Kimberley City Council Report

By Nowell Berg

On December 9, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.

Councillors Kyle Dalum, Kent Goodwin, Nigel Kitto, Darryl Oakley and Sandra Roberts were present along with acting Mayor Jason McBain. Mayor Don McCormick, while not in council chambers, participated via conference call.

2020 Community Grants announced

Council approved allocation of $109,448 in cash and in-kind grants to 40 local non-profit groups. Cash grants totalled $68,744 with the remainder being in-kind grants.

The top six cash grants were awarded to:

– Spark Society for Youth ($13,714)

– Sullivan Mine and Railway Historical Society ($9,428)

– East Kootenay Search & Rescue Society ($8,697)

– Summit Community Services Society ($4,897)

– Rocky Mountain International Student Program ($4,330)

– Kimberley Pipe Band ($4,214)

These six groups received 66% of the total cash grants.

Snow & Ice Plan

Chris Mummery, Senior Manager, Operations, presented an updated snow removal plan for this winter. Mummery noted the Operations Department reviews the plan each year to provide better service and efficiencies in clearing city streets.

This year’s plan has “some incremental small changes. There really isn’t anything in here that’s really big or significant changes,” said Mummery.

One important change is with the 100 block of 310^th and 700 block of 301^st in Marysville. They were identified last year as needing changes to snow clearing due to these streets having an uphill climb. Mummery noted these two locations have now been added to the “hill section for priority plowing.”

Mayor McCormick asked Mummery about the state of the snow removal fleet. “Are there any weak links here that if something went down it would have an impact on the level of service?”

Mummery replied the fleet is “getting much better” than it has been, however, there are still some “elderly pieces of equipment.” The new five-year capital plan includes the replacement of several old plow trucks and a front-end loader.

Coun. Oakley noted that he frequently hears from residents asking about “when” their street will be plowed. He explains that snow clearing must be completed within six hours after a snow event on Priority routes. Standard routes, which are usually residential streets, must be plowed no later than 72 hours after snow ends. He also noted that residents need to be aware that the 72 hours does not include weekends and holidays.

Animal Control & Bylaw Enforcement

The Kimberley Bylaw Enforcement Officer (BEO) prepared a report for council on activities undertaken in November.

In the animal control section, the BEO indicated they were “monitoring off-leash dogs.” This item appears in every BEO animal report.

The BEO report also pointed out the “prohibition” against housing chickens within the city boundaries. Not only are there issues with “improper care, containment and cleaning of coops”, but more importantly chickens are a wildlife attractant. They will draw wolves, coyotes and cougars into the city which can created the potential for altercations with residents.

On the traffic side of the report, during November, the BEO issued 182 warnings against “angle parking” in the city. The negative impact of angle parking causes congestion on streets making the traveling portion of the street unsafe.

No tickets were issued, but they will be if residents fail to adhere to the angle parking ban. “The enforcement will escalade (sic) in the next months, leading to issuance of parking tickets,” said the BEO report.

Deer Park Avenue, Montgomery Ave. by the gym, 304th Street in Marysville and Kimberley Avenue by the Chateau are the only places where angle parking is permitted.

The city will be installing portable signs along streets where there is a prevalence of angle parking, where it should not be happening.

Kimberley city council meets twice monthly starting at 7 p.m., open to the public.

The next scheduled council meeting will be December 23 at City Hall.

Due to the proximity to Christmas, this meeting may be canceled. If so, notices will be posted.

Lead image: The Kimberley Pipe Band marching in this year’s JulyFest Parade. e-KNOW file photo

e-KNOW

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