AGENDA - Rossland · 2016. 5. 4. · (3) BUSINESS . a) 2016 – 2020 Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw...

May 5, 2016 Special Meeting Agenda 1

AGENDA SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

3:00 P.M.

(1) CALL TO ORDER

(2) ADOPTION OF AGENDA

(3) BUSINESS a) 2016 – 2020 Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw No. 2613, Interim Manager of

Finance

THAT Bylaw No. 2613, 2016 – 2020 Five Year Financial Plan, be read a second and third time.

b) 2016 Tax Rate Bylaw No. 2614, Interim Manager of Finance

THAT Bylaw No. 2614, 2016 Tax Rate Bylaw, be read a second and third time.

(4) INFORMATION ITEMS

a) Request from Rossland Mountain Market Society to Close Queen Street on May 19, 2016 to hold a Garden Festival Market Recommendation to receive and approve the request as presented. *The second request regarding amendments to the Queen Street Closure Agreement will be addressed at the May 16, 2016 Regular Council meeting*

b) Temperature and Water Level Monitoring in the Rossland Range Area Watersheds – Component B of a Core Water Monitoring Program Recommendation to receive and provide a letter of support to Bill Coedy.

(5) RECESS TO IN-CAMERA

(6) ADJOURNMENT

RESOLVED THAT the May 5, 2016 Special Meeting be adjourned. Notice of the Special Meeting of Council to be held on May 5, 2016, is hereby given on May 4, 2016.

_____________________________ Mayor

_____________________________ Chief Administrative Officer

THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF ROSSLAND

BYLAW No. 2613

A BYLAW TO ADOPT A FINANCIAL PLAN FOR THE PERIOD OF 2016 TO 2020

WHEREAS section 165 of the Community Charter, SBC 2003 CHAP. 26 requires that Council adopt a financial plan for a period of five years,

NOW THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Rossland, in open meeting assembled, ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Bylaw may be cited, for all purposes, as the “CITY OF ROSSLAND FINANCIAL PLAN

2016 – 2020”.

2. The planned revenues and expenditures for the years 2016 to 2020 will be those recorded on Schedule “A” attached to, and forming part of this Bylaw.

3. In accordance with Section 165(3.1) of the Community Charter, Schedules “B”, “C” and “D” are attached to, and form a part of this Bylaw to provide the objectives and policies regarding each of the following:

a) the proportion of total revenue that comes from each of the funding sources described in Section 165(7) of the Community Charter,

b) the distribution of property taxes among the property classes, and

c) the use of permissive tax exemptions

ENACTMENT

4. (1) If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Bylaw is for any reason held to be invalid by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalid portion will be severed and the part that is invalid will not affect the validity of the remainder.

(2) Bylaw No. 2583 “City of Rossland Financial Plan 2015‐2019 Bylaw” and amendments thereto are hereby repealed.

(3) This Bylaw will come into full force and effect on the final adoption thereof.

READ A FIRST TIME this 25th day of April, 2016 READ A SECOND TIME this ____ day of May, 2016 READ A THIRD TIME this ____day of May, 2016 PUBLIC CONSULTATION HELD ON this 13th day of April, 2016 RECONSIDERED AND FINALLY ADOPTED this ____ day of May, 2016

__________________________________ ________________________________ MAYOR CORPORATE OFFICER

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BYLAW # 2613 ‐ SCHEDULE A

City of Rossland ‐ Five Year Financial Plan (Consolidated) 2015‐2019

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Revenue

Taxation

Property Tax Levy 3,863,990 3,990,037 4,103,038 4,218,299 4,335,865

Non Market Changes 49,024 35,000 35,000 35,000 35,000

Property Tax Increase 78,260 80,501 82,761 85,066 87,417

Risk to Roll (1,238) (2,500) (2,500) (2,500) (2,500)

Utility Taxes & Grants in Lieu 123,308 125,553 127,841 130,172 132,548

Water Parcel & Local Service Area Taxes 451,862 468,523 486,017 504,385 523,672

Sewer Parcel & Local Service Area Taxes 144,213 168,906 198,538 234,097 276,767

4,709,419 4,866,020 5,030,694 5,204,518 5,388,768

Funding for Operations

Water User Fees 565,748 619,468 670,037 735,019 806,489

Sewer User Fees 569,870 681,808 783,705 861,825 947,757

Other Income 78,441 89,557 104,525 120,155 136,478

Tax Penalties & Interest 61,333 74,672 76,770 78,909 81,092

1,275,391 1,465,505 1,635,037 1,795,908 1,971,816

Grants

Gas Tax Fund 195,912 195,912 195,912 195,912 195,912

Provincial Grants 458,850 458,889 458,928 458,967 459,007

654,762 654,801 654,840 654,879 654,919

TOTAL REVENUE 6,639,572 6,986,326 7,320,571 7,655,305 8,015,504

Expenses (after sale of service income)

Government Services (1,481,053) (1,425,588) (1,438,603) (1,475,032) (1,517,913)

Community Support (292,610) (274,654) (261,887) (249,757) (238,234)

Environmental Health 9,208 8,503 8,503 8,503 8,503

Planning, Development and Engineering (168,734) (126,500) (128,400) (130,300) (132,200)

Protective Services (13,349) (69,547) (72,005) (74,475) (77,055)

Public Health Services (7,980) 0 0 0 0

Recreation & Cultural services (546,912) (548,475) (556,555) (564,927) (573,490)

Transportation and Public Works (1,251,668) (1,239,155) (1,260,398) (1,269,939) (1,272,890)

Regional Sewer Utility (324,551) (442,623) (402,128) (438,316) (444,347)

Sewer Operations (234,938) (226,450) (224,950) (226,550) (228,150)

Water Operations (619,658) (525,260) (505,560) (489,960) (495,360)

Amortization (1,318,300) (1,373,282) (1,373,300) (1,373,300) (1,373,300)

Interest and Finance Charges (308,714) (448,085) (448,085) (448,085) (448,085)

