Lease lurks for North Shore Hall as changes are planned
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
Plans are still in the works on to add to the North Shore Hall as Nelson Search and Rescue prepares to enter into a 20-year lease being drawn up with the regional district.
A lease in accordance with the Local Government Act (Section 187) will be drafted in order to install one of the busiest rescue teams in the province in the hall.
As the third busiest search and rescue team in BC, NSAR Society had been looking for a permanent place to store equipment, to train and meet in order to improve their operations.
With the long-term lease, NSAR is proposing to build a five-car garage next to the hall on the property to store their equipment in, and use part of the hall’s basement for administrative purposes.
Once per month they would use the hall portion for training.
Nelson SAR will be funding the construction of the garage, said Area F director Ron Mickel — the area in which the hall resides — not the RDCK nor the North Shore neighbourhood residents.
NSAR has around $100,000 in funding through grants lined up to help with the construction, said Mickel.
The vote on NSAR becoming part of the regional district service passed late last year, and the selection of the North Shore Hall as their headquarters was approved by the Regional District of Central Kootenay Area F North Shore residents in late December.
The regional district had identified the North Shore Hall as a suitable location for Nelson SAR as the hall met zoning requirements, had the necessary meeting space and had space that could be developed.
The North Shore community’s goals were to: ensure that the hall remains a place for public gatherings; remove the taxation for the local service area that pays for North Shore hall; and improve the hall.
