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Town endorses cannabis applications

Three applications for provincial non-medical cannabis retail store licences got Town Council approvals at the February 12 regular council meeting.
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Three applications for provincial non-medical cannabis retail store licences got Town Council approvals at the February 12 regular council meeting.

The license applications cannot proceed at the provincial level without the Town’s approval. Each of the applications conforms with zoning bylaws enacted earlier this year.

Council discussed a letter from Creston Valley Cannabis Company owners Chris Karountzos and Mimika Coleman in which they expressed concern about the business name of one of the other applicants, Jimmy’s Cannabis Shop. Karountzos and Coleman also operate Jimmy’s Pub & Grill in the Creston Hotel, which was named for their father, Jimmy Karountzos, when he purchased the business.

While some councillors shared their concern for the possible confusion of names, they concluded that it is a matter for the province to deal with, or one that could end up in the courts.

Creston Valley Cannabis Company plans to open shop in a stand-alone building north of the Creston Hotel on 15th Avenue North, and Jimmy’s Cannabis would operate out of a location in the Creston Valley Mall. The Sticky Leaf proposal would occupy a spot on Canyon Street beside Subway.

In other Town Council news:

• A scheduled presentation from WildSafe BC was deferred to the February 19 Committee of the Whole meeting due to poor travel conditions.

• Trish Drinkle made a presentation about human-wildlife conflict mitigation.

• Council referred three requests for discretionary funding to the Community Initiatives Program grants funded by the Columbia Basin Trust. The applicants were the Creston Curling Club, Creston Valley Bird Fest Committee and the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network.

• Council directed staff to liaise with the Lower Kootenay Band to apply for another UBCM Community to Community Forum grant.

• A grant application through the Rural and Northern Communities will be prepared on the advice of Director of Engineering Colin Farynowski. The funding would allow for road surface repairs above and beyond those budgeted for 2019.

• Creston Valley Cruisers will be able to hold a drag race event at the Creston Airport if they are able to meet insurance and other requirements laid out by the Creston Airport Society.

• Council passed pre-budget approval so that the hiring of a co-op student for a summer job at the waste water treatment plant. Columbia Brewery will pay for half of the student’s salary, as per its cost-sharing agreement with the Town of Creston.

• Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw No. 1879, 2019 was passed, official setting the previously reported fees for retail cannabis stores.