Council Highlights
Here are the highlights from the April 1 City Council meeting.
Three members of the Fire Department received awards at the start of the Council meeting. Captain Scott Jeffery (left) received a Long Service Award for 20 years with the City of Nelson. Fire Chief Jeff Hebert (centre) and Captain/Training Officer Marc Thibault (right) received the British Columbia Long Service Award for 25 years of dedication to fire service.
Council considered taking on a loan on behalf of the Railtown Housing Society at 85 Baker Street that would upgrade the existing road, adding the water, hydro, road and yard improvements they would need to develop a 55-unit workforce housing project in the area. The loan (which would be approximately $750,000) would be added to the Railtown Housing Society's property taxes and would be paid back in full including interest. The proposal will return to Council for further consideration.
Council approved increasing fees at the Nelson and District Youth Centre by $7 a day for the Weekday Warriors afterschool care program and for day camps. The increases will help offset rising costs for food and staffing. The increases are now in effect.
Council considered amending the Financial Plan Bylaw for 2024-2028 to account for several unanticipated challenges that arose after the financial plan bylaw was adopted. First, the City’s insurance payout for the Mill Street substation failure was $1.7 million, but had been forecast at $2.5 million. Second, power purchases from Fortis BC were $477,000 greater than budgeted as there was a cold weather event in January 2024 that increased peak demand by 16% and as charges are based on the highest level of demand in the year. Further, the amended financial plan reflects Council’s decision in 2024 to provide grant funding to the Nelson Civic Theatre Society.
Council adopted a policy on reviewing the City Manager’s performance. As the only employee of Council, previously there had not been a formal policy guiding the City Manager’s performance reviews. The purpose of the policy is to establish a structured, fair, and transparent process for City Council to conduct regularly-occurring performance reviews of the City Manager.
Residents are welcome to review the Council agenda or watch a recording of the meeting.
Highlights from previous Council meetings are available here.