Annual BC Transit agreement approved by council, and more from this week’s meeting

The wheels on the bus will go round and round all the way into 2024.

City Council approved this year’s Annual Operating Agreement with BC Transit, worth over $10 million – the city will be responsible for 53.1%, and BC Transit will cover the other 46.69%.

The $1.6 million handyDART cost will be two-thirds covered by BC Transit.

Council also heard a presentation from the Recycling and Environmental Action Planning Society, which asked for $100,000 for site grading and installing utility connections.

They approved spending $27,000 left over from the Southwest Sector Reserve Fund to build and install:

• Disc golf at College Heights Elementary
• Lights at the College Heights Secondary tennis court
• Playgrounds at Van Bien and Peden Hill Elementary schools
• Park refurbishments/development in the Vanway and South Fort George areas

Information on Cariboo Rocks the North was presented, including the fact it was profitable as soon as its second year, and in 2022 35% of tickets were sold to fans living outside of Prince George.

Transparency was a large topic of discussion, Councilor Skakun brought up Councilor Kyle Sampson’s involvement with the annual festival, saying something should have been done to address this in 2018 when the festival started.

As pointed out by Councilor Cori Ramsay, Sampson was elected in the fall of 2018, well after the first Cariboo Rocks the North event.

Cariboo Rocks the North is a city owned event sponsored and advertised by Pacific Western Brewing (PWB), something many citizens are unaware of due to the lack of city branding associated with the event. Skakun also brought up this concern.

Sampson, a PWB employee, excused himself from the conversation.

A “concert and event sponsorship administrative procedure” is being drafted to prevent any future issues around similar events.

Council also voted to rezone two buildings – one at 611 Brunswick Street for 80 units of housing, the other on Queensway for 30 units of supportive housing.

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