Home »
City distributes $103k in Resident Directed Grants
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On May 15, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.
Councillors Sue Cairns, Kevin Dunnebacke, Woody Maguire, Sandra Roberts and Steven Royer were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.
Coun. Jason McBain attended by video call.
An archive of the meeting can be found on the City of Kimberley YouTube channel. Watch it here.
Kimberley Nature Park (KNP)
John Henly, President KNP, presented council with an overview of the scope of work undertaken by the KNP.
“The Nature Park is established for conservation, education and recreation,” Henly said.
With 840 hectares within the city boundaries, 210 hectare Horse Barn Forest, 72 hectare of special wildlife habitat and 50+ km network of trails makes the NP a Tier 1 tourist attraction.
The NP Board and volunteers are “very active in a biological inventory and research projects.”
Henly indicated a current research project is counting wildlife, in particular ungulates and small mammals, using trail cameras.
Another study is designed to gauge over-all park usage by installing infrared trail cameras. Henly added, “We all know it’s been used quite heavily and the increase in the past 10 years has been quite substantial.”
He pointed out that the infrared trail cameras “don’t see people” but the images help tell if it’s a bike, a person or wildlife.
Henly told council the KNP is “a community harmonization asset because lots of people are using it and lots of interaction between people in the park.”
Given that multiple user groups use the NP, he recommended the city and KNP “set up an advisory committee to over-see planning and management issues.” This would facilitate communication and transparency between user groups.
Coun. Roberts made the comment that “NP is the mother ship.” She supports Henly’s recommendation saying multiple user groups should be “under one umbrella to keep things safe and orderly for all users.”
Resident Directed (ReDi) Grants
Resident Directed (ReDi) Grants Program funding, sourced from the Columbia Basin Trust and distributed through the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK), have been dispersed by council.
The program is designed to “support local projects that provide additional value to Basin communities and that benefit the broad community and public good.”
Thirty-eight (38) groups requested $281,221 in funding, but received only $103,032 in total grants. The demand for grant monies far surpasses available funds.
The top 10 recipients were:
Sullivan Mine & Railway Historical Society (lead image) $7,227
Kimberley Nordic Club $6,276
Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Child and Family Services Society $6,021
Rotary Club of Kimberley $5,638
Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank $5,549
Kimberley Arts Council – Centre 64 $4,816
Kimberley Wellness Foundation $4,382
Kimberley Trails Society Sponsoring Friends of Lois Creek $4,199
Spark Society for Youth $4,217
The Kimberley Curling Club $3,739
Kimberley city council meets twice monthly starting at 7 p.m. The next regular council meeting is May 29.
e-KNOW file photos
e-KNOW
