More Council news briefs…

Mayor David Raven responded last week to a letter to Council from Floyd Falcon who was critical of the City’s position regarding Black Tie properties proposed recreational development at Greeley Creek.

Raven said the City “is concerned with the protection and management of the Greeley Creek watershed,” which is the source of the Revelstoke’s drinking water.

“The City is pressing for definitive, legally binding and enforceable and morally assured protection of its primary water supply, not only from the proponents also from the regulatory bodies who may be permitting this proposal,” Raven said.

Black Tie is proposing a major summer recreation area near Greeley Creek.

Please click here to read the mayor’s complete letter.

Please click here to read Falcon’s original letter to Council.

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City Council decided last week that it will support a proposal from Thompson Rivers University to press forward with a Revelstoke-based outdoor Mechanized Adventure Tourism Training.

“This would be a snowmobile/ATV based, 30-credit, certificate program; designed to provide the industry with professionally trained guides, who have a broad skill set. It will be the only mechanized adventure tourism training program, provided by a post-secondary institution in North America,” says the description of national training program.

Running from September to May, this program will be a half-and-half outdoor- and classroom-based program.

Revelstoke community leaders have for more than 13 years sought to attract university-based education programs to the community. This is the first major program to regard the City and its surrounding area as a worthy setting for a post-secondary educational program.

However, even though this program likely won’t get underway until the fall of 2014 at the very earliest, some Revelstoke residents may actively oppose it because it focuses on snowmobile and ATV tourism. Snowmobile-based recreation is the most important pillar of the winter tourism sector. Snowmobilers directly inject at least $15 million into the local economy each winter.

However, many green-flavoured residents dislike them because they are mechanized.

Please click here to read the Thompson Rivers University request.

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City Council has approved $22,000 in funding from the Resort Municipality Initiative funds to help the Selkirk Saddle Club complete construction of its $120,000 covered riding facility.

The Tourism Infrastructure Advisory Committee believes the new facility will allow the club to organize events and competitions that will eventually attract more tourists to the community. It also believes that having this facility will attract more horse owners to overnight in Revelstoke, thereby bringing more business to the community.

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You may have heard that the City is considering changes to the recycling program.

This is so involved — and I have so many other things to write about — that I am not even going to attempt to make heads or tails of it.

If you really want to torture yourself, please click here to read the full report and all of the options and recommendations.