The following topics were discussed during the January 21st Council meeting.

Teck Coal Fording River Operations Castle Project Update

Teck Coal gave council a brief update on their plans for beginning the Castle Project. The project is still in its infancy stage and will still need an environmental assessment completed and approved before mining can begin. There have also been changes to the BC Environmental Assessment Act that were put in place in December of 2019 meaning Teck will also need to submit an Initial Project Description (IPD), which they hope to do early this year. The IPD will allow for feedback from the government agencies, Indigenous Nations and communities, which can be incorporated in the project design. Teck will begin the process with their IPD early this year that will be followed by a detailed project description later this year, a draft of the environmental assessment application in 2021, the final environmental assessment application in 2022 and then the decision from governments sometime in 2023. Each of the periods above leading up to the final decision will also have formal engagement periods. If approved, Teck is aiming for first coal drawn in 2023.The Castle Project is located near their current Fording River Operations and if approved, the Castle Project will use the existing operations as well.

Feral Cats Trapping and Release Program

Mayor Blair Painter brought to council’s attention a conversation he had with members of the spay our strays program that is run by a few local volunteers. Mayor Painter mentioned certain things the group were looking for and told council that the topic of feral cats will once again come back to council in the near future.

Bylaw 1037, 2019 Cannabis Retail Bylaw

Council passed their Cannabis Retail Bylaw after making a couple small changes. One change is that the word campground is no longer part of the definition of public park or recreation use. Council also made changes to ensure that some areas of the Crowsnest Pass will be able to house a Cannabis store by reducing limits on proximity to liquor stores, public parks and public recreation facilities. Councillor Ward also mentioned during discussion that even with the bylaw, council will have the final say for any proposed retail site and that the amount of people who attend a council meeting where decisions on store locations are made, will greatly affect whether locations are approved by council or not.

Business Licence Bylaw

Council spent some time discussing the business licence bylaw. Most of the discussion centered on the reduced fine prices for offenders who don’t renew their licence. After some discussion on the appropriate stiffness of penalty, council decided that a $250 fine will be given to first time offenders and a $500 fine will be given to multiple time offenders.

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