Chris Stedile
Castlegar News
Topics of discussion at Monday night’s council meeting covered letters of litigation, the status of airport reliability upgrades and the city’s plans to better engage the public.
n The City of Castlegar is now taking legal action to defend a councillor they feel was attacked.
Comments — which have since been taking down — posted online during the labour dispute have since been labeled slanderous and defamatory.
Citizens at the meeting did show concern about taxpayer money being used to potentially sue taxpayers but Chief Administrative Officer, John Malcolm said, as long as the actions pertain to council business, “We’ll take whatever steps necessary to defend members of city council.”
The councillor involved has not been identified.
n Council is looking to hold a public forum to engage the community more. This stems from concerns expressed during the last election that council is not always clear on what they are doing.
Councillor Dan Rye said that the city will be spreading the word through advertising and at meetings about an upcoming public meeting in June.
The city holds a similar meeting each year for the budget, with a low turnout.
n The reliability upgrades for the Castlegar airport may take even longer to become reality.
Airport Manager, Gerry Rempel explained the situation.
“Nav Canada right now is designing the program and system. So, we feel it could be done in a few months.”
The program Rempel is referring to is the on board required navigation performance (RNP) system.
For the RNP to work properly, the valley and mountain ranges must be mapped out to determine the best course to guide the plane to a safe landing.
“The question is, there’s a system, and you need the aircraft to utilize it and the pilots trained to run the equipment on the airplane,” Rempel added.
“We’re negotiating with the airlines to have the aircraft utilized. The present aircraft don’t have that equipment on them.”
The whole process could be more expensive than just a new system. Newer aircraft will most likely need to be brought in as well.
n Finally, the city is looking for input on how recycling should be handled in the city.
Councillor Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff said they city’s contract expires in May.
“It’s a good opportunity to find out the vision people have for solid waste and recycling in the City of Castlegar.”
Residents can let the city know what they want in a waste program by visiting the city’s website or filling out their survey on page 18 of this issue. Deadline to submit surveys is Monday, February 16, 2015.