Some of the highest fee increases are those for development services. Please click on the image to see a larger version of it. Revelstoke Current scan

By David F. Rooney

Proposed changes to the City’s schedule of fees and charges mean yu may end up paying more for the privilege of playing Bingo or renting a ball field. You’ll also pay 2% interest — up from 1.5% on overdue accounts — and a whopping $35 on any NSF cheques — up from $15, under this plan intended to help the City recover the cost of some services.

A couple of years ago the City hired a cost and management consultant, James Pammenter, to complete a Cost-Recovery Report for the City’s Planning/Building Department and Fire Rescue Services to compare fees against neighbouring communities similar to Revelstoke. Last spring, Council decided to refer the cost recovery report to the Economic Development Commission for review and comment. The response was to have further public input once the language was clarified from the report to the new bylaw.

There are also a number of new fees attached to certain Fire Rescue Service and Engineering and Public Works charges. For instance, it will now cost you $30 to register a fire alarm, $110 to have a fire alarm installation or modification inspected, or $480 for a Fire Safety Plan review.

A Heritage Alteration Permit will set you back $300 and there are some real eye-poppers contained in a section detailing proposed increases to municipal development service charges.

It is important to stress here that most user fees and charges will not change. Most fees and charges are not changing but there there are increases, many of them quite stiff.

Council gave the changes proposed in Bylaw No. 2008 first and second reading. It will now actively seek public comment on the changes until February 8. They will be presented to Council during its regular meeting on February 14 with third and final reading of the bylaw expected sometime after that. However, it is worth noting that the increased revenue anticipated from these changes is included in the Five-Year Financial Plan 2012 to 2016 — in other words, the next budget.

Planning Director John Guenther said many existing fees had not been adjusted in many years and consequently when increases are proposed some people believe the changes are inordinate and unfair when, in fact, they are not.

The real question is whether service is being improved, he said.

Additional fee schedules will be forthcoming in 2012 for water, sewer, animal control, business licensing and the cemetery.

Click here to read the full set of proposed changes

I n an e-mail sent to Chamber members she said:

To Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce Members,

“It has been a privilege working for you, the members of the Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce, for the last 4 months filling as the Chamber Executive Director.  I came out of retirement to help the Chamber during a time they needed someone to fill the ED position as I believed in the value to the Community of this organization.

“On Monday I handed in my resignation to the Board of Directors and Friday is my last day on the job.

“It was always meant to be a short term position for me an I now find I must move on as I have other committments that must take up more of my time.

“I wish you all great success in 2012.

“Adelheid Bender”

Editor’s note:

Notalwaysright.com always has a slightly different take on the retail and service industry. It’s vignettes are true tales and anecdotes from the commercial trenches as told by the shop clerks, bag boys, receptionists and technicians of the world who daily shake their heads at the odd ducks they sometimes have to deal with.

Log On To The Clueless Wide Web, Part 3
Retail/British Columbia/Canada

(We have kiosks in our location that provide a number of services. We also have an online service that provides some different options than we are able to provide in the store. A woman in her 30s is on the kiosk closest to me trying to order something that we don’t do in the store.)

Me: “How can I help you?”

Customer: “I’m trying to order [product], but I can’t find it on this kiosk.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but that item is only available online.”

Customer: “What’s that?”

Me: “It’s only available through the computer.”

Customer: *blank look*

Me: “You have to go onto a computer and go to the website to order that item, because it’s not available to order in the store.”

Customer: “What computer?”

Me: “You have to get onto the internet and order that product from our website.”

Customer: “I don’t understand what you’re saying! What’s a website?”

Me: *speechless*

***

The Kitchen Chainsaw Massacre
Remodeling/Toronto, Ontario, Canada

(Oftentimes, customers want free advice on the phone on what to do in order to save on getting an estimate or a inspection.)

Caller: “I need advice on something. Let’s say I have a big wall dividing the kitchen and the dinning room, but I want to open it up so I have a big room. Can I do that?”

Me: “Well, probably, but there might be complications. For example, if you have a load bearing wall, we’d need to set it up so that the load is distributed differently. Not to mention, there are pipes and wires you need to worry about. Really, we’d need to send someone out to look it over, sir. It’s not really something we can tell you over the phone without seeing it first.”

Caller: “No, no. I got what I needed.”

Me: “Uh, okay.”

(He then hangs up. One week later, he calls back.)

Caller: “I’m going to sue you. I’m going to sue the living heck out of your business. You ruined my life.”

Me: “What? What’s going on? Who is this?”

Caller: “I called for advice. You said I could remove my wall in between my kitchen and dinning room. Well, I did. I cut it out with my chainsaw and everything was fine until my ceiling caved in. And you know what’s above my kitchen? The upstairs bath room. The bathtub fell through and I had to turn off the water because it damaged my pipes. Now, who’s gonna pay for that?”

