Minutes

Regular Meeting of Council

Village of Lumby
Village Office, Council Chambers
Monday May 5, 2014

Mayor Acton called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m.

Members Present: Mayor Kevin Acton
Councillor Jo Anne Fisher
Councillor Nick Hodge
Councillor Lori Mindnich
Councillor Randal Ostafichuk

Staff: Tom Kadla Chief Administrative Officer
Jeremy Sundin Director of Finance
Dave Manson Superintendent Public Works
Melanie Wenzoski Office Clerk
Marnie Skobalski RDNO Planning Department

Gallery: There were 21 members of the public and 3 children present.

14/075 Moved by Councillor Fisher seconded by Councillor Ostafichuk that the
agenda be adopted as presented.
CARRIED

14/076 Moved by Councillor Ostafichuk seconded by Councillor Fisher that the
minutes of the April 22, 2014 Regular Meeting of Council be adopted.

CARRIED

Marianne Butler from Pesticide Free Lumby and Jerilynn Mackie from the
Canadian Cancer Society presented information to Council in hopes that Council
move toward a pesticide free Lumby. Ms. Mackie did a slide presentation with
information regarding the use of pesticides and what effect they can have on
children and adults. They would really like to see the cosmetic use of pesticides
within the community banned completely. Ms. Mackie advised that there have
been over 100 studies that have linked pesticide use to increased cancers in adults
and children, with children being at a greater risk. This is long term exposure over
years on an ongoing basis, not once or twice a year over a lifetime. The Canadian
Cancer Society is calling on local governments to prohibit the use of pesticides for
beautification purposes. Council could consider adding the prohibition or
restriction of pesticides for cosmetic purposes to their health bylaw when created.
This could start out as a complaint basis only and move toward a complete ban.
The City of Port Moody has been pesticide free since 1988. A best practices
program could be put into place where a citizen or commercial property owner
would have to apply for permission to spray, where you start a program where all
public lands are pesticide free and move to include private property and create a
bylaw where there are no exceptions except when public health could be affected.

The delegation advised that benefits to Lumby would include being a leader to
other levels of government, and creating a safe environment for families and
children. Marianne Butler has lived in the community with her family for a few
years. Ms. Butler loves the fact that everything is within walking distance and that
this community is a real small town community with friendly people at every turn.
Ms. Butler wants to commend Council for taking steps in the right direction for
providing a healthier community by creating an anti-idling bylaw as well as
moving towards smoke free zones. Ms. Butler would like to see Council put in
writing a bylaw to ban pesticide use.

Mayor Acton opened the floor for questions, and started by asking Jerilynn Mackie
from the Canadian Cancer Society if she had hard facts for cosmetic pesticides
linking to cancer. Ms. Mackie advised that she would provide that information to
Council within the next few days, as she did not have it with her. Councillor
Ostafichuk asked that if agriculture has been excluded from this presentation, and
if they have presented to the RDNO, as there is a large piece of agricultural land
that backs onto the elementary school. Councillor Mindnich asked Ms. Mackie if
she had spoken with SD22. Ms. Mackie advised that yes SD22 had been
approached a few years ago and has been cosmetic pesticide free for 2 years.

Mayor Acton mentioned that in the presentation it was pointed out that a
pediatrician had signed on to become a pesticide free province. Ms. Mackie
advised that this is correct and that currently the province is dragging its feet on
making sure the province becomes a pesticide free zone. Councillor Fisher had
asked Ms. Mackie if she had heard that the province of Manitoba was moving
toward a pesticide free province. Ms. Mackie advised that she knew that Quebec
was the first province in Canada to move toward a ban on pesticides, but that
Manitoba was working on some form of pesticide restriction as well. Councillor
Hodge thanked Ms. Mackie and Ms. Butler on being reasonable in their request to
Council on how we start the process. Councillor Hodge expressed concern that one
of the slides made the impression that pesticides are responsible for a lot more
cancer than statistics show, what is the percentage? Ms. Mackie advised that
pesticides are responsible for less than 10% of all cancers. Council thanked the
delegation for their presentation.

