City support to Northern Health’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts
During Monday’s meeting of Council, City Council received a report on the support the City of Prince George is providing to Northern Health for its Covid-19 mass vaccination campaign.
The City is working to finalize a lease agreement with NH for the Prince George Conference & Civic Centre (PGCCC) as the Covid-19 mass vaccination site for the Prince George area. Vaccinations began last week.
Northern Health is leading operational management of the Civic Centre with the assistance of City staff in a support role. Information about Northern Health’s Vaccination Plan for Prince George can be found on the Northern Health website.
Mausoleum expansion complete
Council received a report on the opening of the Mausoleum expansion at Memorial Park Cemetery earlier this month. Last year, Council approved the addition of approximately 1200 square feet onto the existing facility to provide 900 new glass and marble-front niches. Cremation has been growing in popularity in Prince George in recent years. In fact, the original facility’s 500 niches have been at capacity since 2014.
Some landscaping work is still to be completed on-site but, according to the staff report, the project is about $100,000 under-budget.
Learn more about the expansion project.
Para Biathlon World Championships & World Para Nordic Skiing World Cup Finals funding request
Council received a request from the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club to provide financial support of $250,000 towards hosting the 2024 Para Biathlon World Championships and World Para Nordic Skiing World Cup Finals.
The Caledonia Nordic Ski Club hosted the 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, with the City of Prince George providing financial support of $250,000 from the Major Events Reserve. This reserve is funded by gaming revenues provided by the Province of BC and currently doesn’t have the amount that was requested.
Council has postponed a decision on the request until later in the year pending additional discussion between the Club and City Administration related to the event budget, sponsorship, and identification of other funding sources.
Remedial action
Following a presentation from City staff, Council authorized Bylaw Services to contact the owner of the property at 7003 Adam Drive and order the demolition and removal of the structure and clean up the property. Should this remediation not be completed by April 30, the City will complete the work and bill back the property owner by way of property taxes.
Council also authorized the City to notify the property owner that he will be charged for future call-outs by the RCMP, Fire Department, and City Bylaw Services. This cost recovery has never before been applied in the City.
This action follows several months of complaints about the conditions present at the location and safety concerns from neighbours and public safety officials. The property has also been visited by police on numerous occasions and the property owner has been uncompliant with requests to deal with the nuisance activities and unsanitary conditions on the property.
Resolution in support of local journalism
Mayor Lyn Hall presented Council with a Mayor’s report on behalf of Councillor Garth Frizzell in support of local journalism. The Resolution states that Prince George City Council recognizes that a healthy, professional news media is essential to the proper functioning of democracy in our city; urges all local governments in BC and across Canada to recognize that a robust news media is essential to the proper functioning of democracy in their jurisdictions; endorses legislation and regulations to support and rejuvenate news outlets across Canada; and urges the federal government to move quickly to pass legislation to ensure an ecosystem for a healthy news media to serve all Canadians.
All of the reports associated with the March 22, 2021 Council meeting are available on the City website.