City of Powell River staff will respond to four points brought up by Townsite Ratepayers Association regarding its concerns regarding the issues.
Association president Will Van Delft, appearing as a delegation at the April 18 committee of the whole meetings, said in a recent delegation letter from Wildwood Ratepayers Society, a mention was made regarding overgrown hedges, especially onto public sidewalks.
“In Townsite, we also have this issue,” said Van Delft. “Many private hedges have outgrown their space and are now encroaching onto public sidewalks. We would like to ask that a letter from the city be published in the local newspaper advising residents of their responsibility to ensure vegetation on their property does not obstruct onto the public sidewalks.
“We would also ask that the city bylaw enforcement officer remind individuals of the need to leave sidewalks clear of overgrown vegetation.
Van Delft said the association has three other issues that require the city’s timely input.
“The previous chief administrative officer, Russell Brewer, committed to working on the issue of industrial traffic on the haul road,” said Van Delft. “Our ask was for all the loaded logging trucks to use the haul road, which was its original intent.
“There is a need to negotiate an agreement with Western Forest Products to share this access. There is no reason why fully loaded logging trucks are driving through downtown streets when an industrial road intended for industrial traffic is available.”
Van Delft said during the summer of 2022, city planners sought public input into future redesigns of Ash Avenue in Townsite.
“We would like to see this process continue and are looking for a multiyear timetable for measurable improvements to Townsite streetscaping and other business friendly and people friendly investments,” he added.
The final point was that the association would ask the city to have a professional arborist do a health assessment of the oak trees on Oak Street.
“We need to have a report on maintaining the health of these special trees into the next 100 years,” said Van Delft. “The proposed contract should also involve Oak Street residents into their deliberations.”
Haul road response
Councillor Cindy Elliott said regarding the haul road, with Western Forest Products (WFP), she indicated she sits on the WFP community advisory group as the city representative. She said she wanted to ask at the community advisory committee meeting if WFP has an update. The group next meets in May so she would get back to the association after that regarding WFP’s position.
Councillor George Doubt said his understanding is that the haul road belongs to a private company and it controls the road rather than the city. He wondered if staff had any clarity they could bring to the situation about the city’s ability to direct the use of the haul road.
Acting chief administrative officer Alex Bjelica said he would consult with staff and commit to returning with some answers.
Councillor Trina Isakson said most of the items relate to work done by city staff.
“It would be helpful to get a quick update from staff,” said Isakson. “It would be interesting to hear what we already do.”
Committee chair councillor Rob Southcott suggested the list be referred to staff to determine what issues are ongoing.
Doubt moved that the issues be referred to staff to determine what might be done to move forward.
“I’m interested in the answers and I think the public probably is,” said Doubt. “I would like to see something come back to council, even if it’s a few lines, so council could decide if it wanted to take action.”
Bjelica said it’s a multifaceted issue involving a number of departments, so it’s worth investigating what has been done.
“We’ll certainly respond to the delegate to make sure he gets all the information he needs,” added Bjelica.
The committee carried Doubt’s motion.