General Fund Special Projects (133,184) (82,500) (10,000) (10,000) (4,000)

(6,692,444) (6,773,615) (6,673,367) (6,742,137) (6,796,520)

Annual Surplus (Deficit) (52,871) 212,711 647,204 913,169 1,218,983

Accumulated Deficit ‐ Sewer (210,896)

Amortization 1,318,300 1,373,282 1,373,300 1,373,300 1,373,300

Capital Expenditure (436,581) (7,832,760) (943,793) (1,448,734) (1,519,094) Debt Principal Payments (247,564) (342,350) (357,318) (372,949) (389,271)Debt Proceeds 0 4,692,612 0 0 0

Development Cost Charges 0 313,000 0 0 0

Transfer to Capital Reserves (600,148) (789,278) (876,620) (766,916) (909,154)

Transfer from Capital Reserves 164,780 1,311,158 300,000 367,177 391,859 0 0 0 0 0

Transfer to Operating Reserves (66,808) (46,807) (66,807) (66,807) (164,864)

Transfer from Operating Reserves 131,789 1,032,468 0 0 0

Balanced Budget 0 (75,965) 75,966 (1,760) 1,760

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BYLAW #2613

SCHEDULE “B”

Table 1 – Sources of Revenue

Revenue Source 2016 %

Property Value Taxes 60.09%

Parcel & Local Service Area Taxes 8.98%

Utility Taxes, Grants in Lieu & Penalties & Interest 2.78%

Utility User Fees 17.10%

Other Income 1.18%

Grants 9.86%

100.0%

Table 1 reflects the proportion of total revenue proposed to be raised from each revenue source in 2016. Property Value Taxes form the greatest proportion of the revenue of the municipality and provide a stable, consistent source of revenue for many municipal services that are difficult or undesirable to fund on a user‐pay basis. Grants also provide a source of revenue to the municipality. Utility User Fees provide revenue for the municipality on a user‐pay basis. Policy: Council is committed to maintaining a consistent property tax base and strives to maximize the user‐pay method of providing services wherever feasible. Objectives: To maximize a user‐pay cost structure wherever possible. To maximize the use of grant funding for infrastructure and service upgrades.

4

BYLAW #2613

SCHEDULE “C” Table 2 – Proposed Distribution of Property Taxes Among Property Classes for 2016

Table 2 reflects the distribution of property value taxes among property classes. The City of Rossland’s tax base is primarily residential and therefore the majority of the tax burden falls on the residential homeowners. Policy: It is the policy of Council to maintain a tax rate ratio between individual property assessment classes at fixed values. The tax rate for all property classes are a multiple of the tax rate for Property Class 01 (Residential). In order to encourage business in Rossland and reduce operating costs for existing businesses, the tax rate multiple for Class 06 was reduced from 2.25 to 1.71 in 2007. Objective: To maintain the current tax rate structure and to encourage business in Rossland by providing tax relief in the form of the reduced variable tax rate.

Property Class %

Residential 87.28%

Utility 2.86%

Business and Other 9.34%

Managed Forest 0.03%

Recreation / Non‐Profit 0.48%

Farm 0.00%

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BYLAW #2613

SCHEDULE “D”

The Corporation of the City of Rossland Permissive Tax Exemptions

Per Bylaw #2599 – 2016 Permissive Tax Exemption Bylaw

Legal Description Roll # Civic Address Organization

Parcel A, Block 27, Plan 616A 767.450 2396 Columbia Avenue Roman Catholic Bishop of Nelson ‐ Sacred Heart Church

Lots 11 ‐ 14, Block 30, Plan 616A 805.100 2393 Columbia Avenue Seven Summits School of Learning (Class 06 portion only)

Lots 1 ‐ 4, Block 20, Plan 616A 676.100 2110 ‐ First Avenue United Church of Canada ‐ St. Andrew's United Church

Lot 15, Block 28, Plan 579 238.000 2055 ‐ 2059 Washington Street

Rossland Health Care Auxiliary Society

Lot A, Plan 9862 675.000 2112 Second Avenue Golden City Manors Society

Lot B, Plan 9766, District Lot 535 & Lot 22, Block 28, Plan 579 District Lot 535 except Parcel A

243.000 2058 Spokane Street Rossland Child Care Society

Lot 20, Block 41, Plan 579 360.000 2054 Washington Street

Rossland Light Opera Players

Lot 1, Plan NEP73284, District Lot 535

240.000 2081 Washington Street

Royal Canadian Legion ( Class 8 portion only)

Revitalization Tax Exemptions per Bylaw #2488

Lot 1, Block 41, Plan 579 343.000 2004 Columbia Avenue Quince Tree Enterprises Inc.

Lot 1, Plan NEP79845, Land District 26, Township 28

3014.010 WCH Holdings Ltd.

Lot 20, Block 43, Plan NEP579, Land District 26, District Lot 535

388.000 Texas Point Holdings Ltd.

Council provides permissive tax exemption to not‐for‐profit organizations that form a valuable part of the community. These include religious institutions, recreational facilities, a seniors housing society and a child care society. In 2010, Council adopted a Revitalization Tax Exemption Bylaw to encourage economic activity and growth. Policy: Council will continue to support local not‐for‐profit organizations that provide benefits to the

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community as a whole and are eligible under the Community Charter through permissive tax exemptions. In order to encourage economic activity and growth, Council will provide revitalization tax exemption to businesses who meet the criteria set out in the Revitalization Tax program. Objective: To provide permissive tax exemption to not‐for‐profit organizations that benefits the overall well‐being of the community. To encourage economic activity and growth by providing exemption from property value tax increases for a period of five years.


