Welcome to Your Kamloops!

At the Globe 2006 Conference on the Business and the Environment

In our strategic plan, your Council identified the need to create a comprehensive environmental plan for Kamloops. At this point, we have budgeted the money ($75 000) to start formally creating the plan in 2007. About six weeks ago, I heard about the Globe 2006 Business and the Environment conference. It offered a whole host of seminars on "building better cities" and I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn a great deal of information about possible innovative, creative, and effective directions for us. I decided to attend.

So I am here after the first day of three.And today, I attended three seminars with more direct relevance to City Hall.

The first seminar, Balancing Regulation and Profit: Developers and the Planning Department, concentrated on the question of whether municipal bylaws actually help or hinder the efforts of developers to build in an environmentally friendly fashion. Consultant Chris Corps, Developer Robert Fung, and Vancouver City Planner Ian Smith engaged in a spirit debate on what kind of regulations cities should enact. The seminar ended with the thought that maybe the threat of regulation was enough to get developers to self regulate.

The second seminar I attended was called "Innovative Financing for Sustainable Infrastructure". Ralph Peterson, CEO of CH2M Hill Consultants, gave us some examples of projects that could qualify as sustainable infrastructure, such as power generation plants at landfills. Janine Feretti, from the Inter American Development Bank,  spoke about sustainable infrastructure in developing countries. And Jacques Khouri, president of VanCity Enterprises, talked about socially responsible for profit development - using the example of his company's Dockside Green development in Victoria.

The last session of the day, "Green Procurement Policy: Setting the Parameters for Change", involved Margaret Kenny with the federal government talking about Canada's new green procurement polcy, a lead consultant from AT Kearney talking about the influence of the environment in corporate thinking (not predominant yet), and Margo Daykin, from the City of Richmond enviroment department, talking about Richmond's various environmental iniatives, focusing in on Richmond's environmental purchasing guide.    

This morning, in the Corporate Sustainability plenary, we heard some world leaders talk about the intersection besides business and the environment. Moderator Maurice Strong evangelized his view that the environment and sustainable living can be entirely consistent with profitabilty. Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP Exploration and Production, spoke of BP's creation of independent audit panels that scrutinize BP operations in environmentally and socially sensitive areas. Ramesh Ramachandran, president of Dow Canada, told us that the next generation will severly punish businesses that do not conduct operations in a environmentally sustainable way. Both Ramachandrand and Hayward put profit as the primary purpose, and I got the sense they saw social and environmental concerns being a means, now and increasingly in the future, of maximizing profitability.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people of Austria for buying lunch and to my fellow Canadians for dinner.

In the mood for a little weekend recycling...

Here's a map to all the city recycling drop off points in Kamloops:

Council Meeting March 21st - Recap

I am a little behind in posting these recaps. I am going to try to catch up in the next two weeks or so.

We approved a reduction to the side yard setback (area between buildings and road) for a house in Dallas. In an unusually lengthy proclamation section in the agenda, we proclaimed March 27th to April 1st as Tournament of Food week, March 22nd as Daffodil Day and April as Cancer month. March 22nd was also proclaimed as World Water Day and March 21st as Anti Racism Day.

We then heard from Jacki Andersen, co owner with her husband of Andersen's Market in Westsyde, about the concerns of many residents of Westsyde about narrowing Westsyde Rd. She came with a petition signed by over 2000 people.

We approved 2 variances to allow people to have secondary kitchens in their home. We allowed a gravel crushing operation in a gully between Juniper Ridge and Barnhartvale. We endorsed the expansion of the outdoor patio at the Max nightclub. We okayed a new service agreement that will govern city funding for the BC Wildlife Park.

Jeff Putnam, Executive Director of Venture Kamloops, briefed us on the agency's economic development activities. Gord Giles, of the Kamloops Graffiti Task Force, gave his take on graffiti in Kamloops.

Council asked to see the terms of reference and the suggested composition for the Parks and Rec committee investigating possible pesticide bylaws for Kamloops. We also directed staff to attend a Min of Mines public meeting about a proposed quarry on Ord Rd to explain our opposition to the quarry.

We deferred decisions on sponsoring an Elizabeth Fry hosted conference on social enterprise and a request from a low income family for assistance - pending staff reports and guidance.

The Weyerhaeuser Situation...

If Weyerhaeuser leaves Kamloops, how would that impact the community? That, to me, is the fundamental question that underlines all the current talk about the possibility of reducing local taxes for this giant forest company.

Weyerhaeuser employs about 1000 people in Kamloops and pays about 5 million dollars in city taxes each year.