Mike Simpson, from the Fraser Basin Council along with Paul Demenok, Electoral
Area C Director from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, and the Shuswap
Watershed Council, presented information to Council on the Shuswap Watershed
Council and the work they are currently undertaking. One of the main issues they
are working on is the amount of phosphorous in the water ways in the Shuswap
with the Shuswap River and the Salmon River being the two largest culprits. What
they have also noticed is that every 4 years, the year following a large salmon
spawn, they have the highest increases in phosphorous caused by the rotting
carcasses. Agricultural use as well as septic seepage, house boats and sewage tanks
are also a large culprit of high phosphorous counts. The Shuswap Watershed
Council wants to be able to take a more active approach in the control of the
waterways of the Shuswap. They feel that the best way to accomplish this will be
to collaborate and maintain enhanced water quality, coordinate and report on water
quality, communicate this information to the public and to educate the water users
of the Shuswap. Paul Demenok is hoping to be able to increase the information
being shared with the local governments. The Shuswap Watershed Council has
created a comprehensive watershed plan that will lead to enhancing the water
quality for all users of these waterways.

Councillor Fisher asked if the Shuswap Watershed Council had received the
information from the RDNO for the Cherryville and Lumby areas and also how
was the group able to tell that the increased phosphorous levels were attributed to
the fish spawning. Mike Simpson advised that yes this information had been
received and utilized in these reports and that it was easy to attribute the increased
phosphorous to the fish as it happened the year following a large return of salmon
to the area waterways. Mr. Simpson advised that agriculture continues to be the
largest phosphorous contaminator when they are trying to increase the nutrient
levels to their soils. Mayor Acton thanked the presenters and complimented them
on the good science behind this group. Councillor Mindnich asked if the flooding
in the agricultural areas around the Shuswap waterways contributed to increased
phosphorous levels. Paul Demenok advised that yes flooding increases the
phosphorous levels dramatically. Mike Simpson advised that 2012 was a huge
flood year and the information has been analyzed and is quite amazing the
increased phosphorous levels when testing. Council thanked the delegation for
their presentation.

Chris Henderson from Rossworn Henderson Chartered Accountants presented
Council the Independence Letter as well as the consolidated financial statements
for 2013. Mr. Henderson explained that the Independence Letter advised that
Rossworn Henderson is an independent firm from the Village of Lumby and is
governed by outside laws. Mr. Henderson went over the Consolidated Statement
(Income Statement) and the Consolidated Statement of Financial Position (Assets
& Liabilities) with Mayor and Council. Mr. Henderson advised that revenues from
property taxes are down somewhat, but revenues have increased from the
Monashee Community Forest as well as the ICBC revenues. One of the
expenditures that affected the budget was the repair of the Public Works building
roof. One of the main changes in the budget was that the Monashee Community
Forest came into operation this year, so there were expenditures and revenues that
are now showing up on the books that had not been there in the past. Mr.
Henderson was impressed with the decision of Council to start increasing funding
into reserves. Mr. Henderson wanted to congratulate the Village on the hiring and
performance of Mr. Sundin in his new position. Mr. Henderson has performed
many audits and advised that this was one of the most impressive presentations he
has received. Councillor Hodge questioned Mr. Henderson on the wages payable
of $129,000 at the end of the year. Mr. Henderson explained that this was not an
actual pay out amount, but that this was an accumulation of sick time, vacation
time and banked time that was owed to the employees. Mayor Acton and Council
thanked Mr. Henderson for his attendance. Mr. Sundin advised that if there were
any additional questions on the financial document to feel free to come and speak
to him at any time.

Superintendent of Public Works Dave Manson and Marc DAquino from the
Holistic Emergency Preparation & Response Ltd. gave Mayor and Council an
update on the activity that will be happening in and around Lumby over the next
week or so. Mr. Manson advised that last week there were approximately 40
provincial firefighting crew members here and they produced approximately 4000
sandbags using the sandbagging machine, 1300 bags produced by hand by the crew
on Faulkner Street and about 1300 more produced by the crew behind Sheardowns.
There is a creek clean-up crew working in the creeks clearing as much debris from
the creek and the banks as they could by hand; no machinery. This coming week
will see dyke work taking place. Mr. DAquino advised that the province will be
paying for 4 km of temporary diking, gabion basket system, as well as equipment
coming in to do the work. Mr. DAquino advised that the engineers report done
addressing the flood situation in Lumby and the best location for the dike was
extremely well done and is being used by the crews working. Councillor Hodge
asked if Mr. DAquino could explain what the gabion basket system was and how
it worked. Mr. DAquino advised that these are a wire mesh basket system, with a
liner that is then filled with rocks and sand and pinned together to create a wall or a
dike. The crews that you have seen working here in the Village are being paid for
by the Province directly. Mayor & Council thanked Mr. DAquino, staff and the
crews working, for being here to mitigate the issue before it turns into a problem
this time.

14/077 Moved by Councillor Hodge seconded by Councillor Mindnich that the
consolidated financial statements of the Corporation of the Village of
Lumby for the year ending December 31, 2014 be adopted as presented.