BYLAW No. 2614

A BYLAW TO LEVY TAXES FOR MUNICIPAL PURPOSES

WHEREAS section 197 of the Community Charter, SBC 2003 CHAP. 26, requires the Council of the City of Rossland to establish property value tax rates,

NOW THEREFORE the Council of the City of Rossland, in open meeting assembled, ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:

SHORT TITLE

1. (1) This Bylaw may be cited as the "2016 MUNICIPAL TAX RATE BYLAW"

TAX RATES

2. (1) The rates imposed and levied for the fiscal year 2016 on all properties within the City of Rossland for all lawful general municipal purposes and for unspecified debt purposes, on the value of land and improvements taxable for general municipal purposes, rates appearing in column “A” of the Tax Rate Schedule attached hereto and forming a part of this Bylaw;

(2) The Tax Rate Schedule also provides for levying taxes for the fiscal year 2016 for the following jurisdictions:

(a) for Regional District of Kootenay Boundary purposes, on the value of land and improvements taxable for hospital purposes, rates appearing in column “B” of the Tax Rate Schedule attached hereto and forming part of this Bylaw;

(c) for West Kootenay‐Boundary Regional Hospital District purposes, on the value of land and improvements taxable for hospital purposes, rates appearing in column “C” of the Tax Rate Schedule attached hereto and forming part of this Bylaw;

(3) The minimum amount of taxation upon a parcel of real property will be one dollar

($1.00); 3. (1) Unless revised for subsequent fiscal years, the tax rates established in this Bylaw will

remain in effect for subsequent fiscal years.

ENACTMENT

4. (1) If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Bylaw is for any reason held to be invalid by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalid portion will be severed and the part that is invalid will not affect the validity of the remainder.

(2) Bylaw No. 2586 “2015 Municipal Tax Rate Bylaw” and its amendments are hereby repealed.

(3) This Bylaw will come into full force and effect on the 1st day of January 2016. READ A FIRST TIME this 25th day of April, 2016 READ A SECOND TIME this ___ day of _____, 2016 READ A THIRD TIME this ____ day of ____, 2016 RECONSIDERED AND FINALLY ADOPTED this ____ day of ____, 2016

______________________________ _____________________________ MAYOR CORPORATE OFFICER


BYLAW #2614

TAX RATE SCHEDULE

Tax rates are expressed in dollars per $1,000 of taxable assessment. “A” General Municipal and Unspecified Debt “B” Regional District Kootenay Boundary Tax Rate “C” West Kootenay‐Boundary Regional Hospital District Tax Rate PROPERTY CLASS 01 ‐ RESIDENTIAL

A B C

7.17251 1.90972 .29861

PROPERTY CLASS 02 ‐ UTILITIES

A B C

40.00000 6.68402 1.04514 PROPERTY CLASS 05 – LIGHT INDUSTRIAL

A B C

22.65614 6.49304 1.01528 PROPERTY CLASS 06 – BUSINESS/OTHER

A B C

12.74550 4.67881 .73160 PROPERTY CLASS 07 ‐ MANAGED FOREST

A B C

15.64900 5.72916 .89584 PROPERTY CLASS 08 – REC/NON PROFIT

A B C

6.34987 1.90972 .29861 PROPERTY CLASS 09 ‐ FARM

A B C

7.38340 1.90972 .29861

Attn: Mayor Kathy Moore, Council + the City of

Rossland

From: The Rossland Mountain Market Society

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Items: 1/ request for Queen Street closure May 19, 2016

2/ request for amendments to the Queen Street Closure Agreement between the City of

Rossland and the Rossland Mountain Market Society

1/ The Rossland Mountain Market Society would like to, once again, host a Garden Festival Market

in May just prior to the Victoria Day long weekend to support the traditional time for frost‐free garden

planting. We would like to run this Market on Thursday, May 19, 2016 from 3‐6pm, in our regular

outdoor location between NDCU and the old Ross Vegas building.

This event will operate under our usual Market policies, with all vendors required to have

proper permits + permissions in place in order to set up. The event will run rain or shine. Also, City

Council and other community groups + organizations will be invited to set up information tables, as per

usual.

This letter is to request permission from the City of Rossland to close down Queen Street

between the hours of 1 PM – 7:00 PM. We require nothing further from the City. Our signage would go

up early in the morning (pre 8 AM) and the street would be entirely clean and back to normal by about 7

PM.

2/ The Rossland Mountain Market Society wishes to take the opportunity presented by the renewal

of the Queen Street Closure Agreement with the City of Rossland to request amendments to the

agreement.

They are as follows:

a) Please update the name of the Market entity to reflect our current status as a Society.

Therefore ”on behalf of the Rossland Mountain Market Society”. Please remove Rossland

REAL Food from the agreement.

b) Regarding Article 1.01‐ we request that the agreement encompass these dates:

~Main Season – defined as from the 1st Thursday in June to the 1st Thursday in October;

closure allowed from 1 pm – 7pm

~Annual Earth Day Market – defined as the Saturday in April closest to Earth Day (April 22);

closure allowed from 9am – 4pm

~Annual Garden Festival Market – defined as the Thursday in May before Victoria Day Long

Weekend; closure allowed from 1pm – 7pm

~Annual Farm‐to‐Table Fundraiser ‐ defined as the 3rd Saturday in September (this event

will be explained in our presentation); same space; closure allowed from 1 pm – 10pm

We stipulate that our Board agrees to confirm the exact calendar dates of the up‐coming

season by no later than March 1st of each year.

c) Regarding Article 3.01 – Length of Agreement ‐ we request that the agreement be

expanded to encompass 2 summer market seasons. Our primary reasons for requesting a 2

year agreement are to affirm the sustainability of the Rossland Mountain Market for

planning purposes, and to minimize the workload on what is primarily a group of volunteers

managing the administration of the Market. Therefore we formally request that this

agreement be renewed until the spring of 2018.

We thank you very much in advance for your consideration, and we look forward to hearing back from

you!

Sincerely,

On behalf of the Rossland Mountain Market Society

Kathleen Hill, RMMS Secretary

[email protected]

2016

Bill Coedy, MSc

Rossland Society for Environmental Action

4/30/2016

Temperature and Water Level Monitoring in the Rossland Range Area Watersheds – Component B of a Core Water Monitoring Program

Draft 2016 Monitoring Program, Bill Coedy, April 2016.

