The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is looking at the possibility of an expanded Flood Control Service Area in Fairmont Hot Springs and the community got a look at the proposal yesterday (March 13) during two open houses.

“We had 70 people in total at the two open houses and I was really encouraged by the discussion with participants and the feedback they provided,” said Electoral Area F Director Wendy Booth. “During the open houses we reviewed the proposal and that information will now be sent to all the property owners in Fairmont. I really want to continue to get feedback from the community on this proposal and hope people will fill out the survey we’ve set up.”

The survey can be filled out online and copies are also available at the Cranbrook and Columbia Valley RDEK offices and on the RDEK website. The electronic link to the survey is:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FairmontFloodandLandslideService

The survey deadline is Thursday, April 17.
 Currently, the RDEK has two flood control service areas in the Fairmont area:

– Fairmont Creek Flood Control Service Area

– Cold Spring Creek Flood Control Service Area

These two Service Areas cover only a small portion of the Fairmont community and the RDEK is limited to providing service within these areas only.

“In the past two years, we have seen the community-wide impact that debris flow events can have and we are now proposing to amalgamate and expand the current service areas to create one large service area that covers all of Fairmont,” explains Booth. 
The new, expanded service area would partially fund current work and would establish reserve funds for future work. It would also pay for operation, maintenance and repairs of debris flow infrastructure.

Once she has received additional feedback from the community, Director Booth will determine next steps in the process.

Lead image: Some of the aftermath of the 2012 Fairmont Creek slide. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

RDEK

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