uncomfortable ten minute session for the members of the Board of Education on May 23rd, with those participating at the Booth Building gathering space and by remote means from near and afar moving the Budget Bylaw forward to adoption for 2023.
The Board members put their final approval on the Budget plan that they delivered at their last session earlier this month. Their final adoption however coming not without a few minutes of controversy towards the process that was used for this year.
Former Trustee Tina Last was in attendance on the night and made inquiries as to how the Board had reached the point of adoption on the night, observing that they had 'put the cart before the horse and how the procedures used this year had never happened before'.
"I would want somebody to check into the validity of that process... because I came here, as I'm sure as anyone could have to see what the Budget is. And the budget looks for anybody who didn't know that you did it last week just like a rubber stamp, I don't know what the budget is" -- Former SD52 Board Chair and trustee Tina Last.
Gerry Slyhkuis who has been consulting with the School District from the Fraser Valley since March, provided some guidance to the issues raised by Ms. Last.
"What's been presented and we've had a couple of meetings now presenting various aspects of the Budget and various analysis of the Budget and then at this meeting you have the actual Ministry template with the full document for the three readings.
That's actually quite normal, you would look at it in different views, different analysis. Because the Ministry template is fairly hard to understand.
And so in the previous meetings you've had the Budget presented, you've had some discussion around it, made some decisions around it and from that then Britney has prepared the Ministry template which is included in this. That's the actual Budget document in the bylaw so I hope that's helfpul'
Ms. Last added to her commentary, that the process that was used was a disappointing one for her, as there was no actual budget to review.
"This is just very different from twenty years of doing a budget and I can only speak for me but I'm pretty disappointed that I don't get to see a budget"
To follow up on some further commentary from Mr. Slykhuis, Ms. Last shared her thoughts as to how it had been done in the past.
"I'm a former trustee, I was the Chair for thirteen years and we've never done it like this. We've had it where you know you could come to the Budget meeting, where the budget's going to be passed. And you get to see your trustees look at what was presented as options, and they would debate it ,they would discuss it and you didn't have to actually partake in the previous five public budget meetings because this is where we would pass the budget. So this is just very different from the last twenty years that Prince Rupert has passed budgets"
The School Board's Budget helper from the Fraser Valley offered up some further notes on how the process of adoption of the budget works, observing on how it is accomplished in other jurisdictions.
Mr. Slykhuis then observed, how there had been opportunity for comment and input in the previous sessions used by the SD52 Board over the last few months.
"If you get it all in one meeting it's a lot to absorb and this gives everybody time to think about it and in fact a decisions' changed quite a bit over these two or three meetings in what the Board finally decided on for a budget. So I think it was a really good exercise because they did have that time to review it. Recognizing that may be different than what's been done in the past"
Ms. Last had one last thought on the process used for this year's budget planning.
"Different than what Prince Rupert would be expecting would be my view of how to phrase that"
None of the Board of Education Trustee members weighed in on the back and forth over the process during the course of the session.
Superintendent Andrew Samoil noted that the Budget document would be available for review by the public on May 24th.
That documentation can be reviewed from the SD52 Budget page.
The session was then adjourned.
You can review the full ten minute session from the SD52 Video Archive below
The next steps for the Board as they look to implement their financial planning will include the reassignment of staff or potential cutting of support positions. As well as the potential for layoffs for teaching staff, all of which we should be in motion before this month comes to an end.
More notes related to Education on the North Coast can be reviewed here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
A two night information sharing experience is about to start with the City of Prince Rupert hosting two sessions towards learning more about the rights and responsibilities for both landlords and tenants.
We first tipped our readers to the program back in April when the sessions were announced and Tonight the first of the two sessions arrives with the Landlord focused program to take place at City Hall at 7PM.
The City's announcement of April outlining what to expect at tonight's session.
Are you a new or existing landlord in Prince Rupert and want to understand more about your rights and responsibilities under both the Residential Tenancy Act and the City’s Rental Maintenance Standards Bylaw?
Come to this free information session to be held in Council Chambers, City Hall (424 3rd Avenue West) on Tuesday, May 30th at 7 pm. City staff along with the Prince Rupert Unemployed Action Centre Legal Advocate will be on hand to present information and answer questions.
Light refreshments will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!
Tomorrow the focus shifts to the rights of tenants and the location shifts as well, with the Wednesday night session to take place at the Prince Rupert Library.
The event hosted by the City, Library and Prince Rupert Unemployed Action Centre.
Learn more about the Wednesday session from the City's event page for the night.
The genesis towards the twin information sessions came out of the last few years of discussion related to the acute shortage of affordable housing in the community and the growing issues of renovictions.
You can dig deeper into those themes through our Housing archive pages.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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| The BC Bush North departing from the Highliner in Prince Rupert |
The British Columbia Government has announced some new funding for a pair of transportation options that serve the Northwest.
On Monday, the Government outlined that 5 million dollars would be delivered to Northern Development Initiative Trust to continue the BC Bus North and Northern Community Shuttle Program until 2026-27.
“We understand how critical BC Bus North and the Northern Community Shuttle program are to meeting the needs of people in northern communities who may otherwise have limited transportation options,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “Extending these northern programs will ensure people can continue to access safe, reliable and affordable travel options to connect to family and industry in larger centres.” -- Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
The Province will also be adding 250,000 dollars towards the development of a new easy to use web based platform to be used for travel planning reservations and customer service for transportation needs in the region.
The new, booking system will include multiple service providers and allow people to book various travel options using one platform. The platform should be ready to use by fall 2023.
“Passenger transportation services in northern B.C. will benefit greatly from this investment by the Province of B.C. The $5 million to extend the Northern Passenger Transportation Service funding program will support the operations of shuttle buses between rural and remote communities, while also benefiting the BC Bus North service that travels between regional centres. This additional funding will support mobility for those who live and work in B.C.’s North, allowing them to visit family and friends and access services using reliable transportation.” -- Joel McKay, chief executive officer, Northern Development Initiative Trust.