CARRIED

Councillor Hodge advised that Council had been given information on his Notice
of Motion so he would not go over it in detail, but that the piece of property in
question is now unsightly and should be cleaned up and have some trees removed.

14/078 Moved by Councillor Hodge seconded by Councillor Ostafichuk that the
idea regarding the park space brought forward by Councillor Hodge be
open for discussion.
CARRIED

Councillor Mindnich asked if the property in question should be the developers
responsibility as per the contract for a developer to provide green space in their
developments. Councillor Fisher advises that we have a tree policy as well as we
cannot be cutting down trees without knowing who the owner of the property in
question is. Councillor Ostafichuk asked Councillor Hodge what his vision for this
area is. Councillor Hodge would like to see the property cleaned up and become
part of the path corridor or create a green space park in this location. Waste rock
has been piled here and it now just looks like an eyesore. Mayor Acton would like
to defer this until staff is less busy and ask staff for a report on what can be done
and what the costs associated with the work would be. Councillor Ostafichuk
advised that you do not really notice the property in question while you are
travelling on Highway 6, but that it is quite noticeable when you are coming down
Mountainview Avenue. Mr. Manson would like to defer this until the flood
mitigation work is complete within the Village boundaries.



14/079 Moved by Mayor Acton seconded by Councillor Mindnich that staff
provide a report on options for the park space located at Mountainview
Avenue and Highway 6.
CARRIED

14/080 Moved by Councillor Fisher seconded by Councillor Ostafichuk that the
correspondence received from the RDNO regarding the Shuswap River
Watershed Sustainability Plan be received for information.
CARRIED


Councillor Mindnich was asking for clarification about the information in the letter
as she could not really decipher if they were asking for money. CAO Kadla
advised that if we support the plan in principle we may be expected to support the
plan when established and they begin asking for money to fund the plan. Mayor
Acton advised this is why he made comments during the presentation from the
Fraser Basin Council that we were spending money on our Liquid Waste
Management Plan project and working on helping in that aspect.

Mayor Acton opened the floor to Council to discuss follow up from the delegations
that presented at council. Councillor Fisher addressed the Pesticide Free Lumby
presentation. Councillor Fisher made a motion that she would like to see no
pesticide spraying in parks within the Village of Lumby. There was not seconder to
this motion therefore the motion failed.

14/081 Moved by Councillor Fisher seconded by Councillor Hodge that
discussion be had around Village staff not spraying in any of the parks
controlled by the Village of Lumby.
CARRIED

Councillor Fisher does not understand why Council would not want to take a stand
such as this that could potentially protect the wellbeing of the citizens of Lumby.
Councillor Hodge advised that he was sure that a decision had been made in the
past that Council would not make decisions on the night a delegation came to
present.

14/082 Moved by Councillor Hodge seconded by Councillor Ostafichuk that
Council defers making a decision to move on the information received
from the Pesticide Free Lumby delegation this evening.
CARRIED
COUNCILLOR FISHER OPPOSED

Mayor Acton asks if anyone has any further comments on this delegation.
Councillor Ostafichuk would like to wait for the information that will be coming
from the Canadian Cancer Society before making any type of decisions. Councillor
Fisher asked why Council is having such a hard time making a decision regarding
this information when it was presented in much the same format 2 years ago by
Ms. Emlyn. Mayor Acton would like to see the science behind this information
before making a decision. The Council previous to this one withdrew from the Air
Quality Program as the Province was not supporting the information being
presented by groups at that time. It was also proven that dust and smoke were the
biggest contributors to air quality problems here in the North Okanagan than any
other substance. Councillor Mindnich advised that we know staff is working
toward no pesticide use within the Village, but feels we do not need to tie staffs
hands by making these types of changes. Councillor Fisher feels we could be
looking at making changes to the cosmetic only uses of pesticides.

Marnie Skobalski, RDNO Planning Department, presented her report regarding the
Zoning Text Amendment Bylaw. Ms. Skobalski advised that she had nothing
further to add regarding the quick turn-around from the Ministry of Transportation
following the public hearing input. She feels the next logical step is to proceed
with adopting the bylaw as presented.

14/083 Moved by Councillor Hodge seconded by Councillor Ostafichuk that the
Village of Lumby Zoning Text Amendment Bylaw No. 752, 2013
[Medical Marihuana Production Facilities] be adopted.
CARRIED
COUNCILLOR FISHER OPPOSED

Councillor Ostafichuk asked if the next step will be defining the Business
Licensing Bylaw. CAO Kadla advised that this is correct, and we have hired an
outside professional to proceed with the changes and they could be ready in as
little as 2 weeks for Council consideration. Ms. Skobalski advised that she was
amazed that there was not really a lot of interest either way from the public. Mayor
Acton expressed the same amazement, and added that it could just be the logical
next step as far as most people are concerned.

