With the start the new year, the Revelstoke Review is taking this time to share some of the stories that made headlines throughout 2024.
October
The Revelstoke Boxing Club’s plea for assistance in finding a new home sparked debate about community space. A.J. LeRose, president and head coach of the Revelstoke Boxing Club, appeared before the city's committee of the whole last month to request the club be given space to hold classes in the Century Vallen Building. “For the past year, the Revelstoke Boxing Club has struggled to relocate since the eviction from the City of Revelstoke’s property on Powerhouse Road after the building was deemed unsuitable for occupancy,” said LeRose in his presentation to the council, pointing out the lack of affordable space for his non-profit group. “ In response to questions from Mayor Gary Sulz, LeRose explained there are currently some 40 members of the boxing club, which requires an “absolute minimum” of 1,000 square-feet. Laurie Donato, city director of parks, explained the Century Vallen building was fully used for storage so major improvements would have to be made to accommodate user groups. Sulz said that while council is willing to support community groups, many other issues need to be considered.
The three candidates vying for MLA of the Columbia River-Revelstoke went head-to-head in a debate on Oct. 7 in Golden. Organized by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, candidates Andrea Dunlop of the B.C. NDP, Calvin Beauchesne of the Green Party and Scott McInnis of the B.C. Conservatives were given topics centred around nature and climate. Calvin Beauchesne told those in attendance that watching the climate crisis worsen as he grew up is what motivated him to run for this election. Scott McInnis, however, jumped into the Conservative’s “common sense plan” to fix a province in crisis. Former Windermere teacher Andrea Dunlop centred her focus on her career and how her background in education will help her bring constituents’ concerns to Victoria.
The city put more teeth into its business licensing bylaw. Councillors gave first, second and third readings to the business licensing process in order to address current challenges identified by staff in administering and enforcing the bylaw. The most significant of the proposed amendments included delegating authority to the licensing inspector to cancel or suspend licenses when appropriate and extending the late penalty date for renewals.
B.C. Conservative Party candidate Scott McInnis was the projected winner for MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, following a neck-and-neck race in the 2024 B.C. Election. The final result ended with McInnis receiving 8,614 votes, and B.C. NDP candidate Andrea Dunlop a close second with 7,901. McInnis received 48.1 per cent of the 17,908 votes cast in the riding. McInnis said he and his team knew the race was going to be a close one. “Watching the TV as polls were coming in, it was big swings and I could sort of see when Revelstoke came in that it was not great for us and it really tightened things up,” he said.
A transit expansion plan memorandum of understanding between the City of Revelstoke and BC Transit received unanimous support at the Oct. 8 council meeting. The city partners with BC Transit and Interior Health to provide all of its transit services. A funding request for a fleet expansion of up to six buses and additional funding to increase service hours was not successful. So in December 2023, BC Transit, the city, Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR), and the Revelstoke Accommodation Association (RAA) began operating a hybrid system – BCT and the Shuttle as one service with two operators – Everything Revelstoke and BC Transit. “The results of the consolidation have generally been very positive,” noted Steve Black, city director of infrastructure and public works, in his report to council. “Ridership is up, revenues are up, costs are remaining static.” The Transit Improvement Program MOU considered at the Oct. 8 council meeting was to again provide BCT with authorization to request additional funding and buses from the province.
Pump track fans will be pumped up to know that the City of Revelstoke council agreed to move forward with a pump track at Centennial Park. Council were unanimous in their approval of the city entering into a contract for services with Velosolutions to design and construct the pump track for a contract price of $765,400 plus applicable taxes.
