Receives Inn at Westview update
City of Powell River chief administrative officer Mac Fraser provided a brief update at the city’s committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, January 31, on Inn at Westview property manager Jack Barr’s work to take the dilapidated building down. Last fall, WorkSafe BC ordered the building, with its roof in slow collapse, sealed until a qualified engineer could assess it. Fraser said either a structural engineer will be brought in to draw up plans to secure the building and allow asbestos-removal crews safe access, or a demolition firm will be contracted to treat the whole building as hazardous and take it down with containment. City council asked staff late last year to prepare a report outlining options should it pursue a remediation order for the building. That report is expected on February 28, said Fraser.
Honours Quebec mosque victims
City of Powell River council observed a minute of silence at its meeting on Thursday, February 2, and flags on city buildings flew at half mast last week to honour the memory of six Canadians killed in a Quebec City mass shooting on Sunday, January 29. The men, Abdelkrim Hassane, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Ibrahima Barry and Azzeddine Soufiane, had been in prayer at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre when a masked gunman entered the mosque and began shooting.
Approves youth council recommendations
City of Powell River council approved two Powell River Youth Council recommendations at its February 2 meeting. Youth council recommended that the city create safer pedestrian and cycling connections with improved signage through Millennium Park for trails that connect Brooks Secondary School, Willingdon Beach and Powell River Recreation Complex. Youth council also recommended the city add more recycling bins for beverage containers at the recreation complex, particularly in hockey change rooms.
Approves fuel contract
City of Powell River council approved a three-year contract with Parkland Industries, also known as Columbia Fuels, to provide gasoline and diesel for city-owned vehicles and equipment, including firetrucks, buses and heavy equipment. The city’s estimated fuel cost for 2017 is $324,115. City vehicles use approximately 85,000 litres of diesel and 230,000 litres of gasoline per year. The contract does not include the supply of aviation fuel at the airport, as the city does not currently own any means of dispensing fuel there. According to a staff report, the issue of providing fuel at the airport will be revisited in the spring.
