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New charging station approved; water excellent
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On August 13, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.
Councillors Kent Goodwin, Albert Hoglund, Nigel Kitto, Darryl Oakley and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick. Coun. Bev Middlebrook attended via conference call.
New solar EV charging station
Council unanimously voted to accept a $25,000 grant from Solar Now for a new solar powered electric vehicle charging station. The grant covers approximately half the cost of construction. The city will more than match that grant by contributing up to $35,000.
The charging station will be located at the Visitor Centre.
Troy Pollock, Manager Planning Services, informed council the “solar carport” will accommodate two vehicles and will be “free” for those wishing to re-charge their electric vehicle.
Pollock’s report to council noted the Solar Now grant is “to enhance the charging station with a solar photo-voltaic energy generation system.”
The use of solar on the charging station complements the SunMine and expands the potential for and knowledge about solar power generation in Kimberley. The charging station includes an “educational sign” on solar generation as a clean energy source.
Answering a question from Coun. Hoglund, Pollock said the charging station would be “tied into the hydro grid” to provide energy on cloudy days.
Two additional vehicle charging stations, authorized by Council some time ago, will be “going in soon,” said Pollock.
Drinking water rated excellent
Council received the 2017 Water Quality Report outlining the state of the city’s water system.
According to the report, the total volume of water used in 2017 was 3,534,414 m3 (811,606,178 US Gallons), which is 14.9% more than 2016 consumption.
The only other double-digit consumption increase was from 2011 to 2012, which saw a 17.1% increase in water consumption.
Other water system highlights include “forty-four service lines repaired or replaced.” The total new installed water services for 2017 was 39. As part of the city’s infrastructure renewal program, “nine water mains were repaired or replaced.”
In terms of water quality, the city’s contractor, Aqua-Tex, took 520 bacteriological water samples from the water distribution system. The sampled water was tested for E.coli, Total Coliform Bacteria, Total non-Coliform Bacteria, Fecal Coliform Bacteria, and Fecal non-Coliform Bacteria.
The results of these tests showed “the City of Kimberley had zero positive bacteriological samples reported in 2017.”
Along with water flow monitoring upgrades, reservoir cleaning and security fencing at the Lois Creek reservoir, the two largest water system upgrades for 2018 include replacing the water main and services along 200 Norton Avenue and abandoning the cast iron water main from Howard to Spokane Street.
New city signs on the way
Soon welcome signs, neighbourhood, street and trailhead signs, city facilities, points of interest and directional signs will be changed to reflect the city’s brand colours. Besides the consistent brand identification, new signs will help visitors find their way around the city and locate communities.
New welcome and departure signs will be located on the outskirts of Marysville and at the corner by the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
City areas will be designated with banners and a specific colour that will be used on all maps and marketing materials to help visitors identify key locations within the city.
As street signs require replacement, they will be changed to red with white lettering so they coordinate with the city’s brand colours and other signage.
Signs on city facilities, points of interest along with directional signs will also change over-time to reflect the brand colours.
The complete signage strategy can be found starting on page 120 at this link.
Kimberley city council meets twice monthly. All meetings start at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.
The next regular council meeting is scheduled for August 27.
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