TERRACE CITY council voted in favour last night of accepting a B.C. Transit recommendation 2 to include six hours of handyDART service on Saturdays.
It's now up to B.C. Transit to figure out the budgeting logistics, but city finance manager Ron Bowles said that he spoke to transit officials and service should be available this summer.
This will allow better access to hospital services on Saturdays, and also to the Skeena Valley Farmers Market that opens in May.
The other accepted recommendation is that B.C. Transit perform a public consultation to decide on the final changes to existing bus routes.
B.C. Transit has already developed three potential new bus routes based on previous consultation with passengers and drivers.
The most likely scenario is a rerouting from the northeast section of Terrace downtown and to Northwest Community College while removing service to the Halliwell area.
BC Transit official Todd Dupuis told council last week that surveys will be conducted on buses to see what routing options work best for them.
The proposed route will provide a stop at the UNBC campus, and express service to NWCC.
Several zoning amendments also passed through council on Monday.
Austin Powder Ltd., a company over a century old that deals in industrial explosives, was granted a zoning amendment to use agriculture reserve land for non-farm purposes.
Council accepted a request by the Agricultural Land Commission to lease Austin Powder a section of crown land off of the Little Herman forest service road to store their explosives.
Mayor David Pernarowski raised the question of security of this explosives storage.
“No, it's not completely fenced,” responded director of development services David Block, adding that Austin Powder would have their own security strategy.
Council also voted to allow Boston Pizza a variance permit to put an animated sign at its Highway 16 entrance, something that is usually only allowed at malls and larger buildings like the Sportsplex.
A Terrace home owner who wants to build a shed for his RV that is larger than the primary residence on his Soucie Ave. property was also granted a variance permit after he gave a personal presentation about how he had the blessings of his various neighbours.
The Kinsmen Club of Terrace was granted a special occasion liquor license to serve drinks at the Sportsplex to hundreds of visitors during the Minerals North Conference March 24-26.
Council also discussed a new communications strategy put forward by executive assistant Alisa Thompson.
“We have a habit of sending out dry communiques,” said councillor Marilyn Davies.
The new program will promote a language that is “less like robots,” said Thompson.
“We intend to tweet,” added chief administration officer Heather Avison.