Title and Location:

Temperature and Water Level Monitoring in the Rossland Range Area Watersheds – Component B of a

Core Water Monitoring Program; Rossland, BC.

Executive Summary

This proposal describes Component B of the core monitoring program for the Rossland area watersheds.

Although it is part of a broader core program, Component B proposal describes the process of obtaining

valuable information on creek temperature and water elevation by the purchase and deployment of

automated data‐logging equipment at strategic locations in each of four creeks within four major

watersheds of the Rossland Range area. Monitoring of water temperature is important in a future of

changing warmer climate. It is especially important for a mountain town which relies on snowmelt for its

water supply. In addition to temperature, the data‐loggers would provide continual measurement of

water elevation which is related to the amount of water flowing in a creek. The volume, level and

velocity of creek flow indicates timing of water release and availability. This information is not only

useful for water resource management by downstream users but for recording shifts in timing of release

due to climate change. The proposed Component B investigation is a nouvelle undertaking as there is no

known current monitoring for these parameters within the main creeks of the Rossland Range area

watersheds. It is proposed that temperature and water level will be monitored near the source of each

creek and downstream near the confluence with the Columbia River for a period of five years. This

information will be useful for interpretation of water measurements collected from Component A and

Component C of the core water monitoring program. It will also be shared with community water

resource planners and other researchers engaged in acquiring data for purposes of modelling hydro‐

climatic data for the West Kootenay region.

This proposal demonstrates the ability to support enhancement of water resource knowledge that is

important to watershed stakeholders, dependency consumers and ecosystem vitality and sustainability.

The proposed work describes water quality and quantity research that is scientifically sound and the

data can be used by decision makers in future management of water resources. An educational

program, that describes the techniques of the research, will be developed to help others understand

and appreciate the importance of stream monitoring.

Table of Contents

Title and Location Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction

1.1 Rossland Area Watershed Core Monitoring Program 2016‐17 1.2 Historical Water Access to Water Supply 1.3 Historical Extreme Weather 1.4 Historical Hydrology 1.5 Existing Data

2.0 Study Area 3.0 Goal 4.0 Scope 5.0 Methodology 6.0 Schedule 7.0 Budget 8.0 Measures 9.0 Community Priority 10.0 Community Support and Participation 11.0 References 12.0 Qualifications Figures Figure 1. Big Sheep Creek (08NE039) hydrograph plots for years 1950 to 2006 Figure 2. Daily discharge stats (08NE039) corresponding to 69 years Jan 1929 – Dec 2015 Figure 3. Daily Level stats (08NE039) for 4 years Jan 2011 – Dec 2014 Figure 4. Rossland area watersheds for Topping, Hanna, Murphy and Trail creeks. Figure 5. The upper watersheds of Topping, Hanna and Murphy creeks are shown in the City of Rossland

Water Supply area.

Tables Table 1: Budget 2016‐17

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Rossland Area Watersheds Core Monitoring Program 2016‐17

One of the main objectives of the Rossland Streamkeepers is to enable better understanding and

protection of our aquatic resources in a changing climate. There is very little if any on‐going monitoring

of the streams in the watersheds of the Rossland area. To become responsible stewards of our streams

we need to acquire information based on scientific data so that we can provide effective input into the

local management of our water resources. Rossland Streamkeepers were recently polled in a volunteer

survey to determine what were the major concerns and issues. The outcomes focused on three key

ecosystem function and water flow education, water quantity and water quality.

The goal of the core water monitoring program is to improve our understanding of how these mountain

creeks behave and improve our prediction capability of how they might respond to a changing and

warming climate. It is an opportunity to answer some of the unknowns. This is best summarized in a

famous symbolic song lyric by Joni Mitchell “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. Or, if you

prefer writer Franz Kafka’s recommendation “Better to have, and not need, then to need, and not

have”. Long‐time Trail resident Joe Ladducci, who started the reforestation of a smelter devastated Trail

landscape in the 1940s, realized the importance of taking action for future investment “It is something

we can do as it will be important one day” (John D’Arcangelo, 2015).

The Rossland area water monitoring program represents a beginning in the collection of scientific data

designed to detect changes in creek water temperature, creek water levels, flow rates, and water quality

parameters to help guide our decisions in the level of protection, conservation and enhancement

activities. The core program contains three components.

Component A is focused on the use of stream characterization techniques developed or adapted by

Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network program (CABIN). The method used to collect benthic

macroinvertebrates from stream beds and the determination of stream flow will be incorporated into a

short course available to high school students through an environmental field workshop.

Component B looks at the collection of temperature and water elevation measurements in the water

supply creeks through the deployment of data‐logger devices designed to collect measurements over a

long period of time. This technique will be incorporated into the educational component and the results

from a data‐logger will be compared with manual flow measurements collected by the students in

Component A. The long term collection of data will provide valuable insight into water yield timing and

patterns due to climate warming or extreme events.

In Component C, specific water quality parameters will be measured at strategically selected locations

and a database created to inventory the measurements. It is anticipated that the equipment and the

level of effort used in calibration procedures will be of sufficient quality to later incorporate into the

interactive GIS Watershed map developed by the Rossland Streamkeepers. The water quality

parameters mimic the CABIN program. The measurement of Temperature, pH, Conductivity, Dissolved

Oxygen and Turbidity by a single data‐logging “sonde” instrument will be demonstrated to other

streamkeeper volunteers and incorporated into the educational course described in Component A.

This is a citizen science driven program operated by trained streamkeeper volunteers. The information

gained from the on‐going monitoring will be useful in the interpretation of future water supply reserves

from mountain snow‐pack melt to downstream users such as Red Mountain Village, City of Rossland and

Rivervale. The regular collection of high quality stream data will serve as an important input into

prediction models for extreme weather events leading to flooding and drought situations or in the

success of re‐vitalized wetlands and other water management practices.