While he admits that he should have better advertised Greyhound Bus Depot’s move from its old spot at 1899 Fraser by the Dennys Restaurant to the Ol’ Frontier at the intersection of Highway 23 North and the Trans Canada, Greyhound agent Matt Singh insists the surprise move could not be helped and, in the long run, change really is for the better.

“We really only had a week’s warning (of the need to move the depot),” he said in an interview Thursday. “This time when the lease came up I suspected that it  might not be renewed but I didn’t know it for sure until the last week of November by which time we had a week to move the operation.”

Singh says he knows he should have done a better job  preparing the public for the move but in the rush to move everything out of the old building he never got beyond buying some radio spots on CKCR EZ Rock.

That virtually unadvertised move ignited a storm of comment — most of it very negative and critical — on The Current, the Stoke List and other media.

“I thought some of the things that were said were very hurtful,” Singh said.

That may well be  but it could — even should — have been avoided, especially when you consider that the move is probably for the better.

Take the old depot building. Singh said it was not a healthy place to work.

“The leaseholder  let it go and the building was in really rough shape — it had major leakage, health and mildew issues and it was never fixed properly. Everything was just a patch job and the leakage go so bad it damaged the furnace. The building was really as the end of its life.

“On the other hand everything in this building is newly renovated and up-to-Code. It’s a healthy building.”

The location is perceived as being difficult to get to and much further away than the old location but if you measure the actual walking distance from Tim Hortons it’s not that different, perhaps 50 or 100 yards. There is a sidewalk along the north side of the Trans-Canada from LaForme to the Frontier and while the City has — until now — neglected to clear snow from it, Singh says the City should begin doing so to ensure safe pedestrian access to this important transportation hub.

There are several other important points in favour of the move:

1. The old building was only open 49 hours a week. The new location ensures that it will be open for a minimum of 126 hours a week and it may eventually be open 24 hours a day;
2. Passengers who want to purchase food can now do safely at the Ol’ Frontier Restaurant or purchase food from the store. Previously they had to go to Dennys or dash across the Trans-Canada (and risk getting smeared by a semi or some other vehicle) to grab a quick takeout burger and fries;
3. That also means there will be fewer instances of Greyhound passengers trying to grab a fast burger from becoming Revels-stuck by missing their bus. It will be now be virtually impossible for passengers eating — or just sitting — in the Ol’ Frontier Restaurant to miss their bus;
4. Security was non existent at the old depot. At the new one there are better lights, video cameras and the store is, for now, manned from 7 am until 1 am;
5. Those longer hours mean that people expecting freight can pick it up any day and at almost anytime (“We even had people pick up parcels on Christmas Day — something they could not have done before,” Singh said);
6. Singh has turned out of his motel rooms into a lounge — complete with a couch, easy chairs, TV, a computer and coffee machine for Greyhound drivers. There are also three vehicles available to them so they can easily reach their leased accommodation at the Canyon Motor Inn; and
7. The new location makes it easier for buses to get on and off the highway. Some people have said they’d prefer to see a downtown bus depot but that’s unlikely to happen. Not only is highway access an issue but where, exactly, could space for a new depot be leased?

David F. Rooney

We have heard a lot about the transition to a tourism economy over the last several years but what do Revelstokians really think about it?

That’s a question Tim Palmer, the city’s top civil servant, hopes to have answered through a survey he is conducting over the next couple of weeks.

It’s an important and valid question. Judging by news media stories about economic development over the last several years it would be easy to reach the conclusion that local government, businesses and residents are strong supporters of tourism and resort development. But is that really true? I have long believed that about a quarter of the population does not like Revelstoke Mountain Resort, specifically, and tourism development in general.

Their reasons are varied and Palmer’s survey is beginning to winkle out their thinking. It is also showing that there is no broad agreement about what might be considered appropriate or desirable tourism development.

“There’s a segment of the population that has something to say but whose opinions haven’t really been heard,” the City’s Chief Administrative Officer said in an interview Thursday.

Why haven’t they been heard? Many people will give their opinions in private but decline to voice them in public. As well, most of the public discussion about economic development has been driven by the City of Revelstoke and the Chamber of Commerce where the dominant speakers have been business owners and others, many of whom have had a stake of one kind or another in tourism development. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but in the face of that kind of pressure many individuals will simply keep their mouths zipped rather than say what really think.

This is not an ‘official’ municipal government survey. No. This is an anonymous survey that Palmer has devised and personally financed as part of his study for an MBA from Royal Roads University.

“This is not about best-practices in tourism development,” he said. “This is a statistically valid survey of residents and their opinions on a variety of questions.”

Those questions touch on resort development, the definition of tourism, what residents regard as suitable and non-suitable tourism development, their thoughts about the effects of tourism development on our rural community and so on.

The results of the survey will not only be interesting when they are finally released but they’ll be statistically valid. Palmer is aiming at acquiring at least 250 responses and, ideally, 300. That would mean about five per cent of the resident population will have participated in the survey and provided not just yes/no or multiple-choice answers to questions but lengthier answers and observations, as well.

