From the category archives:
The Grade-A services we enjoy in Castlegar from the library, water, sewer, streets and sidewalks, right through to the snow clearing operation comes with a hefty price tag. There is an indication out there that we are about to find this out, either through reduced services or increased taxes, as council balances a shift of taxes away from the industrial tax base, predominantly funded by the Celgar pulp mill.
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We speak in very real terms about the state of infrastructure deficit we find ourselves in as a nation and as municipalities, and scratch our heads as we wonder how we are going to possibly find the money to complete all of the upgrades or renewal required. Charles Hughes Smith, the author of Survival+: Structuring Prosperity for [...]
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A recent BC court case confirmed my belief that inadequate design should not be managed with "cover your ass" signage. Some of the quotes below serve as an excellent case study for understanding the relationship between a municipal engineering design, the designer and the municipality regarding safety and risk management.
The case, Lovely v Kamloops (2009 [...]
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Over at the Castlegar Current, there is some venting over the unpaid property taxes owed the City by Mercer for the Celgar Pulp Mill site. Briefly, Celgar decided not to pay it’s property taxes and requisitions for other levels of government to the City of Castlegar by the deadline in August 2009. Now the battle is going to [...]
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“Every decision made in any level of government should aim to reduce the use of fossil fuels and energy in general, rather than increase them”.
Would it even be possible to implement and follow a policy such as this?
It seems that whatever we do these days, it involves a lot of money, equipment, and inevitably fossil [...]
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Public spaces should be respected and kept clean for the enjoyment of all; and around here, there is a group of people who are not all pulling their weight – Dog Owners.
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The Smart Growth Manual
by Mike Thomas on November 4, 2009
in Design, Development, Housing, Regulation, Subdivision Design, Sustainability, Urban Planning
Smart Growth is slowly being recognized as having benefits outside of the usual talk of walkable neighbourhoods and streetscapes. This book, The Smart Growth Manual runs through the principles from the Regional context, the Neighbourhood, the Street, down to the Building design. If you are interested in New Urbanism, this is a book worth checking [...]
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