Kimberley City Council Report

By Nowell Berg

On January 14, Kimberley city council held its regular bi-monthly meeting, the first of 2019.

Councillors Kyle Dalum, Kent Goodwin, Nigel Kitto, Jason McBain, Darryl Oakley and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.

Mountain Lifestyle Helps Reduce Crime

Kimberley RCMP Detachment commander Sgt. Chris Newel presented council with a report on RCMP activities for October, November and December, 2018, which represents a third quarter. As a federal agency, the RCMP operates on a fiscal year from April 1 to March 31.

Newel indicated detachment officers attended or investigated 452 calls for service, “an almost 20% reduction from the previous quarter.”

The category with the most calls was ‘traffic incident/suspension’ at 85. The next largest category was ‘abandoned 911 calls’ at 41 followed by ‘motor vehicle incident’ and ‘assist fire and ambulance’ at 31 calls each.

With yearly number of calls for service averaging around 2,000, “We enjoy one of the lowest crime rates per thousand in the province,” Newel said.

Why is that? “The healthy lifestyle we live in Kimberley contributes to the low crime rate because people who are out mountain biking, skiing and stuff like that typically aren’t out at three in the morning going through cars because they have to get up in the morning to catch the powder.”

In terms of road safety, Newel’s report indicates “over 700 traffic contacts [during Q3] which is 35% more than last year. In addition, 119 impaired drivers were removed from the road. This is more than the last three years combined.

“Exciting news,” the Crime Reduction Unit conducted a drug search (January 14) resulting in the seizure of almost 10.5 ounces of cocaine which is “fairly significant particularly for Kimberley,” said Newel.

Affordable Housing

Kimberley Seniors Project Society (KSPS) received unanimous support from council for a development permit to proceed with building “three four-unit multi-family dwellings that will be managed by the proponent as rental housing,” said a report to council.

This housing project will be composed of six two-bedroom units and six three-bedroom units located on Church Street. The total project value, $2.5 million.

Members of the KSPS were in attendance and expressed elation the project is moving forward after taking the past 10 years or so to get this far. Mayor McCormick said, “It’s been a long row to hoe” referring to the time its taken to reach this stage.

Construction is expected to begin this spring.

Another Strong year for Building Permits

The city’s Building Department submitted a year-end report on the number and value of building permits processed by the city.

The value of 2018 building permits was $13.7 million compared to $13.8 million in 2017. Coupled with the $10.9 million from 2016, the past three years have seen significant investment in Kimberley. A sign that people want to live here.

The report notes that 72 permits were issued for renovation to an existing dwelling. Additionally, 22 permits were issued for new dwelling construction (single family homes). Five permits were issued for construction of new duplex two-family units.

Troy Pollack, Manager Planning Services, said that with the approval of the Church Street project, “We’re off to a blazing start in 2019.”

The Mayor added, “At quick count we have, including the 12 from this project (KSPS), 64 new dwellings in play” and slated for construction. “The year is shaping up to be another excellent year,” he said.

SunMine Production Lower than Expected

Chief administrative officer Scott Sommerville presented a report covering SunMine electricity generation and revenue for Q4 (October, November, December).

His report notes, “Fourth quarter production was 71.6% of projected, generating $27,040 in revenue.”

December was a particularly low month with only 45.9 MWh of electricity being produced with revenue of $5,989. November generated $6,079 in revenue on 50.54 MWh and $14,973 on 123.55 MWh in October.

Sommerville said the city is “trying to solve the mystery of why the fourth quarter is the lowest quarter for SunMine production.”

To investigate, the city has installed a time-lapse camera at the site to track what happens to the panels after a snow fall. Typically, the solar panels will automatically tilt downward allowing the snow to slide off. However, even with the snow removed, Sommerville said, “there’s a bit of frost that sticks to the panels.” The frost may be reducing the solar panel efficiency.

Teck’s technical expert will be on site in a couple of weeks to continue due diligence with regard to the potential purchase of SunMine. Sommerville will update Council as the sale progresses.

Kimberley city council meets twice monthly. All meetings start at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.

The next regular council meeting is scheduled for January 28.

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