Well, so much for the two step plan towards approving a liquor license for the Chances Gaming Centre. The plans of Prince Rupert City council to hear public presentations this week and vote on the licence next Monday, got taken off the table in pretty quick order on Monday.
.
Council considered a rather thorough report prepared by staff (see pages 9-52 of the Sept 10 agenda for details), which included the opinions of the RCMP, as well as letters of support from local groups and organizations.
According to the TV 7 website, Council then decided to take the advice of Councillor Tony Briglio and get to the voting right away on Monday night. Briglio got things moving along when he was the first to speak out on the topic, as he declared that he was ready to vote on the issue immediately, rather than wait until next week as was originally planned.
.
The remainder of the attending councillors, with the exception of Joy Thorkelson, decided to follow Briglio’s suggestion and voted to offer their blessing to the bid by Chances to gain their license from the BC Liquor board.
Thorkelson had hoped that by allowing for extra participation in the debate on the license, that all aspects of the impact on the community would be heard. It will be interesting to see if there is any public backlash for the quick change of plans, leading to the same day vote. The sudden change of the original plan may lead some to believe that perhaps the process was but a rubber stamp, something that many who may have wished to participate might have felt all along.
The move to vote in one night clears the way for the councillors to have the rest of the month off from council meetings. The regularly scheduled meeting of the 24th of September was previously cancelled as the Mayor and council will be making their way to Vancouver to attend the UBCM convention.
With the liquor licence vote now complete, there is no need for council to gather on the 17th. The next meeting of Prince Rupert's elected council will come up on October 9th, when Council having rested from Thanksgiving dinners, will convene in chambers and regale the city with the developments from their trip to Vancouver.
TV 7’s website provides a report on the debate such as it was, short, sweet and now complete.
From the TV 7 website:
Gaming Liquor Licence
TV 7
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
After listening to both the public and representatives from the Gaming Center...Councilor Briglio got the ball rolling as he said he was ready to vote on the issue now rather than waiting a week as planned. Council then held a vote and passed a resolution to approve a liquor license.
Councilor Thorkelson was the lone opposition to the vote.
Earlier in the day council members toured the new gaming facility and several comments were made during the meeting commending the 13 million dollar project. The new facility is scheduled to open later this month and hopes to attract visitors from all over the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment