Thursday, June 27, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916
Council yanks rooming house’s business licence Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca City council voted unanimously Wednesday to pull the business licence for a downtown rooming house after hearing concerns about safety and crime at the building during a special meeting on the issue. The suspension for the Lotus B&B Hotel at 197 Quebec St. will come into effect on Aug. 1 and last for six months but could be longer – or shorter – depending on how quickly owner David Parmar brings the building into compliance with various safety and crime prevention measures. Since Parmar’s SPD Enterprises Ltd. took over ownership in May 2018, Prince George Fire Rescue and Prince George RCMP have responded to a significantly higher number of calls to the spot. While all of PGFR’s calls turned out to be false alarms or minor incidents related to smoke alarms, evidence presented to council included a photo of a ground floor door chained and bolted shut from the inside. Parmar said the move was made to keep out trouble makers and that he could open the door in less than 30 seconds. But PGFR fire prevention Lt. Ian Provan said that still falls well short of the fire code requirement that it can be opened immediately. It was a particular point of concern for council members. “You have to be able to push the door open in the case of a fire because people do not exit orderly in a fire, they will panic,” Coun. Murry Krause said. Parmar said he has since removed the chain and has ordered new doors. Prince George RCMP Insp. Shaun Wright said the site has become a “ground zero” gathering place for criminal activity. City bylaw services manager Fred Crit-
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City council voted to revoke the business licence of the Lotus B&B Hotel , located at 197 Quebec St., during a special council meeting on Wednesday. tedon said it has become a “hot spot” for the downtown enforcement team and noted other run-ins with Parmar over the state of other properties he owns in the city.
Parmar asked council to limit the suspension to two months, saying he is in the process of bringing the building up to compliance with the aim of making it suitable for
international students by September. The comment raised alarm bells for city lawyer Troy De Souza. — see COUNCIL, page 3
Council selects option for more bus service Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff
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The common tansy has been designated a noxious weed by the City of Prince George.
Common tansy on city’s hit list Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff City council directed staff Monday to work with the Fraser-Fort George Regional District to have the common tansy designated a regional noxious weed under the Weed Control Act. Doing so would give both bodies the authority to remove the plant from private property. In a presentation to council, city environmental technician Claire Watkins outlined a host of reasons for making the move. Native to Europe and Asia, they have no natural predators. “So once they establish in a community, they’ll overtake everything,” Watkins said. “They crowd out everything. They crowd out native vegetation and nothing else will grow around them.” Moreover, she said they can give people rashes, may be toxic to grazing animals, can make the milk from cows who eat them taste unpleasant and when they shed
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their leaves for the winter, their stalks form a thicket of “skeletons” that are difficult to walk through. However, they also have plenty of culinary and medicinal uses, “which can make it really difficult to convince people that we don’t want them here,” Watkins said. A perennial, the plant can grow to nearly two metres tall and is distinguished by its divided and serrated leaves and flat topped clusters of yellow “button” flowers. Their seeds can remain viable for 25 years and they can also spread via fragments of their roots. Small infestations can be hand pulled or dug up, bagged and taken to the landfill for burial. But large sites and clay soil are best treated with herbicides and even then may required repeated applications. Sites where the plant has grown are never regarded as clean until they have been so for five consecutive years and after the plants have been removed, they should be
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replanted with a more desirable species, Watkins said in a report to council. Working with the Fraser-Fort George Regional District, staff have identified more than 900 sites within the regional district where the plant has been found, ranging from one plant to a field nearly eight hectares in size. Within the city, 270 sites have been found of which 140 are on private property and 130 are city owned. “I’m really concerned about infestations that we’ve had down by Cottonwood Island Park,” Watkins told council. “We’ve got a lot on the Heritage River Trail and they can infest roadsides, streambanks and pastures.” The plant has been declared a noxious weed within the boundaries of five regional districts, including the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District. City staff will be working with the FFGRD to get the designation for the entire region.
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After some initial hesitation, city council voted Monday night in favour of the costlier of two options for adding 4,000 hours to the city’s transit system. Three buses will be added to the fleet and additional hours will be devoted to peak times to provide express service from downtown to UNBC and CNC for $265,881. The alternative was to add one bus and split the extra hours evenly between peak and off-peak hours at a cost of $190,851. Both options are expected to generate $71,136 in extra revenue, which would go to the city. Council members balked at the price tag when the proposal was first presented on June 10. But staff subsequently met with the finance and audit committee to provide more detail about the benefits. Development of the new student housing project next to the Courtyard by Marriott was an influence on council’s decision. During the same meeting, council also approved a variance to decrease the number of park-
Bus rides a dollar on Canada Day Bus fare on the city’s transit system will be just $1 per trip on Canada Day. The discount rate is being offered to encourage everyone to take the bus to Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park for the community celebration, which runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and avoid the hassle of finding a parking spot and contending with the traffic.
Customers are encouraged to use route 46 Queensway. Bus routes will be running on a Sunday schedule for the holiday. For more information about schedules, routes and service changes in Prince George, visit bctransit.com/prince-george. • Connaught Hill Park will be closed for Canada Day to make way for the fireworks, which start at 11 p.m.
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ing spaces required on the site. “There is an additional cost but it gets us more transport and with the increasing hub in downtown and with the increase in bus capacity that we get... it’s just a far superior choice and the business case makes more sense,” said Coun. Garth Frizzell, who chairs the finance and audit committee. Pending final approval from the provincial government, the boost will come into effect in September 2020. In all, it will cost $533,614 with BC Transit covering $267,733 of the bill. Another 5,000 hours of service is in the works, starting in September 2022, which would cost the city a further $290,947 but remains subject to council approval at a later date. Council also agreed to extend the operating hours provide by the custom or HandyDART service to match those of the conventional service for $28,760. The municipality funds 53.31 per cent of the conventional system and 33.31 per cent of the custom system costs and retains all of the revenue.
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