Kimberley City Council Report

By Nowell Berg

On October 28, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.

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

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

Animal Control and Bylaw Enforcement

Councillors received a report covering the July to September (3^rd Quarter) animal control and bylaw enforcement activities.

During the quarter, 221 calls for service were received by Bylaw Enforcement Officer (BEO) Lever. “A fairly standard call distribution for that period,” he said.

Streets topped the list at 89 calls, followed by 50 calls looking for information on bylaws, business licensing and zoning.

“Of note,” said Lever, “we have significantly less calls about water shortage.” He added, “People are much better receiving messaging about saving water and following the Bylaw in terms of the usage of water.” Lever pointed out that this past spring the city went directly into Phase 2 water restrictions seeking to “keep up with provincial mandates” to save water.

Lever also reported that 46 bylaw infraction tickets (MTIs) were issued. Sixteen tickets dealt with infractions under the Building Bylaw. They totaled $8,000.

Commenting on the joint Building and Bylaw enforcement campaign, Lever said, “We want the developers to know that we are serious about enforcing municipal bylaws and if you are going to build in Kimberley you need to be following those regulations.”

Mayor McCormick asked Level about the high number of complaints under the Good Neighbour Bylaw. Twenty-seven calls fell under that category.

Lever said the Good Neighbour Bylaw is “broad in scope.” He pointed out that it covers such things as noise complaints, vehicle idling, unsightly premises, parking violations, camping in parks and other “behaviour in public type of infractions.”

The Bylaw Enforcement report noted that city staff have been “trained on the use of the provincial short-term rental portal.” They’ve been comparing the city’s data against the provincial data “in order to prepare for [an] enforcement blitz in the fourth quarter.”

Administration Update

Chief administrative officer Jim Hendricks provided an update to council on a number of major capital projects undertaken by the city over the past three months.

Top of the list was the Knighton Road realignment and active transportation path “down to Rails-to-Trails.” He also mentioned the Swan Avenue retaining wall, and Cominco Gardens washroom and Tea House renovations. He added that landscaping upgrades at the gardens would not be undertaken until spring 2025.

Hendricks noted the “struggle recruiting lifeguards” at the Aquatic Centre which poses a significant problem in staffing the pool and “keeping a regular schedule.”

Over the past three months, the city issued 11 building permits. Nine were for single family dwellings and two were for accessory dwelling or suite. So far in 2024, 63 new dwelling permits have been issued, which is down substantially from the 100 plus permits issued through three quarters of 2023.

Fire Department Report

The Kimberley Fire Department received 56 calls for service from July to September.

The department responded to two homes fully engulfed by fire. In both cases, the firefighters were able to save homes on either side of the burning dwellings saving over $5 million in property damage.

During the quarter the department also responded to 12 automatic alarms, 11 ambulance assists and six motor vehicle incidents.

So far this year, the fire department has received a total of 136 calls.

Kimberley city council assembles twice monthly starting at 7 p.m. The next regular council meeting: November 12.

e-KNOW file photos

e-KNOW

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