Council considered the report from the Director of Finance Mr. Jeremy Sundin to
give first three readings to the Village of Lumby Tax Rate Bylaw No. 757, 2014.
Mr. Sundin advised that the information required to make this decision is in the
report which all of Council has and that approval of this bylaw will allow the
Village to achieve the budget forecast. Councillor Mindnich asked about
clarification regarding the decrease in market value within the Village of Lumby.
Mr. Sundin advised that the information in Figure 1 breaks down the market and
non-market changes (new construction), and that all of this information comes
directly from BC Assessment Authority.

14/084 Moved by Councillor Fisher seconded by Councillor Mindnich that
Council give first three readings to the Village of Lumby Annual Tax and
Special Rates Bylaw No. 757, 2014.
CARRIED

Mayor Acton wanted to congratulate Mr. Sundin as he has been at many audit
presentations given by Chris Henderson and he has never seen Mr. Henderson give
a compliment such as he gave to Mr. Sundin. Well done!

Mayor Acton would like to see a Special Meeting called for Monday May 12, 2014
at 5:00 pm to pass the Tax Rate Bylaw.

14/085 Moved by Councillor Ostafichuk seconded by Councillor Mindnich that
Council call a Special Meeting Monday May 12, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. to
consider adopting the Village of Lumby Annual Tax and Special Rates
Bylaw No. 757, 2014.
CARRIED

14/086 Moved by Councillor Fisher seconded by Councillor Mindnich that
Council receive for information the correspondence from the City of
Burnaby and the Village of Midway.
CARRIED

COUNCIL REPORTS

Councillor Hodge asked if everyone had received the information report from MIA
and everyone had. Councillor Hodge was also reporting that he had received an
email from Dennis Windsor, the President of the Lumby Golf Club, briefly and
that the Lumby Golf Club was going to suspend operations for the 2014 year.
Councillor Ostafichuk advised that Mr. Windsor had stopped in at his shop today
and explained that the reason for the suspension was that the grounds maintenance
member had hurt his back and was not going to be able to perform his duties of 12
20 hours per week of volunteer equipment and grounds maintenance. Mayor
Acton advised that maybe someone could get ahold of Mr. Windsor and see if the
Disc Golf group from Lumby may be willing to partner with the Lumby Golf Club
for the upcoming year. This may allow for some able bodied helpers and may be a
boost to both of the clubs. Councillor Hodge was very pleased to see that Enderby
and Lake Country had received money for flood mitigation and is extremely
pleased to see the amount of work in Lumby around this as well.

Councillor Mindnich advised that the Whitevalley Community Resource Centre
(WCRC) held their earth day clean up on April 22. There was a picture of it in the
Lumby Valley Times. Whitevalley is reviewing its constitution, which is done
every year and well as there will be an internal review and an update of the
strategic plan coming up in June. Ms. Rhonda Wilkins has been hired to replace
the receptionist who has retired. Next meeting will be May 28. Okanagan Regional
Library (ORL) Board held an in-camera personnel meeting April 29. The ORL
finance meeting will be May 8
th
and the Board meeting will be May 21.

Councillor Mindnich reported on events that took place at SILGA. One of the
presentations that she participated in was the BC Assessment Authority
presentation. They spoke about the provincial decrease in construction with a
province wide decrease of 14.98% whereas Lumby has only seen a decrease of
4.26%. BC Assessment has introduced desktop review which is a new technique
for assessment. This is where an Or-tho Image is taken (aerial photo) of a
neighbourhood, then the mapping files that they have of the neighbourhood are
placed over the photo and any changes are noted, and can be followed up on to see
if building permits were taken out. BC Assessment shares its data with local
governments. They are looking to partner with local governments to share imagery
information of neighbourhoods as well. BC Assessment advised that currently
marihuana is an eligible medicinal plant and such is eligible to be taxed at farm
rates. Production of the plant is not farm class so BC Assessment Authority is
encouraging local governments to lobby their provincial counterparts to be able to
do split taxation on a property.

