Timeline Photos

Sneak Peek No 2! The new City website is launching on Wednesday, May 31! A new and exciting feature is the Building Permit page. Answer the questions to find out if you need to apply for a building permit for your project. Watch for more sneak peeks next week!

City of Quesnel: City Hall

Current job opportunities: Clerk Receptionist - casual Competition number: 17-25 Application Deadline: May 30, 2017 by 4 p.m. Economic Development Management Intern (full time term - ends April 30, 2018) Competition Number: 17-22 Application Deadline: May 22, 2017 by 4 p.m. Council Projects Initiatives Coordinator (full time term - 18 months) Competition Number: 17-21 Application Deadline: May 19, 2017 by 4 p.m. To view job details, visit: http://www.quesnel.ca/Jobs.html

Timeline Photos

Council News - May 17, 2017 - Official Community Plan brainstorming session http://ow.ly/LzMc30boK3p One of the more important functions of any City Council is to establish and adhere to an “Official Community Plan” (OCP), which outlines the longer-term vision for the community through objectives and policies that guide decisions on planning and land use management within the municipal boundaries. Quesnel City Council is in the process of renewing the city’s OCP, which will establish the vision and basic policy framework for Quesnel out to 2030. The first round of public consultations on the new OCP were held at various locations throughout the City and the results of this community feedback (including from an online survey) were incorporated into a draft policy directions memo that was presented to Council last week in an open public meeting. This draft document outlined options for re-envisioning each neighborhood in the City based on current and projected demographics, community feedback, and new and emerging community planning and land use practices. The document also provided Council with draft policy directions in the areas of: housing; arts and culture; creating an inclusive, age-friendly and accessible community, public engagement and community pride; first nations collaboration; community health and well-being; parks and recreation; environment and sustainability; urban agriculture and food security; marijuana policies; transportation and infrastructure; “smart city” opportunities; and unsightly premises. Over the course of three hours last week, Council discussed and deliberated opportunities to refresh and re-invigorate Quesnel’s various neighbourhoods based on some creative options presented by the OCP consultants. It was a deep and meaningful dialogue about the future of Quesnel and what kinds of policies and zoning the City needs to have in place to enable Quesnel to continue to evolve into a progressive, healthy, attractive, and diverse community that will attract and retain visitors, residents and investment. Over the coming weeks Council will continue to provide feedback to the consultants who will take that feedback and incorporate it into a new draft Official Community Plan. This draft OCP will then be subjected to further community consultation, most likely this fall, before Council will finally ratify and adopt a new OCP. It is critically important that residents engage in this foundation setting process, as the City’s OCP will ultimately establish the zoning and policy directions for the city as a whole and for the neighborhood you live in or invest in. At the end of the month we will be launching the City’s new website, which will make it easier for you to sign up for email updates on the City’s major initiatives. In the meantime, please “like” the City of Quesnel’s Facebook page to get updates through that medium. On a related note: I want to give my sincere thanks to the Council members who engaged in last week’s major consultation initiatives. In addition to the three hours Council members spent deliberating the City’s new OCP, they also spent another two hours on the Reid Street redesign project slated for 2018, and two and a half hours at the town hall meeting we hosted on Thursday night to update residents on the West Quesnel Land Stability project and last year’s land slippage monitoring results. Council members are effectively nominally paid volunteers and their extra efforts to engage with the community and involve themselves in the City’s major initiatives should not be taken for granted. Mayor Bob Simpson

Photos from City of Quesnel's post

The playground in LeBourdais Park is now removed. We can't wait for the new playground! The project is scheduled to be completed before July 1, 2017. During this time, find other playgrounds in the City to visit: http://www.quesnel.ca/City-Parks.html

Timeline Photos

Sneak Peek No 1! The new City website is launching on Wednesday, May 31! A new and exciting feature is the Capital Projects page. View all of the major capital projects in the City on the feature map. Click on individual projects for more details such as contact, project start and end dates, project budget and more! Watch for more sneak peeks next week!

Photos from City of Quesnel's post

We are all set up at the West Quesnel Land Stability meeting! Presentation starts at 7 pm. Royal Canadian Legion - 262 Kinchant St

Timeline Photos

Council News - May 10, 2017 - Contributing to our community http://ow.ly/LzMc30boK3p I was listening to a political panel the other day and one of the pundits made the statement that the best way for people to afford better health care or daycare for their children was to “put their tax money back in their pocket.” Now, the person making this statement most likely has an income in the high six figures, so a tax break for him might amount to some significant cash in his pocket. But, for the vast majority of people, tax breaks result in savings of a few dollars per household while significantly compromising our government’s ability to properly fund public services and maintain public infrastructure.Underfunding public services, programs, and infrastructure ultimately means we all end up paying more for access to these services (in the form of user fees, service charges, privatization of what used to be a “free” public service, tolls, etc.), the loss of such services altogether, and the degradation of public infrastructure (sometimes with catastrophic results such as bridge collapses). The real bottom line of “tax breaks” is an increase in the cost of living for most people and the loss or degradation of publicly funded services, programs, and infrastructure.We really need to change our thinking about taxes and the role taxation plays in our economy and our communities. Rather than thinking of taxation as an unproductive drain on our pocketbooks and a negative impact on the economy, we should view taxes as our collective contribution toward a progressive society and resilient communities.This year, as you look at your property tax bill, please think about all the services you get for your contribution to the City’s operating expenses and infrastructure. Your annual property taxes contribute toward all of our recreation amenities, parks, playgrounds, and trails. They also support our K-12 education system (and even if you don’t have children in school, the students in that system will ultimately become the professionals, technicians, and workers who are needed to keep our economy and society functioning in the future). Your property taxes also pay for policing and emergency response services, snow removal, the airport, the beautification of our community, the visitor center and museum, the landfill, economic development and the City’s core infrastructure.As a Council, we have been very deliberate in our budgeting process over the last three years to ensure that your contribution to the City’s operating expenses and investment in our community’s infrastructure is money well spent. We have held the line on the overall increase to the City’s operating costs this year at essentially the rate of inflation (a 1.8% increase in the overall budget) and have continued to implement our three-year tax framework: holding industrial taxes at 2015 levels, increasing taxes only to address the City’s infrastructure deficit and cover inflationary cost increases, continue to find cost savings and efficiencies in the City’s general operations.As a result of the industrial tax freeze, residential and commercial taxes will increase again this year. Residential ratepayers will see an increase of $30.45 per $100,000 of assessed value and commercial ratepayers will see an increase of $93.45 per $100,000. However, Quesnel residents will continue to enjoy one of the lowest municipal residential tax rates in the province while living in a well maintained community that offers plenty of amenities and services to its residents. As you enjoy all that Quesnel has to offer this year, I hope you take the time to feel proud about the fact that your contribution to the community in the form of property taxes makes it all possible.

The City of Quesnel will be offering free transit for the Provincial Election on May 9, 2017. For more information on routes and schedules, please visit www.bctransit.com/quesnel.

Photos from City of Quesnel's post

We are having a blast at the ParticipAction 150 Playlist event today at LeBourdias Park! We are here until 6! Free for the whole family!

Photos from City of Quesnel's post

The simulators are all set up! Thanks ParticipAction 150! We are at LeBourdais Park until 6 pm! Lots of activities this afternoon!

Timeline Photos

Rain or shine ParticipAction continues. Simulators are set up...come down to LeBourdais park!

Quesnel & District Museum and Archives

The Museum is open for the season! Make sure to stop by and say Hi! Don't forget, they have a great gift shop too! See you there!