Revelstoke Mayor Gary Sulz says housing is the priority for the city for the year ahead.

"The key to anything we do in the community now has to be housing based," he said.

Updating and approving Revelstoke's Official Community Plan was a big accomplishment this past year, and that will help guide new development in the city, Sulz said.

The city will use this guidance to approve zoning changing to encourage the development of more housing, especially affordable and staff housing.

"Because if we don't have housing for the employees, we don't have employees to run the businesses," he said.

Sulz also acknowledged that the city has to expand infrastructure to account for new developments. The sewage system is currently at capacity. City staff are also aware that the Illecillewaet River bridge needs to be upgraded, and there needs to be another route across the river. It's on their radar, he said.

An overarching theme of any decisions the city makes is a way to communicate with the public, so people are aware of decisions being made, and are able to give input. Communication will be another focus for the year ahead Sulz said.

Click the link below to listen to a full interview with Gary Sulz, which includes his holiday messages and song choice.