Longtime Fernie resident tackles new role as mayor

Giuliano says updated OCP and streamlined city hall are priorities

City of Fernie mayor Mary Giuliano. — Photo courtesy of Giuliano family

As a three-term councillor and longtime community volunteer, Mary Giuliano has worked tirelessly to better the community of Fernie.

Now the city’s newly elected mayor, Giuliano will have a chance to lead council as it tackles a wide range of civic issues during the next three years.

Streamline city hall

Giuliano said during the election she spoke of a need to streamline the process at city hall for potential business people and developers.

She said as a councillor she made a motion for $30,000 to be set aside to produce a document that consolidates information on the various city rules and regulations. The document will be something that a business person can pick up at city hall, then go over the information and know what the City requires of them before they make any applications or proposals.

Giuliano said several communities already have this kind of document, so Fernie needs to make it just as easy for prospective business people to consider coming to the Elk Valley community. She hopes to have the process completed during 2012.

Updated official community plan

Also on tap for 2012 is a rewrite of Fernie’s official community plan (OCP). Giuliano said the plan was last updated eight or more years ago and needs to be rewritten, both to reflect where the community is at present and to set out a direction for future growth.

She said a committee that worked for the past five years to produce a quality-of-life document for Fernie has already done some groundwork. Once the City arranges funding, its goal is to update the OCP, which covers everything from zoning to heritage, social and economic issues.

Economic development

While some people in Fernie are worried about too much tourism, Giuliano said Fernie is unique in that it is still as much a mining town as a tourist town. Still, she feels the community can benefit from additional development.

One proposal that she would like to see go ahead is Heaven’s Gate, which would include a gondola running from near Fernie’s downtown to a year-round resort village partway up a mountainside.

Giuliano said one of the backers of the project is Heiko Socher, who is well known in town as the original developer of Fernie Snow Valley resort, now known as Fernie Alpine Resort.

She said she believes the project could bring an infusion of both investment and people that Fernie needs.

Affordable housing

Fernie recently partnered with a private company and several government agencies and community groups to create Veneto Place, which offers 45 units of multi-family housing. Giuliano said that was a great addition to the city, but Fernie is still in need of more affordable rental properties and also single-family homes.

Arts and culture

For a smaller community, Fernie is quite cosmopolitan and has a thriving arts and cultural scene, said Giuliano.
She said she believes promoting arts and culture in Fernie, along with implementing programs that encourage people to shop locally, can add to the economic health of the community.