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Nelson City Council Roundup: New review policy for council pay, mural locations approved

The plan relies on staff to research what the mayor and councillors should earn
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Nelson city council has voted to change the way future mayors and councillors are paid. File photo

Nelson city council has agreed on a new process for deciding the salary future mayors and councillors will earn.

Council voted Tuesday in favour of replacing the former indemnity policy, which relied on a committee of three-to-five citizens independent of City Hall reviewing pay levels.

The new policy recommended by staff removes the committee and instead puts the responsibility of researching remuneration on the city’s human resources department.

Remuneration is always reviewed and voted on prior to a municipal election, which this year is scheduled for Oct. 15, and comes into effect after the election.

Mayor John Dooley welcomes the change. He said City Hall had difficulty finding residents willing to sit on the committee, and that their recommendations often had to be changed.

Dooley added staff already do similar research when the city is bargaining with its unions.

“I think that will make it a lot easier to do, and get it done in a timely manner,” said Dooley. “If council wants to change it they have the prerogative to do that. That applies regardless of who does the analysis.”

Remuneration includes salaries, technology allowance, loss of wage benefits, travel reimbursements, health and dental benefits, life insurance and dependent care costs.

Proposed remuneration changes are based on the policies of at least eight other municipalities that are comparable to Nelson in population, city staff employed, operating and capital budgets, building permit construction values, and the scope of services such as fire and police.

In 2018, a three-person committee reviewed the policy but dissent led to two different suggestions. City council opted for the larger increase, which currently pays Mayor Dooley $59,500 annually while councillors make $25,000 per year.

One of the reasons for the increase was a 30-per-cent federal tax exemption for municipal council members that was scrapped in 2019.

After the 2018 election, the current council voted in favour of staff reviewing the policy with the intent of removing the committee from the process.

Tuesday’s meeting did not include suggestions for what the next council should earn.

New mural locations

Two city-owned structures will be painted over with a splash of colour after council approved a request by the Nelson and District Arts Council.

The arts council asked permission to install murals on the north-facing wall of the Capitol Theatre as well as a north-facing retaining wall on Vernon Street between the Salvation Army building and the former office of Nelson CARES.

The Capitol Theatre mural will be painted by Sinixt artist Emma Noyes of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington State, while the retaining wall piece will be done by Ymir artist and Tl’azt’en First Nation member Damian John.

Both pieces will be completed prior to this year’s Nelson International Mural Festival, which runs August 12 to 14.

City pays for lake trash removal

The City of Nelson will pay for an environmental initiative that removed over 7,000 pounds of trash from the Kootenay Lake shoreline.

On April 22, over 60 volunteers with Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society marked Earth Day by collecting scrap metal, trash and an abandoned boat from the shore.

The society requested the city pay the $1,083.08 disposal bill, which council agreed to without debate.

@tyler_harper | tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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Tyler Harper

About the Author: Tyler Harper

I’m editor-reporter at the Nelson Star, where I’ve worked since 2015.
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