While this survey is not an official City one, the results will be presented to Council and will be publicly available this spring.

This is a valuable opportunity for Revelstokians to voice their thoughts, feelings, fears and dreams about this important issue.

Click here to go to the survey.

BC Hydro does not endorse “Hydro Power Savers” and has seen similar potential scams in other provinces, including Alberta. In addition, customers’ power consumption information is strictly confidential and is not shared with third parties.

As part of the calls, the alleged telemarketers are reportedly claiming that the “Hydro Power Savers” can save customers money on their bills. Customers who have been contacted by telemarketers about “Hydro Power Savers” are encouraged not to enter into any agreement for purchase.

The Better Business Bureau has included “power saving scams” as one of the Top Ten Scams for 2012. Customers who would like to file a complaint can visit the website of the Better Business Bureau serving Mainland British Columbia (BBB) at www.mbc.bbb.org or call the BBB at 604-682-2711,in the interior call, 1-888-803-1222, and on Vancouver Island, call 250-386-6348.

Report misleading advertising to the Competition Bureau website: competitionbureau.gc.ca.

BC Hydro has a lot of good information about how to reduce energy use around homes and businesses. Visit BC Hydro’s Power Smart website atwww.bchydro.com/powersmart or call customer service at 604-BC HYDRO (224-9376), or 1-800-BC HYDRO (224-9376).

After 24 years in the their cramped little office on the ground floor of the Parks Canada building on Third Street, the Friends of Mount Revelstoke & Glacier have moved to new digs at 103 – 1st Street East, Suite 102, in the Arlington Building on First Street East, right across the street from the Regent. Friends Executive Director Neills Kristensen held an open house to mark the occasion on Wednesday. Here he is ( center) posing with Friends Glenn McGregor and Josee Timperio. David F. Rooney photo

If you watched the Vanier Cup on TV on November 25 you might have noticed these signs promoting Revelstoke. Photo courtesy of Brydon Roe

Jason Roe of Black Tie Properties has partnered with the Revelstoke Accommodation Association to promote the heck out Revelstoke!

Jason and his brother Brydon attend the Vanier Cup, the Canadian univerisity football finals, and the traditional Sunday Grey Cup every year no matter what city they happen to be in.

This year’s Vanier Cup was in Vancouver on November 25 and if you watched it on TV you may have noticed that Revelstoke signs were everywhere.

“During the game we had nine registrations for one of our property developments, Mountain Springs, which will soon be coming up for,” Brydon said in an e-m ail to The Current.  “The exposure was great and we are thrilled with the response this is great for getting people to know about Revelstoke and look us up to see what we are all about. We were very happy with the event and the potential for Revelstoke and thank RAA for their support.”

The signs were not exactly inconspicuous. Photo courtesy of Brydon Roe

Families are invited to nominate the best family-friendly business as well as the best family-friendly workplace.  Click here to download a nomination form in PDF format. The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, December 13.

Tracy Spannier, Revelstoke’s Early Childhood Development Coordinator, said that when thinking about a particular nomination a family may consider things like the environment, layout and amenities, public washroom with a change table (in Mom’s AND Dad’s washroom), space to rest or breastfeed, play area with books or clean quiet toys and access for strollers.

“A family-friendly workplace is one where employees feel supported in meeting both their work and family commitments,” Spannier said in a statement. “A family-friendly workplace may have policies that enable workers to balance their responsibilities, may offer flexible schedules, parental leave or resources and support.  A family-friendly employer understands the impact family responsibilities have on their employees.”

The Revelstoke Family Friendly Business award will be presented on January 12 at the signing of the Revelstoke Children’s Charter and Celebration of Revelstoke’s Children.  The event is scheduled from 5:30 to 8 pm and will feature art and performances by local children and youths; the official signing of the Revelstoke Children’s Charter, the Family-Friendly Business Award and a presentation by the Revelstoke Early Childhood Development Committee.

For more information, contact Tracy Spannier at 250-837-6669. You can also e-mail her at tspannier@cbal.org or visit Revelstoke Early Child Development on Facebook.

This pilot program will provide an $8/hour wage subsidy to encourage small businesses, non-profit, First Nation and public sector organizations in the Columbia Basin to provide part-time employment for full-time high school and post-secondary students in the Basin during the school year.

“The School Works Program benefits Basin-based students by encouraging small businesses and organizations in the region to hire students during the school year,” CBT President and CEO Neil Muth said in a statement. “This new program will complement our existing Summer Works program creating valuable work experience and strengthening the Basin labour force.”

CBT anticipates the Summer Works and School Works programs will create up to 900 student jobs over the next three years. Both programs will be administered by College of the Rockies with the first School Works application intake in December 1, 2011 and the next Summer Works intake in February 2012.

CBT delivers economic, social and environmental benefits to the residents of the Columbia Basin. Check www.cbt.org for more information about this program or call 1-800-505-8998.