1.2 Historical Water Access to water supply:

Rossland is an alpine community, receiving snow for six months and limited rain from April to

September. The quantity and timing of this precipitation is not well understood – it varies widely from

year‐to‐year and season‐to‐season.

The City of Rossland’s raw water comes from three mountain creeks having their headwaters at about

2100m. In spring, snow melts from these mountainsides in a very large rush of water that lasts about

three months then subsides to a low, sustaining flow for 9 months of the year. The freshet timing sets

water availability for the rest of the year. The variable sustaining flow, which is the amount available for

capture, limits the water supply of downstream users. Another community, Rivervale, is located near

the Columbia River and depends on Hanna Creek for it’s community water supply.

The history of Rossland’s water supply spans over a Century supplying populations from as few as 2500

to as many as 6000 from the same watersheds. Historical records for Rossland water supply access

(from 1959 Wadeson) indicate that Rossland began accessing water in 1895/6 from Topping Creek, then

from Hanna Creek in 1902 and then South Murphy Creek connected in 1912‐1. The Star Gulch reservoir

(23M gallons, 104M m3) was created in 1927‐30 and the Ophir reservoir was built in 19??.

Although Trail Creek watershed is not part of any community’s raw water supply, it has been used in the

past as a source of irrigation for gardens and fruit trees and more recently to sustain golf course greens

at the Redstone Golf Course. Trail Creek has seen its years of ups and downs. In the early years of mining

~1895, Trail Creek was the dumping ground for unwanted sewage and garbage from mining camps.

“Rossland’s sewage system was a series of drains along 3 blocks of Columbia Ave which dumped raw

waste over the bank into lower Rossland. Most homes had outhouses and sewage was hauled away via

honey wagon to outskirts of town. A fire hose flushed the sewage downhill from Kootenay Ave. Rain

washed the sewage into Trail Creek” (Jordan & Choukalos, 1995). Historically, Trail creek was used by

lower Rosslanders for drinking, bathing and laundry. There were 300 cases of typhoid during 1885 to

1896. As a result of the fecal contaminated water, the disease did not cease completely. Chinese

farmers living in the fertile land (just upstream from the Redstone Golf Course), used Trail Creek for

drinking, bathing, laundry and vegetable and fruit washing. In 1947 the Chairman of the local board of

health declared the Trail Creek contaminated and arranged for the Chinese community to obtain clean

water from the cemetery creek across the hwy.

The Trail Creek Management Plan (Tanya Tran, 2016) was initiated by the City of Rossland and Selkirk

College as an implementation plan for the Rossland Official Community Plan (OCP) and the Strategic

Sustainability Plan (SSP). Within the OCP/SSP there were several strategies that focus on improvement

of the riparian area and the health of the watershed for the benefit of the environment and community.

The Trail Creek Management Plan involved public meetings, surveys and interviews. The creek is valued

highly for its recreational purposes and viewscopes by locals. Several goals were determined:

1) Improve, restore, enhance and maintain riparian habitat and connectivity, 2) Improve water quality

within Trail Creek and its tributaries, 3) Promote watershed stewartship and conservation actions within

local residents, 4) Promote and work for watershed stewartship across Rossland‐Trail boundary. Among

the recommendations was the importance of creek protection and to partner with NGOs to implement

strategic actions for environmental monitoring.

1.3 Historical Extreme Weather Events:

Two extreme weather events have occurred in the Rossland/Trail area in the past 100 years. A unique

combination of weather conditions occurred late April of 1969. A warm, muggy air mass with

temperatures in the 60 to 70 F range brought heavy rains followed by a vicious thunderstorm and a 12

hour downpour. On April 23, 1969, a major flood in the Trail Creek caused major property damage

estimated to be over $3M to residents downstream from Annabelle (Trail Times, April 1969).

According to Rod Saxon’s account, “April 1969, a winter of heavy snow, turned very warm and rained for

days on end. Trail Creek became a river. The entry at the top of the Gulch, where the creek normally

flowed underground to the Columbia, became blocked by debris so the new river flowed down Rossland

Ave. From the Smelter Hill stairs (242 steps) see it cascading into downtown. The river of debris and mud

had reached the bottom of the stairs. Downtown Trail had become accustomed to the threat of flooding

from the Columbia River every year until, after the record runoff of 1948 flood. Unfortunately in 1969,

the wall built to protect Trail from flooding, acted as a dam, impounding the creek water flowing

downstream. Every basement in town was full of mud and water was up to the tops of parking meters.

The only recourse was to breach the wall and let the water flow out into the Columbia. It took several

days for it to run away”.

On the other end of the spectrum, in 1930 extreme hot and dry summer weather created a drought

situation and raised alarm bells to communities dependent on snow melt and rain to replenish raw

water supplies. From Wadeson’s accounts, the freshet came late, ended quickly and there was little rain

–a “worst case” in these records. In 1929/30 (brown) the drought began at the beginning of August,

dropped to a very low value in September and stayed that way until the freshet began in mid‐March,

1930. ). The year’s precipitation was 500mm (equivalent) vs the 50‐year average of 743 and 1958’s

909mm.

Recently, in the very warm, dry summer of 2015, The City of Rossland issued a Stage 4 Water Use

Advisory which regulated the domestic use of water gardens and lawns.

Extremes in climate change can cause destruction and damage to homes, infrastructure and ecosystems.

Extreme runoff and drought can affect water resources – drinking water treatment or reserves, garden

food security, ecosystem function and recreational activity.

1.4 Historical Hydrology

Water comes to Rossland from melting snow and rain. The amount and timing of precipitation and snow

melting are the principal determinants of water availability and its timing. Over sixty years, weather and

hydrological flow data has been collected and from various meteorological stations such as Old Glory,

MacLean school, and Granite Mountain (Red Mountain Resort) and from several Environment Canada

hydromet stations at the mouth of creeks Topping, Hanna and Murphy. Weather analysis by Wadeson,

Dobson and Mitchell, generally agree that temperatures and precipitation in the form of snow are

different at higher elevation compared to Rossland and that the timing and quantity of precipitation is

highly variable.

