Considers grant recommendations
Powell River Community Forest board is recommending that City of Powell River council approve 12 project grants totalling close to $529,000. Council approved just under $900,000 for projects last spring. If the current project grants are approved on Thursday, November 3, the two largest grants will go to Inclusion Powell River ($143,016) for renovations at Jean Pike Centre to upgrade its community theatre facility, and the city’s parks, recreation and culture department ($105,895) to replace Dwight Hall’s original wooden floor. Powell River Climbing Co-op, which already received $167,000 last April to build an indoor climbing wall in Townsite, is slated to receive another $46,000 to cover additional building costs. Other grants expected to be approved include $40,000 for Powell River Historical Museum and Archives’ Anderson sawmill display; $20,000 for Marine Area Business Association’s town clock project; $19,373 for Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy concert risers; and $850 for Powell River Trail Riders to upgrade the riding ring at Paradise Exhibition Park. Parks, recreation and culture is also slated to receive several grants for a variety of community projects, including up to $60,000 for upgrading fitness equipment at Powell River Recreation Complex, $43,402 to add to the original grant for the development of the Loggers Memorial Bowl at Willingdon Beach Park, up to $20,000 for a Mowat Bay boat-launch float extension, up to $16,000 for disc-golf equipment and installation and up to $15,000 for a new scoreboard at the complex’s number two ice rink.
Approves farm incubator application
City council approved a staff request to apply to the BC Rural Dividends Program for funding development of an incubator farm project. Council voted unanimously at the meeting on Thursday, October 20, to support an application for a planning grant for the development of a teaching farm and business development project, now being called the New Ground Farm Enterprise Incubator. The $100,000-grant, 80 per cent of the anticipated cost, will go toward the project’s planning stages, said city economic development manager Scott Randolph. The remaining $20,000 will come from the city’s economic development budget. Further grants will be sought for the actual construction later in the project. After considering two other locations this summer, Randolph confirmed that the best location for the facility is between the proposed Sino Bright international school and Millennium Park.
Endorses disaster assessment
At its October 20 meeting, council also voted unanimously to endorse an application from the Powell River Regional Emergency Program to Emergency Management BC for National Disaster Mitigation Program funding. If accepted, the grant will go toward creating a comprehensive regional risk assessment to identify flood hazards from rising sea levels and increased storm surge events, potential impacts, community and infrastructure vulnerabilities and provide an overall flood-risk profile.
Approves rent reductions
City tenants above the city-owned location of the new Powell River Public Library location will receive a further 25 per cent rent reduction. Several tenants of the building have told the city that current work and removal of the staircase to the second floor has hurt their businesses. Tenants had already been given a 25 per cent decrease, though delays in the library’s development have added length to the transition period. The added discount will run from now to the proposed end of the project next spring.
Examines smoking restrictions
Vancouver Coastal Health’s tobacco reduction coordinator Nathan Jantz made a presentation to council’s committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, October 18, asking the city to increase public smoking restrictions. The health authority would like to see smoking prohibited in city parks, trails and public patios. It would also like to see an expansion of the distance smokers need to stand outside doors and windows. Committee members indicated that the current bylaw was primarily for raising public awareness.