Local company managers approached council in January with their concerns that the taxes they pay in Kamloops are too high - according to studies, more than double the provincial average. They also asked us to consider giving them a 5 to 10 year tax break on the value of any improvements they make to their local facilities.

Council struck a committee to look at industrial taxation and that committee has been working. Weyerhaeuser recently also asked that their current tax bill be freezed.

I believe we must tread very carefully here - for one primary reason. Any reduction in Weyerhaeuser taxes would likely increase residential tax rates. We have a lot of homeowners in Kamloops who have a tough enough time, as it is, keeping up with rising costs of living. And I worry about people who would have no choice but to give up on their homes or downsize.

So, while it might be a good idea to have industrial taxation rates more in line with the provincial averages, I would like to create the time to thoroughly examine revenue generating opportunities and greater efficiencies within City operations so we don't have to unduly burden homeowners. Council has already endorsed a gradual reduction - I believe we need to work to prevent the reduction from becoming a one for one shift.

Within Weyerhaeuser, there seems to be intense competition among different mills and divisions for funding from the company. They would like the Council to help them with putting their best foot forward. Here's my thought, based on what I know right now:

I am currently leaning towards working to expedite a revitalization tax exemption for Weyerhaeuser that would see the community exempt the value of any improvements to their local operation from taxation for a period of 5 to 10 years. Weyerhaesuer would have to invest to get that exemption. So, it would be a show of goodwill from the company and the community.

I hope they will give great consideration to "green" technologies. There is concern in Kamloops about Weyerhaeuser's environmental impact.

The Mayor led a group to Quesnel  - where they provided such an exemption for their mill. I look forward to hearing what they found out.

The last thought I have on this issue today is that it is best to be prepared for any possibility. Weyerhaeuser may close down in Kamloops no matter we do. And we need to consider how we are going to help people transition to other productive lives if that happens.

 

Ron McColl on community driven change

City of Kamloops Manager of Corporate Programs and Projects Ron McColl gave a great short introduction to the Kamloops Food Security Forum last week. His remarks in the video excerpt below are on around the power of community driven change. If this video is choppy, hit pause, wait a few minutes, and then hit play.

Food Security in Kamloops

A lack of healthy food options in schools and recreation facilities. The state of local and organic agriculture. Economic opportunities resulting from initiatives that ensure all Kamloops citizens have access to nutritious meals.

These and other issues were discussed today at the Community Food Action Forum, held today. I learned a lot from those who attended. There was some discussion on how City Hall could take some leadership in promoting local, healthy food. I heard a strong desire, at least among my breakout groups, on making sure healthy food choices are offered in vending machines in community facilities. I also learned of one survey, done in the Interior of BC, that indicated people may be willing to pay up to 30% more for locally grownfood.

There was a lot more discussed and debated. I want to thank Laura Kalina and Maria Mazzotta for inviting me to attend and I know that they will be presenting to City Council again with a full summary of today's discussions and hopefully some ideas for action.

The Grand Re-Opening of Sun Country Toyota

It looks like Rob Splane, dealer principal of Sun Country Toyota, has revived the Toyota brand in Kamloops. The Sakaki family owned the Toyota dealership in Kamloops for many years and were very well regarded. Subsequent dealers ran into some trouble. When Rob came onto the scene 5 years ago, Toyota had very weak representation in town.

But, Rob was undaunted. He has worked very hard to rebuild Toyota in Kamloops. He has a voice and persona made for great advertisements. I met Rob when he joined the Rotary Club of Kamloops. Yesterday, he opened a brand new facility on Cariboo Place. Many of the head honchos from Toyota Canada were present. Mayor Terry cut the red ribbon. And I was honoured to have been invited as well.

Way to go Rob!

A Challenging Budget Year...

I am a little late with this post. Apologies.

Last night, your City Council held a public meeting on the city budget to gather input. Again, the turnout was a little sparse. There were, however, a lot of important questions and concerns raised by the people who attended. Some members of Council fear these meetings, or at least don't see their usefulness. I have a different view. I feel it is critical to involve those who want to be involved in the process. It is pretty obvious a lot of the people who attended don't have a lot of trust in the City. And I hope we can change this as well - actually we need to improve trust both ways.

Questions raised last night included the amount of the overall average increase in taxes and utility fees, the future of roads and the pool / fitness centre in Westsyde, and the rate of taxation on heavy industry in Kamloops.

Apologies for lack of updates..

I needed to get a new credit card to use with my blog service - Typepad. Took me a couple of weeks. I am back and will be start updating again later this evening. I will be writing about my first experience helping put together the city budget.