The colder temperatures at higher elevations can explain the observed delays and relative flow between

the freshets in the various local creeks. Several estimates have been made of “average” and “minimum”

flows in the Rossland area watersheds by Environment Canada Hydrologists, City Engineers and

consultants. But according to Micklethwaite, none have had sufficient scope or data to be reliable

(Micklethwaite, 2008).

Hydrologists recognize that “snapshots” of flows over an 8‐month interval are inadequate to predict

total annual variations. Without the benefit of long term data collection, the interval flow data for the

Rossland area watersheds has been compared to the known flows in nearby Big Sheep Creek which has

been gauged daily by Water Survey Canada for over 60 years. Micklethwaite makes use of historic data

of high flows from the Big Sheep Creek hydromet station to establish a statistically sound correlation

with yield from creeks flowing within the Rossland area watersheds.

Figure 1: Big Sheep Creek hydrograph plots for years 1950 to 2006.

However, Micklethwaite cautions on the differences between the two locations, describing that the Big

Sheep Creek gauging station is at ~670m, its principal exposure is south and the elevation to area profile

is flatter. In contrast, the Rossland area watersheds are individually much smaller, steeper and higher

(cooler). Although the timing of the freshet rise and fall may be significantly different between the two

locations because of elevation to area profile, drier seasons should correlate better.

Big Sheep Creek Flow (m3/S)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

01-00 01-30 03-01 03-31 05-01 05-31 07-01 07-31 08-31 09-30 10-31 11-30 12-31

Day-of-year

Flow

(m3 /s

econ

d)

195019511952195319541955195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006

Figure 2. Daily discharge flow stats (max & min) from Big Sheep Creek 08NE039 station corresponding to

69 years of data recovery Jan 1929 to Dec 2015 (source EC Water Survey Canada)

Figure 3. Water Level stats (max & min) from 08NE039 for 4 years data Jan 2011 – Dec 2014 (source EC

Water Survey).

Micklelthwaite’s flow correlation data to Big Sheep Creek gauge data can suggest predictions for the

future. First and similar to previous weather hydrological analysis, that there are no “average years”.

Secondly, that one year in 7 can be expected to cause significant shortages, and several times a century

there will be serious droughts.

From the end of one freshet to the beginning of the next, Rossland’s supply of water comes almost

exclusively from the low‐slope, low‐elevation, deep‐soil portions of our watersheds. The higher levels

are steep and rocky –shedding rain and snowmelt very quickly. There are a few noted exceptions of till

deposits at higher elevations but these are generally small and are believed to have little impact on flow

timing. The intermediate elevations are contributory but are still stripped fairly quickly due to significant

slopes and shallow soils. Rainfall recharges the whole system temporarily but again the effects linger

longest from the low‐slope, deeper soil zones. From the end of one freshet to the beginning of the next,

Rossland’s supply of water comes almost exclusively from the low‐slope, low‐elevation, deep‐soil

portions of our watersheds. Topping Creek is the most important sustaining watershed during winter.

Lower Topping Creek and the Blue Eyes Swamp, located in prime ski resort area, are estimated to

contribute 2/3 of present sustaining flow. These critical portions of the watershed must be preserved

and protected.

In his “White Paper”, Micklethwaite describes how peak demand for water resources is weather

dependent. The freshet can begin as early as February or as late as end‐March. It ends sometime

between mid‐July and mid‐August. The earlier the snows melt and the rains end, the earlier the demand

peak. Its timing sets the stage for water availability for the rest of the year.

Micklethwaite is concerned about the ability of the City of Rossland to plan for future water needs given

the lack of water quantity monitoring in the watersheds. With the predictions of a warmer, dryer

climate coupled with added pressures from increased habitation of seasonal users and recreational

development in the area, Rossland may see more instances of water restriction advisories in the future.

The core monitoring program is a citizen science monitoring program, coordinated by the Rossland

Streamkeepers, in the Rossland Range area watersheds. The goal of the core monitoring program is to

enhance the spatial and temporal effort of monitoring in the Rossland area watersheds. It is proposed to

deploy temperature and water level data‐loggers in the four creeks Trail, Topping, Hanna and Murphy

which represent the four watersheds of the Rossland area. Seasonal water quality campaigns will be

implemented in 2017 to measure pH, Conductivity, DO, and Turbidity at strategic reach locations of each

creek. Data from Component B will be used in the interpretation of water quality.

1.5 Existing Data

The Rossland Streamkeeper citizen science core monitoring program plans to build on existing scientific

information provided by Environment Canada’s CABIN monitoring station in the area for creek

characteristics and water quality and at a nearby hydromet station on Sheep Creek for quantity

information. Meteorological stations: Red Mountain Resort (Granite Mtn), Old Glory (limited time).

City of Rossland: Raw water chemistry and microbiology parameters for Topping Creek ‐ collected once

per year ‐ data available from City of Rossland web site

Env Canada CABIN stations: Habitat, water chemistry and benthic invertebrate taxonomy.

SWE01 located on Swedberg Creek in the Big Sheep Creek Basin lat. 49.0647222; long ‐117.9438889; alt

2404 ft; last sampled Jan 2009.

COL07 Trail Creek 49.0977; ‐1177297 alt 1696 ft; last sampled Feb 2013.

Env Canada /Water Survey of Canada:

Hydromet station Big Sheep Creek Station 08NE039 – hydrograph records for flow and level

Live data can be downloaded from the Water Survey of Canada website:

http://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/report/report_e.html?stn=08NE039&mode=Graph&type=stat&dataType=Da

ily&parameterType=Flow&y1Max=1&y1Min=1&scale=normal

Closed WSC stations located just upstream from the Columbia River for Topping Creek 08NE033 (1928‐

29), Hanna Creek 08NE080 (1953) and West Little Sheep Creek 08NE111 (1971‐74). Data available for

limited operational periods.

