Recreation Access Management Plan back in motion

The Columbia Valley Recreation Access Management Plan is moving forward after a long hiatus.

Mayor Clara Reinhardt said some committee members have been involved in the project for 20 years. But after many years of “no hint” of support from the provincial government, she said the current government is “very supportive” of the plan.

With $10,000 in provincial funding expected to be formally announced by the end of the month, the group is keen to dive in.

“We get to work and move forward. It’s really happening. There was a lot of optimism in the room last night, and we’re very excited,” she said.

The committee’s next step is to hire a consultant to “move us forward, to bring the group together, to come up with a phased-in budget, to come up with a full plan,” she said.

Take-out restaurant development permit

Ken Becker received approval to continue working toward establishing a seasonal take-out restaurant on his property on Highway 93 between Kootenay River Runners and Leo Burrito.

“I’m a big fan of good food,” he told council. “That site can create another eating establishment for the Valley, and if I can get Tony’s Greek Grill out here I’d call that a big bonus.”

While a restaurant operator is not confirmed, Mr. Becker is hoping to add more diversity to the Village’s edible offerings.

He bought a building already and intends to move it to the site this summer.

“I’m all about making it look good, good, good,” he said.

Mr. Becker will still need to do a geotechnical investigation and receive a permit from the provincial government.

Segways in the rink

Krista Berg of Kootenay Segway Adventures asked council for permission to use the public rink space to train Segway tour guests. She anticipated needing 20 minutes per tour to teach guests how to operate the Segways before taking them on a cruise around town.

Ms. Berg was confident that the company would run at least three daily tours over the summer.

Council directed staff to determine a reasonable fee to use the space and charge the Segways on site, approving the request after Ms. Berg offered to move the Segway training to other areas of the park in cases where others also want to use the rink.

The rink location would be a temporary solution until Kootenay Segway Adventures finds a suitable long-term training ground.

Cigarette butts

Councillor Todd Logan said the “Trash Bash” community cleanup volunteers collected eight or nine garbage bags of litter and debris that included a considerable number of cigarette butts.

“It just detracts a little bit from the downtown core,” he said, proposing that the Village consider butt-out points.

Regional politicians coming to Radium

Freshly home from the 2019 Association of Kootenay and Boundary Local Governments meeting in Castlegar, council members were already enthusiastic about the 2020 conference, which they will be hosting in Radium.

Councillor Mike Gray said he is “really, really happy” about having the Village host the event.

“This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase to our local businesses that this can be done, that a conference on this scale can be done,” he said. “It is good for us as a community to show that we can do an event of this scale and do it well.”

Mayor Reinhardt said there were 166 community representatives at the Castlegar meeting including elected officials and staff.

“We can do study tours – so that’s where we get to take people and showcase some of the local industry, local sites – so there’s lots of great opportunity there,” she said.