A lack of development activity and growth at Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality (JGMRM) will keep a representative off the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board of directors.

Replying to a May 12 letter from the regional board requesting the province amend JGMRM’s Letters Patent for the RDEK concerning JGMRM participating in board votes, Peter Fassbender, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development stated, “I am pleased that the RDEK board and JGMRM council agree that JGMRM should not assume a vote at the board table on January 1, 2017.

“As you may know, the provisions to delay JGMRM’s voting rights on the board were developed in anticipation of a residential population at JGMRM being established – or development progressing for their imminent arrival – by the end of this calendar year. For a variety of reasons, this has not taken place,” Fassbender stated.

“As development does not proceed at the resort site, JGMRM would likely require regional district services to meet the needs of incoming residents. Therefore, I believe it would be most efficient to remove the reference to Jan. 1, 2017, from RDEK Letters Patent and retain the assessment threshold of $30 million as the sole criterion for JGMRM assuming a voting role in RDEK matters.

“At that point,” Fassbender said, “the owners of improvements at JGMRM would be contributing to regional services through taxation to a similar degree as small municipalities elsewhere, and sufficient investment in infrastructure would be a reliable predictor of the arrival of electors.”

Fassbender concluded by noting an amendment of a Letters Patent is a Cabinet decision on the recommendation of the minister.

District of Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft said he was glad to read Fassbender’s letter.

“It sounds as if Jumbo won’t be coming here to vote,” he said.

However, Taft said he disagrees with the $30 million assessment being used as a measure whether Jumbo should have a vote at the regional board, noting Teck Ltd., for example, could have several seats at the board table with that approach.

“Director (Wendy) Booth and the City of Cranbrook could hold this meeting on their own” with that approach, Taft said, alluding to the city and Electoral Area F having the largest property tax assessments in the region.

Taft then pushed for the regional board to send another letter to the provincial government pushing for “an end date. How long can you leave something looming? Is there a point in time or do we just leave it here for 20 years?”

Taft, jockeying to nix the argument that the Districts of Elkford and Tumbler Ridge were created before populations developed, pointed out it only took two years before they had elected councils.

A “sunset clause” should be created, he said.

Electoral Area A Director Mike Sosnowski said he’d rather see the board hold off on another Jumbo letter until after the 2017 provincial election.

“We should take our time and show respect. We don’t want to bang the nest too hard,” he said, noting he otherwise agreed with Taft.

City of Kimberley Mayor and board director Don McCormick agreed with Sosnowski.

“Basically, this is what we asked for and this is what he got,” he said of the May 12 letter and Fassbender’s reply.

“It is a relevant question,” Taft argued. “How long do you leave something on the books?”

The board defeated Taft’s motion for another letter, with Taft, Village of Canal Flats Mayor Ute Juras, Electoral Area G director Gerry Wilkie and Electoral Area E Director Jane Walter voting in support.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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