2.0 Study Area

The Rossland area of watersheds are located in the south east Kootenays of British Columbia bordering

Washington State USA. The watersheds are in the Selkirk‐Bitterrot eco‐region and the Montane

Cordillera eco‐zone, within the Rossland Range (formerly known as Nancy Green Recreation Area).

Communities within the study area watersheds include Red Mountain Resort and Village, City of

Rossland, Annabel, City of Trail, and Rivervale. Snow melt and rain runoff from the Topping, Hanna and

Murphy creek watersheds supplies water to rural residents and community citizens of Red Mountain

Village, City of Rossland. The watershed areas (in square kilometers) for Topping, Hanna and S. Murphy

is 7.74, 10.16 and 2.65 respectively. The Trail Creek watershed extends from the City of Rossland to City

of Trail. All four creeks drain into the Columbia River.

Red Mountain Resort and Big Red Cats within the Rossland Range area. City of Rossland, Redstone Golf

Course, Warfield, Annabel and City of Trail are within the Trail creek watershed. The watersheds are

mixed‐use areas incorporating forestry harvesting and recreation (Alpine and Nordic skiing, mountain

biking, hiking, off‐road motorcycling, snowmobiling. There are two alpine ski operators

In corporation with Selkirk College and with funding support from Columbia Basin Watershed Network, the Rossland Streamkeepers have developed a base interactive GIS map of the watersheds in the Rossland area. The GIS watersheds map can be accessed via the link: http://selkirk.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTools/index.html?appid=3886ea87fb1b48e7b348909a444be104

The watershed GIS map indicates watersheds, biogeoclimatic zones, mountain streams, reservoirs and

recreational areas. This map will be updated with monitoring data as it becomes available.

Figure 4. Rossland area watersheds for Topping, Hanna, Murphy and Trail creeks.

Figure 5. The upper watersheds of Topping, Hanna and Murphy creeks are shown in the City of Rossland

Water Supply area.

3.0 Goal

Component B, of the core Rossland Water Monitoring Program, is designed to capture measurements,

over a five year period, of temperature and water level in the water supply creeks of Topping, Hanna

and Murphy (THM). Data‐logger devices will be deployed in the upper and lower reaches of each supply

creek and in Trail Creek. Data will be uploaded from each device on an annual basis. This technique will

also be incorporated into the educational component and the results from a data‐logger will be

compared with manual flow measurements collected by the students in Component A. The collection of

data over a five year period will be compared with existing hydrological and meteorological data to gain

a better understanding of water yield timing and patterns due to climate warming or extreme events.

The information gained from the on‐going monitoring will be useful in the interpretation of future water

supply reserves from mountain snow‐pack melt to downstream users such as Red Mountain Village, City

of Rossland and Rivervale. The regular collection of high quality stream data will serve as an important

input into prediction models for extreme weather events leading to flooding and drought situations or in

the success of re‐vitalized wetlands and other water management practices.

4.0 Scope

The scope of work involves equipment purchase, site planning, location selection, field deployment of

equipment, follow‐up data collection and reporting. The scope only refers to work associated with

Component B of the Rossland Core Water Monitoring Program.

1) evaluate data‐loggers and purchase equipment; 2) review optimum locations and timing with City of Rossland to deploy data‐loggers in each creek; 3) recon locations, select a site and test equipment prior to deployment; 4) deploy data‐loggers in field; 5) retrieve data‐loggers on an annual basis, upload data and re‐deploy or replace; 6) perform data analysis, interpretation and prepare report; 7) add monitoring locations and summary data to the GIS watersheds map. 5.0 Methodology:

Onset HOBO data loggers will be used to acquire the temperature and water level data. The accuracy on

the loggers for temperature is +/‐ 0.44 C for range 0 to 50 C and for water level is +/‐ 4mm over 0‐4m

depth range. The data loggers will be programmed to collect data each day at set time intervals to allow

seasonal comparisons over the year. Data loggers will be placed in a modified steel tube for protection

against debris and the weight will serve to anchor the logger to the stream bed. The tube will be chained

to the shoreline to prevent loss during high flow events. Data loggers will be deployed during low water

flow to ensure that the logger will remain submerged in the stream. A location which will not exceed 4

to 5 m in depth will be selected. The data loggers will be accessed each fall for data upload and re‐

deployed for a 5 year period or until the battery has been spent. Data will be plotted and comparisons

made between Rossland area watershed creeks and the Big Sheep Creek hydromet station.

6.0 Schedule

The majority of the work will occur in 2016. Retrieval of data loggers for data upload will occur every fall.

This task is necessary to ensure data loggers are functioning. The monitoring project is expected to occur

over a five year period.

June 2016: define location of monitoring stations; June 2016: Equipment evaluation, purchase and training; June 2016: reconnaissance of site locations, site selection and equipment test prior to deployment; June 2016: contact WSC to attend visit to Sheep Creek hydromet station; July 2016: Develop educational component of measuring water levels and velocities with schools; August‐Sept 2016: deploy data‐loggers in field; August‐Sept 2017: retrieve, data upload and re‐deploy data‐loggers, review data; August‐Sept 2018: retrieve, data upload and re‐deploy data‐loggers, review data; August‐Sept 2019: retrieve, data upload and re‐deploy data‐loggers, review data; August‐Sept 2020: retrieve, data upload and re‐deploy data‐loggers, review data; August‐Sept 2021: retrieve data loggers, data upload, data interpretation and report. 7.0 Budget:

Table 1: Component B budget highlighted in proposed core monitoring budget

Program Element

Purpose YR 1: 2016 YrR2: 2017

$ Cost $ In‐kind $ Cost $ In‐kind

Component A Creek characterization/education

0 500 1,000 250

Component B Temp & water level 9,360 2450 4,480 3,740

Component C Water Quality 0 500 30,000 500

7.1 Component B Budget Breakdown

Budget breakdown includes equipment cost, field technician time cost, RSEA administration cost and In‐

kind costs.

