It was a busy council meeting for the Town of Creston on Tuesday.
Items of Business kicked off with a written request from Frank Goodsir, the Publicity Director for the Focus on the Youth Festival which is in its 33rd year. As per Goodsir’s request, the proclamation is moving forward that May 6 through May 10 will be “Focus on the Youth Week”.
The second item involved this Year’s Blossom Festival, which may have a beer garden with live entertainment.
Casey’s Community House Operations Manager Tanya Wall requested a road closure on 12th Avenue for the weekend. She says the intention is to work in partnership with the Blossom Festival Committee as well as local businesses and organizations.
“Columbia brewery has been involved in the discussions,” Wall addressed Council and staff. “As you know, they used to do the Kokanee Summit. Since that has stopped, they don’t really have a celebration to entertain with in that basis.”
The proposed beer garden would be Kokanee themed, with branded picnic tables and fences to enclose the space. Other partnerships include Royal Bank pairing with the Creston Valley Art Connection Society to sell snacks and smokies in the same area.
“All of the profits would to go their organization to enhance the community with the continuing support of public art.”
Council iterated the importance that the event cease playing music before 11:00 pm. The enclosed area would fit no more that 100 guests and allow pedestrian access to surrounding streets and businesses. Mayor Ron Toyota and Council expressed interest in growing the Blossom Festival and directed Wall to work with Town staff to ensure the added feature adheres to Town bylaws.
The Town of Creston is on board with FCM-ICLEI (The Local Governments for Sustainability, Partners for Climate Protection Program). It’s a step required for the Town to participate in the Regional Energy Efficiency Program (REEP). It will allow residents to seek rebates and resources to make energy saving upgrades to homes.
For more details on REEP visit this link.
For the second time this year a public hearing went without interruption from the gallery. The first was in relation to three businesses seeking endorsement from the Town of Creston to apply for Provincial cannabis retail licenses.
This time it was to allow the owner of Mountain View INN the freedom to convert motel suites into rental suites by amending the existing bylaw. Director of Municipal Services Ross Beddoes reminded gallery and staff that after a public hearing the decision is final.
“Council members are reminded that they may not receive any further submissions now that the public hearing is closed. Therefore, all written and oral submissions regarding the proposed zoning amendment bylaw number 1884, 2019 up to and including the April 9th, 2019 public hearing be received and the hearing is now closed.”
Notices were sent out via mail to residents within 60 metres of the Inn and the town advertised the public hearing in the paper.
Council ended with a multiple staff, including the Director of Municipal Services Ross Beddoes, saying that there are many new projects on the horizon and that the Town will be busy.