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City employee recognized; hi-tech plant proposed
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On October 10, City of Kimberley council held its bi-monthly meeting.
Councilors Kent Goodwin, Albert Hoglund, Nigel Kitto, Bev Middlebrook, Darryl Oakley and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.
Nicole Thurman recognized by Provincial Examiners
City of Kimberley Executive Assistant Nicole Thurman has been “awarded a Certificate in Local Government Service Delivery” by the Provincial Board of Examiners (BOE).
BOE Chairman, Gary Paget, said in a letter to the city, “Nicole is to be commended on this achievement which recognizes both her academic qualifications and work experience in the local government field.”
Mayor McCormick presented Thurman with the BOE Certificate.
Upon receiving the certificate, she said, “It’s a great feeling to see my hard work pay off. I have set high goals for myself and without getting the education I need, along with work experience, it won’t be possible to reach those goals.”
What’s next for Thurman? “I have been admitted into the online undergraduate program with the University of Victoria for the January 2018 semester, majoring in Local Government Management.”
After completing those courses, she will apply for a Certificate in Local Government Administration, which is the second certificate out of three issued by the BOE.
In the longer term, Thurman plans to continue her education and one day hopes to become a Corporate Officer at a municipality.
Sullivan Machine Works seeks to build hi-tech manufacturing plant
Kimberley born Noah Wesche, President of Sullivan Machine Works, presented to council his vision of a hi-tech manufacturing facility for Kimberley.
Industrial age myths about manufacturing facilities “no longer apply” in a hi-tech world. According to Wesche, “lights out manufacturing” is not noisy, nor an eye sore, and definitely not environmentally damaging.
According to Wesche, the proposed manufacturing facility would have “zero emissions, minimal noise, no light pollution and be an environmentally inspired architecture.”
To demonstrate what the planned facility might look like, Wesche showed council photographs of manufacturing plants currently being used in the UK and Germany. Wesche said, “I want council to see what is possible” in creating a modern manufacturing facility.
Sullivan’s current manufacturing plant in Calgary, an automated machine shop that manufactures precision components for the aerospace and defense industries, would be moved to Kimberley and become the world headquarters for the Sullivan business. Wesche plans to open plants in Mexico and France.
Wesche said the whole project would be “$5 million – $10 million and create up to 20 full-time well-paying hi-tech jobs.”
Being the first to respond, Coun. Middlebrook said, “As a fan of the business, I support it 100%, but not at the proposed location.”
Wesche proposes to build the facility on the lower Benchlands in Marysville.
Middlebrook asked Wesche why he could not build on the land in the Tyee Industrial Park.
Weshe replied that building a facility on land that is “clay based” is not feasible. The Tyee land would not support the strict engineering requirements required by a modern hi-tech manufacturing plant.
Coun. Hoglund asked if Wesche had spoken with the people of Marysville, particularly in the Benchlands area.
Wesche stated that he would be participating in the up-coming OCP meetings and speaking with residents at that time.
Coun. Kitto inquired whether other businesses would be attracted to Kimberley because of the proposed Sullivan facility.
Wesche said that is was “very possible” as hi-tech clusters tend to form with ancillary businesses wanting to be close to each other. He also noted that Kimberley is “very appealing” from a life-style perspective, which would add to the attractiveness of locating a business here.
Wesche is seeking the city’s support for the project that would include zoning changes and an investment in infrastructure.
Building permit values continue to outpace last year
The number of building permits and total project values continue to outpace 2016 numbers.
According to a report presented to council, the 2017 numbers, to the end of September, are very good. So far this year, 59 permits have been issued for renovations to existing single-family homes, compared to 44 in 2016.
The number of permits issued for new single family homes in 2017 lags behind last year, 17 to 23. This may be due to a limit in the available residential serviced land within the city.
The total value of all permits, to the end of September 2017, is $10.3 million, compared to $9.94 million in 2016.
Council approves three electrical vehicle charging stations
Council unanimously approved a motion to participate in the Accelerate Kootenays electric vehicle (EV) project that will see three Level 2 Vehicle Charging Stations installed in Kimberley.
Accelerate Kootenays pays most of the cost for one charging station. The city’s contribution for the first station is $1,000 plus providing and servicing the land for the station, a network fee ($150/year) and the cost of electricity. The power cost is estimated by Accelerate Kootenays to be “approximately $0.50 per one hour of charging.”
Council also approved the purchase two additional charging stations for $9,000. They will be funded from the city’s Climate Action Reserve.
According to CAO Scott Sommerville, “Each charger will be connected to two parking spots.”
While these units are not direct current fast chargers, a Level 2 charger can be used by Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).
Accelerate Kootenays states in their letter to Council that Level 2 charging stations help “Increase tourist visits to a community, encourage visits to local amenities and increase length of stays” due to the time it takes to charge a vehicle. Additionally, charging stations “are low cost, [reduce] emissions and accelerate EV adoption.”
From the city’s perspective, Sommerville said, “We are excited to be getting on the Electric Highway!”
SunMine quarterly update
CAO Sommerville filed a third quarter report on SunMine operations.
Here are the revenue and power generation numbers.
July – $28,747 from 280.1 MWh
August – $23,270 from 212.7 MWh
September – $15,733 from 137.6 MWh
Up until the end of September, SunMine revenue was $163,235 from 1,556.8 MWh of generated electricity, which is “77.7% of the anticipated revenue of $210,015 for 2017.”
July electricity generation “was well above expectations, but September was well below (likely due to smoke from forest fires and a faulty breaker),” said Sommerville.
“Year-to-date operational expenses are at 63% of the annual budget.”
Kimberley city council meets twice monthly. All meetings start at 7 p.m. and are open to the public. Check the city’s website here for the meeting agenda. Click on the 2017 folder and follow the link.
The next council meeting will be Monday, October 23.
It’s your city, get involved.
Lead image: Mayor Don McCormick presents Nicole Thurman with her BOE Certificate. Photo by Nowell Berg
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