Rossland City council met on Feb. 7 at the Miners Hall and considered a variety of items on the agenda.
• Council reviewed and agreed unanimously to award $2,900 in COVID Community Support Funds to the Rossland Community Pottery Society.
The society would like fresh start after being impacted by COVID and their inability to gather at the studio or raise funds from craft sales and selling chili in pottery bowls at the winter carnival, and a declining membership.
They plan to use the funds to hire a studio assistant, and pay their rent, $2,000, for 2022.
The fund originally started at $100,000 and is accessible by Rossland non-profits who have been impacted adversely by the pandemic.
With the award to the pottery society, the fund balance is now at $64,743.
Applications for the next intake must be submitted to the city by Mar. 7, so it can be processed by the Mar. 14 council meeting.
• Council also agreed to its scholarship funding allocation, which will provide a J.L. Crowe Rossland Health Awareness Award for $500, the J.L. Crowe Rossland Award worth $750, the Kootenay Columbia Learning Centre scholarship for $500, and the Seven Summits Learning Centre scholarship for $500.
The scholarships are awarded to Rossland students to support their educational goals.
The annual scholarships of $2,250 are funded by council’s Public Relations budget of $3,000 per year, which has been included in the Draft 2022-2026 Five Year Financial Plan.
• City council also approved the terms of reference that will guide a soon-to-be-formed Heritage Management Committee.
The committee will consist of four people that will work closely with a member of the Heritage Commission, a representative from city staff, a council member, and other stakeholders to recommend ways to preserve and enhance Rossland’s heritage and history according to the city’s Heritage Management Plan.
“I think this is an excellent step forward as we proceed with the Heritage Management Plan,” said Coun. Chris Bowman. “It’s nice to see a terms of reference for what we are trying to accomplish.”
• The city also adopted the terms of reference for the Bear Smart Community Advisory Task Force.
Council voted to establish the task force at their Dec. 13 meeting, and include it under the auspices of the Sustainability Commission.
The Bear Smart task force will work with residents to reduce human-bear conflict and the unnecessary destruction of bruins in the community. The task force will develop plans and promote awareness and participation in finding solutions to the ongoing bear confrontations.
The project also brings the City of Rossland in line with the criteria required to achieve the BC Ministry of Environment & Climate Change’s Bear Smart Community designation.