Kimberley City Council Report

By Nowell Berg

On April 22, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.

Councillors Sue Cairns, Kevin Dunnebacke, Jason McBain and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick. Coun. Woody Maguire attended via video link.

Coun. Steven Royer has resigned and is no longer a councilor. The city will hold a by-election in October.

An archive of the meeting can be found on the City of Kimberley YouTube channel. Watch it here.

RCMP Quarterly Report (January to March)

Sgt. Steve Woodcox presented council with the fourth quarter Kimberley RCMP report.

Ghostrider Motorsports was broken into for the second time this year. Five motorcycles were stolen and recovered the next day in Jaffray.

A stolen truck from Kimberley was recovered in the Columbia Valley. Three persons were apprehended and “firearms recovered.” At the same time, a truck was reported on fire in the Wasa area.

“We believe these are all associated with the same individuals. A lot of these individuals aren’t from the Kimberley area. They are coming here to commit crime. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen,” said Woodcox.

He reported that impaired driving charges were issued to several drivers, two of which were of note. One occurred on Gerry Sorensen Way and the other out at Wasa where a loaded firearm was also found.

Woodcox wants to “remind the public that if you do see someone and you believe they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, please call. That puts everyone’s life in jeopardy.”

Total calls for service in Q4 were 366, down from last quarter (437), but on par with the same quarter in 2022.

RCMP also conducted 166 information checks and stopped 160 vehicles for roadside checks. From this activity, three immediate roadside prohibitions were issued along with 41 tickets.

Woodcox concluded, “I want to give a shout out to the people here at Kimberley Search and Rescue. Without them in some situations, I don’t know what we would do. They are a great bunch of people.”

2024 Property Taxes Set to Increase

Council unanimously approved chief administrative officer Jim Hendricks’ request for a 2024 combined variable and flat property tax rate increase of 5.33%.

Commenting on the increase, Mayor McCormick said, “The tax increase is only to maintain the exact services levels that we have now.” He added that projects are “financed from reserves.”

Along with the property tax increase, Hendricks reported that tax rates for the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) and the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District (KERHD) will also increase. He noted these tax increases are not set by Kimberley city council. Once collected by the city, the funds are passed along to these two agencies.

The RDEK has requested a tax increase of 6.2%. Over 70% of the taxes collected by the RDEK go toward Central Solid Waste management. Another 20% goes toward general administration at RDEK.

The KERHD has requested a tax increase of 26.1%. Hendricks reported that since 2019, the KERHD tax increase has been 374.7%. According to Hendricks, RDEK staff point out these tax increases “are related to increased annual contributions to reserves to fund future infrastructure investments.”

2024 BC Winter Games Legacy Grants + ReDi Grants

Pam Wash, Manager of Community Development and Communications presented to council the proposed grant allocations from the BC Winter Games funding program.

The program is used to provide financed assistance to local amateur sporting groups. The funds come from the interest on the legacy funds received from 1980 and 2008 Winter Games and the 2018 BC 55+ Winter Games. The total funds available this year were $7,592.65. Over $19,000 was requested by these groups.

Funds are being dispersed to eight local groups:

Kimberley Nordic Club – $1,128;

Kimberley Skating Club – $1,122;

Western Canadian Blind Golf Association – $1,120;

Freewheelers Youth Mountain Bike Program – $1,110;

Kimberley Minor Hockey Association – $1,094;

East Kootenay Adaptive Snow Sports – $1,061;

Kimberley Elks Branch 90 – $797;

Kimberley Ultimate Frisbee League Society – $160.

Resident Directed (ReDi) grants were also revealed by Walsh. These funds come from the Columbia Basin Trust and are administered by the RDEK. The 50 groups requesting funds made short presentations to council on April 10.

These total grant requests from these groups was $331,645, over three times greater than available funds, which were only $104,857.

The five largest grants this year went to:

Kimberley Arts Council – $ 15,180;

Sullivan Mine and Railway Society – $7,000;

Kimberley Disabled Skiers Association – $6,470;

Kimberley Health Centre Society – $6,462;

Kimberley Health Care Auxiliary – $5,760.

The allocation of these funds needs final approval from the RDEK Board.

Building Permit Report (Q1)

Troy Pollock, Manager of Planning, presented council with the January to March report on building permit activity.

Pollock said, “The year is already starting off at a torrid pace.” So far in 2024, 29 new dwelling unit permits were issued compared to only three last year. The total construction value of these permits is $6.5 million.

The permits break down into 18 units within multi-unit buildings, six  duplex units, one single unit dwelling and four accessory suites.

Pollock concluded, “The next quarter is shaping up to have a similar pace.”

Kimberley city council meets twice monthly starting at 7 p.m. The next regular council meeting: May 13.

Lead image: Some of the current building construction in the City of Kimberley.  e-KNOW file photos

e-KNOW

---

Article Share

---