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Rental four-plex approved for Sullivan Drive
Kimberley City Council Report
by Nowell Berg
On July 13, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.
Councillors Sue Cairns, Kevin Dunnebacke, Diana Fox, Woody Maguire, Jason McBain and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.
An archive of the meeting can be viewed on the City of Kimberley YouTube channel. Watch it here.
Rental four-plex approved
Council unanimously approved a development permit for the construction of two four-plex residential buildings at 101 Sullivan Drive.
The complex consists of eight long-term rental units of one-and-two-bedroom design.
The project includes 10 on-site parking stalls and 14 secure bicycle storage spaces.
Coun. Cairns raised two concerns. First, restricted emergency egress is limited to the one road accessing Townsite. She requested staff provide the population of Townsite, “in particular the vulnerable population.” She also wants to know about a “plan for evacuation.”
Second, Cairns wants to see the “multi-use pathway extended from Tadanac [Blvd] up to Cranbrook Street” as part of the active transportation network.
Source Water Report
Cori Barraclough, Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting, presented council with a Mark Creek and Mathew Creek water report.
Barraclough reminded council that the city “does not filter” drinking water. “The reason for that is the water quality has always been very high and we’ve never needed to filter it.”
She noted the province as four criteria for a filtration exemption, which the city applied for Mark Creek in 2024 at the request of Interior Health.
The most important criteria is the water monitoring program. “To give us an idea of what is going on in the watershed, how things are changing over-time and help us maintain the filtration deferral.”
In terms of water quality, Barraclough said, “The water’s in great shape. We’ve met all the guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.”
The other key information passed along by Barraclough dealt with the snow pack and rain.
Since 1977, the Mark Creek snow melt is usually complete by May 15.
“However,” she said, “In 2025 it melted out by May 1,” which has only happened three other times (1977, 2004, 2006). “What we’re slowly seeing is the low elevation melt is happening sooner. We are getting more rain and less snow, which means less watershed storage.”
Barraclough pointed out that June is usually the rainiest month in Kimberley, however, in 2025, the city received 30mm of rain on November 13, and another 163mm of rain from December 8 to 12. “It is supposed to snow in Kimberley in December. It is not supposed to give us 163mm of rain,” she said.
Informing council that stream flow monitoring on Mark and Mathew Creeks has not happened “for many years.” Barraclough added, “without stream flow monitoring it’s really hard to understand what these implications of less snow and more rainfall or longer droughts really are.”
City construction season update
Chief administrative officer Jim Hendricks reported to council on a number of key construction projects and other city activities.
Hendricks started off by telling council the Kimberley Avenue reconstruction project, awarded to Galley Equipment Services, is expected to start “by late July.”
The city will keep residents informed “because it’s a large project and it will impact traffic in the downtown area and coming down Gerry Sorsensen Way.”
The project entails full water, sewer, storm, and road replacement, along with the construction of a traffic circle at Kimberley Avenue and Spokane Street.
As for the Waste Water treatment Plant, the project is “going well” and “is on time and on budget, so far.”
The Civic Centre and curling club chiller project expects the system of arrive here in August with “ice installation” by mid-September.
Hendricks mentioned the Q2 building permit report shows there were 12 dwelling units approved. This is substantially lower than Q2 in 2025 (63 units) and 2024 (52 units). Of the 12 units, seven are single-unit dwellings, three are secondary suites plus two duplex units.
Mayor McCormick asked Troy Pollock, Manager of Planning and Sustainability, what the building permit outlook was for the rest of 2026. Pollock said, “We are anticipating a much slower year than we’ve seen in some of the more recent years.” He figures the permits could “double” by the end of the year.
“There’s a ton of great stuff going on and I really encourage people to check that report out,” Hendrick concluded.
The administrative and water reports can be found on the city’s website – kimberley.ca.
Kimberly council assembles twice monthly starting at 7 p.m. Except July, August and December.
The next regular council meeting: August 10.
e-KNOW file photos
e-KNOW
