By Raven Nyman
The Village of Ashcroft held a lengthy series of meetings on Monday, Feb. 24 with all members of staff and council on hand, with the exception of CAO Anne Yanciw.
A few members of the public were also on hand for the evening, which began with a Committee of the Whole (COTW) at 6 p.m. followed by a regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Committee of the Whole
With no delegations, discussion items, or bylaws for discussion, council proceeded with the first report on the night’s agenda, addressing the Northern Development Initiative Trust’s (NDIT) Economic Development Capacity Grant application.
The report provided council with an opportunity to discuss economic development plans for the year ahead and consider grant options, too.
“We have a few options,” explained Mayor Barbara Roden. “I’d like to move option one, that we consider contracting an Economic Development and Tourism position at $25,000 and use the remaining $25,000 for implementation of selected priority and short-term objectives from the draft strategy.”
This position could also oversee the community’s Visitor Info Centre. Roden added that this motion followed last year’s Economic Development study.
“We do get $50,000 in funding from NDIT every year to use towards economic development,” she explained. “It is on a ‘use it or lose it basis’. If we do not use all the funds by the end of the year they do not roll over to the following year; we lose out on that money.”
Roden said that in the past five years, that money has been used, but in an “ad-hoc” way.
“This would be a way of utilizing all of that funding. One key thing in here that I would like to see go ahead very quickly is marketing of the hotel study that we had done.” Roden noted that having film crews stay locally in past weeks has driven home the need for more, new accommodation in Ashcroft.
Coun. Nadine Davenport spoke up at this point to agree with Roden and express her support for putting Ashcroft “back on the tourism map.”
“I’m hoping that this position will take the study that was done and run with [it].”
Roden also restated the benefits of having a community be “film ready” to attract further business and ease any potential Village disruptions. She noted that quite a bit of Village staff time was taken up during recent filming of an episode of The Twilight Zone in Ashcroft.
Roden’s motion regarding the NDIT application was tabled for approval at a future regular meeting, to gove council more time to consider it.
Revisiting Ashcroft’s asset management
CFO Yogi Bhalla then took over for a lengthy presentation about asset management that took up the remaining 50 minutes of the meeting, beginning by noting that his presentation represented a culmination of multiple years of work.
“We’ve reached a point where the work has concluded,” he said.
The community is now in the implementation phase of asset management. Part of this work involves integrating Bhalla’s findings into the community’s own financial plan.
“Most of our assets were born in the 1960s and up to the 1980s,” he explained. “They’re not going to last forever.” He noted that most municipal assets were built during that time, and that Ashcroft wants to replace the assets which pose the highest risk of failure. Providing his listeners with various risk assessments for the community’s assets, Bhalla also pointed out a few assets which have passed their engineered life.
As he has noted previously, there is often a difference between the actuality of replacement needs and an asset’s engineered life. Many assets are useful for years beyond this point, as physical and functional conditions can differ.
“We don’t tear down a building as soon as it’s reached its life,” Bhalla explained, adding that if there are not funds in place, replacements can’t come immediately.
Ashcroft itself needs to put aside $1 million dollars per year, but currently the community saves $580,000 annually.
Geographic information
For the final portion of his presentation, Bhalla revealed an interactive community map that he has been working on for some time. The digital map virtually displays the Village’s assets online, visualizing wastewater and natural asset sites, such as parks and trails.
The map also includes all Village land parcels, zoning details, and additional civic data. The community’s garbage schedule is listed therein, and the map’s information will automatically update on a daily basis.
“I’m just using what’s available in the province,” Bhalla explained.
Mapping Ashcroft’s mosaics
Expanding on maps, Bhalla also pulled up a currently inactive website page that displays a proposed community mosaic walk for Ashcroft. The map includes various viewpoints comparable to a guided walking tour. “This is to try to display our mosaics—a digital pamphlet, in essence,” Bhalla explained.
The project will include images of the mosaics as well as their location information. “Whatever council wants to do to promote [the community], we can put on there.”
Bhalla has also recently established a password-protected cellphone interface for Ashcroft’s public works team to input and access relevant service data.
He has endeavoured to save the community money through creating these helpful tools, which can offer assistance similar to other costly software often employed by municipal government.
Roden thanked Bhalla for his thorough presentation, which was applauded by staff and council, too.
The next regular meeting of Ashcroft council will be held on Monday, March 9 at the Village office on Bancroft Street. As always, meeting minutes and agendas for all council meetings can be found on the Village’s website at https://ashcroftbc.ca/.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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