Other municipalities are taking notice of initiatives being carried out in Powell River, according to a city council member.
At a meeting on February 4, councillor Rob Southcott said he had been participating in an online local government leadership academy session that lasted a day and a half. Southcott said there was focus on local governments in BC dealing with their experiences and ideas for recovery from COVID-19 and economic recovery.
“During those discussions, Powell River was mentioned twice as an example of successful strategies that can be employed now, and have been employed by Powell River in the past, very successfully, to support and maintain local business and industry,” said Southcott. “Very specifically, it was in the context of partnerships. It was the example of PRSC and also, the tax revitalization programs that Powell River has used.” Powell River has tax revitalization bylaws with Catalyst Paper Corporation and developers at Powell River Airport, 987 Asset Management Ltd.PRSC Limited Partnership was a partnership between the city, Tla’amin Nation and Catalyst Paper Corporation to manage industrial lands that were held by Catalyst and declared extraneous to Catalyst’s needs at the time. The lands were later taken over by the city and Tla’amin Nation and have been divided for both governments to develop.
Southcott said he wanted to mention what happened at the leadership academy because the success of those programs here is being noticed outside of the community.
“These are things that are available for other communities to use,” said Southcott. “I am proud of this community – our council, our city staff and our community as a whole. There are a lot of other examples that had to do with partnerships with other community partners. There was also a whole lot of stuff about innovation in terms of new business opportunities, through green work, et cetera.
“We have done a lot of this stuff. People are seeing Powell River as an example of these new ideas actually happening.”
Southcott said it was good to see that acknowledgement.
“This was such a refreshing perspective,” he added, “because it was a real appreciation for the success that has occurred here in this small community.”
