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Crime trends up; trails manager under consideration
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On November 27, 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.
Crime trends slightly higher
Kimberley RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Chris Newel presented the third quarter (July, August, September) crime report to the Mayor and Council.
Calls for service were up nine per cent in Q3 compared with the last quarter.
So far in 2017, calls to the RCMP total 1,602. If Q4 calls for service hit the average (for the past six years, 462 calls), then the 2017 total calls for service will reach 2,064. Not since 2015 have total yearly calls for service exceeded 2,000.
“There was no specific area that saw a significant increase which would account for the [over-all] increase [in calls for service],” Newel said.
During Q3, 168 traffic stops were performed which included “removing” 13 impaired drivers from the roadway. That number is about average when compared to recent years.
Speed Watch was deployed 24 times during Q3 with over “6,000 vehicles passing through,” said Newel.
In terms of public visibility, Newel said officers conducted, “33 bar checks and 68 foot patrols through various venues including hockey games, the ski hill and the Platzl. Forty patrols were made to Wasa.”
Since the start of the school year, RCMP has made 19 visits to local classrooms.
Kimberley Trails Society and Nature Park Society seek city support
The Director of Kimberley Trails Society (KTS), Brett Price, and Chris Ferguson, Director, Kimberley Nature Park Society (KNPS), made a presentation to council requesting ongoing financial support.
Price indicated there is 175 km of trails within city boundaries, which are used by about 750 people per day, either riding, hiking or dog walking. As well, many events occur throughout the riding season that brings in loads of people who spend money in town.
He noted, “Trails are an important part of city infrastructure” and are highly valued by people wishing to move to the city and by tourists. As he noted, “Millennials don’t golf, they ride.”
These trails are maintained by a small, dedicated group of KTS and KNPS volunteers called “trail fairies.” Many of them are over 60 years of age and are starting to reduce their participation.
Ferguson said the two groups were seeking on-going financial support to hire a professional trail manager who would organize trail maintenance, recruit and train more volunteers and assist with fundraising from other government agencies.
Price pointed out that other cities the same size as Kimberley, and with fewer trails, all have full-time trail managers.
Coun. Oakley opened discussion saying, “I’m a big fan and supporter” of both groups. He asked for clarification on the role of the trail manager. Price said the trail manager would not replace volunteers, but be the focal point for “recruiting and training” them.
Coun. Middlebrook said, “The numbers don’t add up. If thousands of people use the trails, shouldn’t there be more volunteers?”
Price agreed, reiterating the need for a full-time professional manager who would coordinate “a big public awareness campaign and push for more volunteers.”
A motion by Coun. Hoglund, seconded by Coun. Kitto, to have the funding of a full-time professional trail manager added to budget considerations and to refer the matter to staff for analysis of budget implications was unanimously passed by councilor.
Mark Creek Rehab Project gets Environmental Award
The Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC) bestowed the 2017 Environmental Award on the 
Flood Management and Stream Rehabilitation project.
Project team leaders, Brian LaCas, Evan Sykes, and Kimberley’s Cori Barraclough won the award for their design and oversight of the project.
In making the award, the EGBC noted “an interdisciplinary team of ecologists and engineers work[ed] closely together to achieve the goals of flood protection and safety for the city, habitat restoration for the health of the creek, and creation of an attractive water feature that residents and visitors alike could enjoy. This is the first example in BC of a concrete channel being replaced by a naturalized stream channel in an urban area.”
Congratulations to the award recipients.
Watch a short video on the project here.
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, December 11, which is the last meeting for 2017.
The first regular council meeting in 2018 will be on January 8.
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