A.Onset HOBO Water Level & Temperature Loggers (ppe bodies)

1) Communication cables & logger program interface $144.00

2) 4MB HOBO Shuttle $361.00

3) HOBO Water Level Logger 0‐4m depth range $434.00 each or $4,010.00 for 10

Sub‐total logger equipment cost: $4515 plus tax

Note: Equipment cost: sourced from Hoskin Scientific (quote 50545 March 2016)

Misc steel pipe, chain, clasps and rope estimate for 8 loggers: $400

Total equipment cost: $5,700

B.Field technician work ($35/hr)

1) Deployment of data‐loggers(2016): 3 days upper creeks (THM) and 3 days lower creek reaches;

and 1 day (Trail Creek): 7 days x 8 hr/day x $35/hr = $1,960

2) Honorarium (2016): assistance in field deployment: $200/day x 4 = $800

3) Data logger retrieval, data upload and re‐deployment (2017‐21): 4 days x 8hr/day x $35/hr =

$1,120 per year x 4 years =$4,480

(Note: travel time included in technician cost)

Technician labour costs: $7,240

C.Rossland Society for Environmental Action (RSEA) Administration Costs:

5% of total funding request: 5% x $10,000 = $500

Total costs (A,B,C): $13,440

In‐kind costs:

Project Management: time (hr) x $50/hr

1) equipment research & purchase; training in operation and setup; discussions with City of

Rossland officials and Friends of Rossland Range on equipment location: 20 hr; $1,000

2) Reconnaissance of site location: 22 hr; $1,100

3) Transportation costs for install and retrieval: 23 days at $50/day; $1,150

4) Data evaluation and interpretation and report writing: 40 hr; $2,000

5) Residual from $10,000 funding limit on technician costs: $2,940

Total In‐kind costs: $8,290

7.2 Funding Sources:

Component A – BC Wildlife Federation; Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program, CBEEN, Wildsight

Component B – CBT small grants

Component C – CBT, RBC Blue Water, MEC, Loblaw Water Fund, TD Friends of Environment Foundation

8.0 Measures

Temperature and water level data will be acquired from each data logger on an annual basis. Data from

each creek will be compared over a 5 year period and compared with hydrograph data from the EC’s

Hydromet station on Sheep Creek.

The operation and measurements of a data logger will be incorporated into an education component on

stream characterization. Students will have a chance to compare data from a data logger with

measurements made using other methods during a field trip.

9.0 Community Priority

The monitoring information gained from this project will support enhancement of water resource

knowledge that is important to watershed stakeholders, community consumers and ecosystem vitality

and sustainability. Component B investigation is a nouvelle undertaking as there is no known current

monitoring for these parameters within the main creeks of the Rossland Range area watersheds.

Micklethwaite, a former City of Rossland Engineer and Counsellor, is concerned about the ability of the

City of Rossland to plan for future water needs given the lack of water quantity monitoring in the

watersheds. With the predictions of a warmer, dryer climate coupled with added pressures from

increased habitation of seasonal users and recreational development in the area, Rossland may see

more instances of water restriction advisories in the future. The information gained from monitoring

temperature and water levels in the THM creeks could be used to test the degree of correlation with

data from the Sheep Creek station.

The information gained from the on‐going monitoring will be useful in the interpretation of future water

supply reserves from mountain snow‐pack melt to downstream users such as Red Mountain Village, City

of Rossland and Rivervale. The regular collection of high quality stream data will serve as an important

input into prediction models for extreme weather events leading to flooding and drought situations or in

the success of re‐vitalized wetlands and other water management practices.

The monitoring planned for Trail Creek will partially satisfy the goals and recommendations set out in

The Trail Creek Management Plan (Tanya Tran, 2016) which was initiated by the City of Rossland and

Selkirk College as an implementation plan for the Rossland Official Community Plan (OCP) and the

Strategic Sustainability Plan (SSP). The water quality/quantity data collection coupled with the

development of an educational field component meets the strategies to promote and work for

watershed stewartship across Rossland‐Trail boundary and develop partnerships with NGOs to

implement strategic actions for environmnental monitoring.

10.0 Community Support and Participation

The water monitoring program is a citizen science program initiated through the Rossland

Streamkeepers. The City of Rossland has been informed of the project and will provide in‐kind support

through site location. The monitoring methods are scientifically sound and the data can be used by

decision makers in future management of water resources. An educational program, that will describe

the data‐logging technique of water level and temperature measurements in comparison of other

methods, will be developed to help others understand and appreciate the importance of stream

monitoring.

11.0 References

A Trail To Remember, John D’Arcangelo, 2015.

Trail Times, April 1969.

Rossland The First 100 Years, Jordan & Choukalos, 1995.

EC Water Survey of Canada hydrological data web site:

http://wateroffice.ec.gc.ca/report/report_e.html?stn=08NE039&mode=Graph&type=stat&dataType=Da

ily&parameterType=Flow&y1Max=1&y1Min=1&scale=normal

Rossland’s Water Resources : A “White Paper” for Rossland’s Council and Citizens Summarizing Our

Water Supply Situation, Micklethwaite, W.F., June 9, 2008.

The Trail Creek Management Plan, Tanya Tran, Selkirk College, 2016.

13.0 Qualifications

The proposed work will be managed by Bill Coedy, of Rossland, BC. Mr. Coedy has 20 years of

experience in laboratory chemistry and 15 years of experience in project management and technical

operations of environmental programs involving water quality/quantity and ecosystem assessment.

Mr. Coedy’s academic qualifications include MSc in Chemistry and a Diploma in Environmental

Toxicology. Mr. Coedy holds a certificate in Project Management and in the CABIN field program.

Mr. Coedy is an active volunteer with the Rossland Society for Environmental Action and the

Rossland Museum and Discovery Centre.

AGENDA - Rossland · 2016. 5. 4. · (3) BUSINESS . a) 2016 – 2020 Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw...

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