Councillor Mindnich reported that MIA is now offering 30 minute free legal
consultations, up from 15 minutes last year; there is also planning underway to
cover community groups contracted by the municipality to provide services to the
public. MIA is looking into a property & ancillary insurance program to cover such
things as airports, wharfs, galleries, riparian, by-election coverage, extreme
weather coverage, sewer and water delivery systems and other underground asset
structures. MIA also wanted to remind municipalities that the insurance that is
provided covers us for everything. The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association
(TOTA) also made a presentation. Lumby is on a wait list for an updated Tourism
plan. TOTA is hoping to work with Lumby, Vernon and Coldstream to create a
joint tourism plan. The Community Development specialist Simone Carlyle-Smith
will start working with Chamber of Commerce groups across the province and
would like to see them working much closer with their local governments to
develop joint tourism plans and foster better working relationships.

Councillor Mindnich also attended the Local Government Election Reform
workshop and advised that the first change proposed is to move from a 3 year to a
4 year term for local governments. Much of the information will now come
directly to those running from Elections BC and that information in turn will have
to be sent back to them directly. One of the main changes is that any form of
advertising has to show who the sponsor of the said advertising is with a contact
name, phone number or email address on it. Councillor Mindnich was also
impressed with the City of Penticton Downtown Revitalization Plan. They are
taking a residents first approach to changes and feel that if people are happy to
live there tourists will be happy to come. They have been awarded a $600,000
creek revitalization grant.

Councillor Ostafichuk advised that Councillor Mindnich covered almost
everything he was going to go over. One piece of advice for anyone planning on
running for Council, keep every single receipt no matter how small. He will report
at the next meeting a bit more on some of the other information he collected at
SILGA but does not have ready for tonight.

Mayor Acton commented that discussions will still be held at the provincial level
regarding the taxation around medical marihuana. Mayor Acton attended the
Chamber of Commerce AGM and was disappointed in the low interest from the
business community. The executive is exactly the same and there are two new
directors. Councillor Fisher would like us to set a date and invite the Chamber of
Commerce to appear as a delegation at a village council meeting. Mayor Acton
attended the Mayors Caucus in Kimberly. Mayor Acton had not attended before as
he felt it was just a bashing of other levels of government. After the first day of
meetings he advised that what had transpired on the first day was the whole reason
he had not attended a meeting in the past, as he was not interested in complaining
about what was not being done, but was there to discuss the possibilities of what
could be done. This changed the tone for the rest of the meeting and the others in
attendance got down to looking at the goals that had been set in the past and how to
go about achieving these goals.

Mayor Acton took a moment to recognize CAO Tom Kadla for his outstanding
marks that he has been achieving at Royal Road University for his Masters in
Business Administration (MBA). Way to go Tom!!!!

Mayor Acton asked Council if there was anything else anyone would like to
discuss. Councillor Ostafichuk mentioned that the keynote speaker at SILGA was
the Mayor of Calgary and that he spoke on the flood disaster experienced in his
city in 2013. The flood in Calgary is the largest natural disaster experienced in
Canadas history. Councillor Ostafichuk advised that he is an amazing speaker.
Councillor Hodge asked if any action had been taken on the bakery sign. Mayor
Acton advised that the sign has been repaired and is now up. Councillor Fisher
asked about what action is being taken regarding the signs on the old hotel
advertising the pub. CAO Kadla advised that the building inspection department is
looking into this as no permits were taken out, and the signs may be too large;
although at this time they appear to be compliant except for the permit.

Mayor Acton recognized a minute of silence at the passing of a Village staff
member Mr. Scott Altwasser. Scott has worked for the Village of Lumby for just
under 5 years, and volunteered here in the community for many years. Councillor
Mindnich advised that the service will be at 1:00 p.m. on Monday May 12
th
at the
Pleasant Valley Funeral Home in Vernon. Mayor Acton advised staff to make
arrangements for everyone to be able to attend.

Mayor Acton opened the floor for discussion from members of the public. Mr. Paul
Fisher asked how the Village secured the services of Holistic / Mr. Marc DAquino
here in Lumby. CAO Kadla advised that Brent Watson, the Emergency
Coordinator from North Okanagan Emergency Management (NOEM) has been
working tirelessly on Lumbys behalf and had asked the Province to come and take
a look at the situation in Lumby. Once a representative from Victoria came to
Lumby he recommended to the Province that the works as outlined in the
Engineers Report commissioned by Lumby be completed. Marc was hired on Mr.
Watsons recommendation and came to Lumby. Mr. Fisher asked where the
materials that will be required to create the dike will be coming from. Mr. Manson
advised that the goal will be to bring in from local suppliers and operators.

14/087 Moved by Councillor Ostafichuk that the meeting be adjourned at 9:40
pm.
CARRIED


____________________________
Mayor


____________________________
Corporate Officer