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2018 fire conditions boosted FireSmart interest
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On March 11, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.
Councillors Kyle Dalum, Kent Goodwin, Nigel Kitto, Jason McBain, Darryl Oakley and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.
FireSmart Program
Mayor McCormick started by presenting Kimberley Fire Chief Rick Prasad with a Fire and Safety Studies diploma (pictured) that will lead to the Chief securing a Bachelor of Public Safety Administration degree.
“On behalf of all of us here at council and staff, congratulations Rick,” said the Mayor. He also noted “senior management staff have been extremely active in pursuing formal education as it relates to public administration.”
The Chief informed council the fire department will be presenting the FireSmart program to city residents.
“We tried the program a couple of years ago but didn’t have a lot of buy-in from the community. Last year’s conditions in the summer may have sparked some interest (pun intended),” the Chief said.
He’d like to see more help from residents to make sure their property is prepared, as best it can, to reduce the impact of a wildfire.
The FireSmart program is endorsed by the provincial government. Designed to provide private property owners with the education on how to reduce and manage hazardous fuels on their property, the program is voluntary.
The fire department will use $10,000 from the existing fuels management budget “to increase public education and awareness.”
This includes offering private homeowners a FireSmart assessment of their property.
“This will give them some ideas and a plan on how to reduce fire fuels around their home,” Prasad said.
The assessment provides a fire hazard score that serves as a guide for homeowners to focus their efforts on fire risk and hazard reduction. Once remediation is complete, a follow-up assessment is done and a new score “provides a measure of success.”
Answering Coun. Goodwin’s question about who will do the assessments, the Chief said, “We sent three people for FireSmart training.”
The fire department will host an open house in the spring and wants to recruit a FireSmart committee made up of residents.
Lead image: Kimberley residents were on full scale alert last summer during the Meachen Creek fire, which forced evacuation of the St. Mary Valley.
Cannabis Production Facility Approved
Rocky Mountain Farms (RMF) received a development permit to begin the process of eventually building a 700 m2 (7,500 sq. ft.) facility for cultivating and processing cannabis.
The new light-industrial facility will house a soil-based micro-cannabis operation located at 1100 303 Street in Marysville. RMF is currently seeking a license from the federal government.
Locally owned, RMF intends to employ five full-time jobs and up to five part-time.
The unused brown field land will be developed in strict compliance with federal, provincial and City of Kimberley regulations.
The building will contain engineered ventilation systems to limit odours and emissions. It will be a fenced and secure operation with dark sky lighting. The impact on neighbouring properties will be minimal.
A report to council regarding the location indicates, “The nearest non-industrial use is situated more than 100m (330’) from the rear of the structure across the Cow Creek corridor.” Adjacent land is owned by Teck and the city.
The next stage for RMF is to provide the city with grading, drainage and landscaping plans before obtaining a building permit.
Day Camp Changes at Aquatic Centre
At the request of Brett Clark, Manager-Parks and Facilities, council supported his decision to eliminate the minimum enrolment numbers for summer day camps.
“We feel we are losing out on potential revenue by having the minimum eight registered participants,” said Clark. He pointed out that before the minimum registration number was implemented the city saw “substantial growth” in day camp participants. Since the minimum was installed registrations have plummeted from a high of 380 participants in 2015 to only 72 in 2018, an 81% drop.
“Ever since we put the minimums in place there’s been a decline in registered participants at the Aquatic Centre. I’ve made the decision to move forward in removing the minimums,” Clark said.
“I presume numbers tailed off because you would occasionally have to cancel and people needed security,” noted Coun. Goodwin. He added the city should be “patient” when rebuilding the number of registrations.
Clark replied, “We need to get that trust back that it is a reliable program that parents can rely on.”
Parents can now be assured all Aquatic Centre day camps will go ahead as planned and scheduled this summer.
Coun. McBain said he was “very excited” about the changes as he’d been caught in the cancellation squeeze and looked forward to this years program.
Coun. Dalum also indicated support for the change along with building back parents “trust” in the day camp program.
Clark summed up, “We have a great service we provide there. We have a day camp program [that] is not just drop your kids off and they sit in a room for eight hours.” There are many activities and programs tied into the swim lessons that keep the participants actively engaged.
Short Takes
Council approved the location for a new EMS/Public Works radio tower (18 m tall) to be located on city-owned land along Jim Ogilvie Way above the Volksmarch Trail.
The Sullivan Mine & Railway Society will receive a letter of support from the city for a Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) Heritage Grant. The money will be used to repair and preserve the windows and brickwork in the Sullivan Mine Powerhouse Building.
Council will consider hiring a new Manager of Community Development and becoming the legal entity for the Kimberley Youth Action Network at Monday’s budget meeting (18 March).
Kimberley city council meets twice monthly starting at 7 p.m., open to the public.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is March 25.
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