Revelstoke council didn’t have anything major to discuss at its last meeting, but a number of small items did come up. Here’s a breakdown of the more noteworthy items from the July 22 meeting.
JumpOn seeking investors
JumpOn Flyaways is looking for investors as it seeks to offer flights to Revelstoke this winter.
The Calgary-based airline is built on a model where flights only leave the ground if enough seats are sold. It uses social media to promote its flights.
Jean-Marc Laflamme made a presentation to council last week where he touted the airlines plans of offering flights from Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary to Revelstoke airport.
The airline tried to run two flights to Revelstoke in March however they failed to get off the ground. “These flights were doable but we didn’t have enough time to plan for them,” he said.
He said the flights could be a boon to both tourists coming here, as well as professionals that work remotely in Revelstoke. “Above all it will bolster the economy here in Revelstoke,” he said.
JumpOn is trying again this winter, but Laflamme said they need $50,000 to $100,000 in seed money to get things going.
He cited Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as an example of a small, remote resort community that was able to boost its economy by increasing flights to its airport.
“If we have weekly service and we get Calgary, Edmoton or Vancouver committed to the idea, then things stand a chance,” he said.
Vacation rental bylaw moves forward
The vacation rental bylaw was given third reading by council, and will now be referred to other levels of government for comment before final adoption.
The version that was passed is similar to what was proposed. Applications will have to undertake a re-zoning process to operate a vacation rental. They can only rent out their home for 120 nights per year, there is a maximum of four bedrooms and eight people per rental, and there must be one parking space available per bedroom.
No signage is permitted and the property owner or manager must be available on-call 24 hours per day.
CBT employment in Revelstoke
Council is asking the Columbia Basin Trust to revise its employment policy to allow Revelstokians to work remotely for the organization.
The city has lobbied in the past for a CBT office in Revelstoke, to no avail. This time, they are asking that residents be allowed to work remotely so they can work for CBT without having to leave the community.
The CBT has offices in Nakusp, Golden, Castlegar and Cranbrook and job postings usually require applicants to move to one of those communities.
The letter is a response to a request from the city’s social development committee, who noted it disadvantages Revelstoke residents who want to apply for those jobs; and that with today’s technology, employees shouldn’t need to work in a specific location.
Building Canada Fund projects
The city is working on a list of projects for funding through the Federal government’s recently announced Building Canada Fund.
The exact structure of the fun is still unknown as details are worked out between Ottawa and the province, but it is expected that project funding will be divided three ways between the federal, provincial and municipal governments, said Mike Thomas, the city’s director of engineering.
One change this year is that private companies can apply for funding as long as it’s supported by the city.
Thomas said they are working on a list of projects that could benefit from the funding, which is worth $1 billion over 10 years for small communities.
“It’s a 10 year program, so I think we should have a strategy of how we approach these projects over those 10 years,” said Thomas. “We should try and leverage this funding for projects that benefit the whole community.”