The city is embarking on another trip to strengthen their bond with China.
At tonight's meeting, Mayor Shari Green will ask council to approve the addition of councillors Lyn Hall and Dave Wilbur to a late November delegation to Jiangmen, China, along with herself and acting city manager Kathleen Soltis.
The two cities have been working on a twinning relationship since 2010 when Mayor Dan Rogers and Vice Mayor Chen Hang signed a letter of intent during a visit from a Chinese delegation.
"Since Jiangmen was the most recent delegation to travel, they have invited Prince George to return with a delegation, to continue to strengthen our mutual understanding and friendship, towards cooperation in different areas of shared interest, such as international education, tourism, culture, and transportation/logistics," Green wrote in a report to council.
During the trip next month, the Prince George delegation is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jiangmen government to become a formal sister city.
As part of the province's 2007 Asia Pacific Initiative, grants were made available to local governments to enter into "economically robust" twin relationships with municipalities in China, Japan, Korea or India. Prince George signed the Memorandum of Agreement of Local Government Twinning Relationships with the provincial government and received a $50,000 in 2008 to support this work.
Part of that money was used for the 2010 delegation, which included representatives from UNBC, Initiatives Prince George and Lheidli T'enneh, and Green proposes using the remainder for this trip before dipping into the city's economic development fund for the rest of the cost - up to $35,000.
Any grant money not used by the city to fulfil the terms of the twinning agreement with the province has to be returned by the province.
According to the agreement, the local government twins "have the potential to open doors to successful and long-lasting business relationships between companies in local government jurisdictions."
The city's International Linkages Strategy from 2009 says any connections made should promote Prince George as an active participant in the global marketplace, help connect it to other winter cities, promote cultural and educational activities and hype the city as a good international citizen and an environmental leader.
Green is recommending Wilbur and Hall due to their abilities to speak to the transportation/logistics sector and education, respectively.
Jiangmen is in Guangdong Province, which already has a sister relationship with the province of B.C.
Also on the agenda
n Mayor Shari Green will also recommend rededicating Garden Drive and Garden Park in honour of former city alderman Elroy Garden. Garden, who died nearly 10 years ago, is already thought to be the namesake of the Seymour subdivision road. "The family would be pleased to see both Garden Drive and Garden park rededicated in honour of their father," Green wrote in a report to council.
n The Prince George Community Arts Council will address council to shore up support for their activities and emphasize the role they play in the city's economy.
n There will be a public hearing for a subdivision on Tyner Boulevard, where the applicant is requesting to waive the requirement to construct sidewalks, storm sewers, curb and gutters and to install underground electric power distribution. According to the city's planning department, future work to expand Tyner to a four-lane arterial would make storm sewers and curb, gutter and bouleveard treatments redundant. City staff are also supporting the request to not put in sidewalks, but rather connect the proposed subdivision to the existing multi-use trail network. The applicant is also requesting to waive the requirement for street lighting along Tyner Boulevard, but staff are not in support.
n Council will consider giving the three readings to rescinding the bylaw requiring proceeds from the sale of lands in the Highway 16 West Corridor be directed to a reserve fund dedicated to downtown development. This would allow this money to instead be funneled into the city's Land Development Reserve fund.
