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No bear spray incidents in library last year
Kimberley City Council Report
By Nowell Berg
On January 26, City of Kimberley council held its regular bi-monthly meeting.
Councillors Sue Cairns, Kevin Dunnebacke, Diana Fox, Woody Maguire, Jason McBain and Sandra Roberts were present along with Mayor Don McCormick.
An archive of the meeting can be viewed on the City of Kimberley YouTube channel. Watch it here.
Library Presentation
Carmen Lazenby, Kimberley Public Library Director, presented to council a report on the library’s “successes over the past year.” In her remarks, she said the library is “the cornerstone of Kimberley’s shared life.”
Instead of listing a bunch of statistics, Lazenby started with a few trivia questions. She began by asking, how many active library card holders were there in 2025? The answer, 10,158.
Question two, how many in-person visits does the library see each week? The answer, 638, which averages out to “more than 100 people walking through the doors each day.”
Question three, does the library offer meaningful multi-generational activities? The answer, true. As an example, she pointed to the Dungeons and Dragons club.
Question four, how many bear spray incidents happened in the library in 2025? The answer, zero. Such an event happened at the end of 2024. “We’re very happy we didn’t see a repeat of that.”
The level of library activity by the community has its “challenges.” In particular, Lazenby noted that “limited physical space continues to restrict our programming capacity limiting the number of people who can participate in popular and valuable programs,” especially after-school activities. She also pointed out that affordability has an impact because families are “seeking free programming through the library.”
In 2026, the library will receive $97,700 from the CBT Reads Grant. This funding will go toward enhancing “accessibility throughout the library.”
With the Library’s Centennial in June 2027, they are looking for specific city support that would go toward “aesthetic improvements,” including fresh paint for the building exterior, sand and coat exterior beams and trim, install a garbage, recycling and ashtray unit and enhanced greenery.
Dan Moe, Board Chair, presented the 2026 budget. He said the Library Board’s “main ask” is for the city to “continue funding the library with an increase of five per cent.” This would mean a $10,000 increase on the current $200,000 grant.
He noted that the 2024 bear spray event showed that the public is willing to help support the library. It received $22,740 in 2025 donations, most of which came in response to the bear spray incident.
Council unanimously approved the library’s 2026 budget.
Howard Street Development
Council approved a development permit for a new multi-unit mixed commercial and residential building at 120 Howard Street.
Troy Pollack, Manager Planning and Sustainability said, “the lot has been vacant and under-utilized for some time.” He told council the proposed development will include two-floors with six leasable commercial units and nine residential units on the three upper floors including a penthouse. A car park will be underground.
Coun. McBain said, “Pretty awesome,” adding he’s been looking at that empty lot since he was a kid. “This is an exciting development for our town.”
Coun. Roberts added that the lot had been empty since the 1950s when a fire destroyed the Globe Hotel.
Building Permit, Short-term Rental and Fire Department Update
Chief administrative officer Jim Hendricks presented council with an administration update that included an extensive summary of city activities.
In 2025, there were 78 new dwellings approved by council, which is an increase of two units over 2024. Of that total, 21 were single unit dwellings, seven secondary suites, eight duplexes and 42 units in multi-unit buildings.
The total construction value was $37.8 million. Total planning application fees were almost $40,000.
In 2025, short-term rental unit (STRU) statistics show that 90% are non-principal residences. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of STRU units are owned by persons outside of Kimberley. Of those owners, 43% come from Alberta, 39% from elsewhere in B.C., 13% from other provinces and four per cent are international owners.
The number of STRUs in 2025 was 208, an increase of 36 over 2024.
The Fire Department responded to 50 incidents during Q4 (October to December 2025). This included two structure fires, one of which was the City Public Works Yard. Damage from that fire is estimated at $285,000 to $600,000. The estimates wide range is due to ongoing assessment of damage to the boom truck.
The Fire Department responded to a total of 183 incidents in 2025. The largest number of responses were 45 automatic alarms, 25 ambulance assists, 23 motor vehicle accidents and 18 public service events.
The full administration report is available on the city’s website.
Kimberley City Council assembles twice monthly starting at 7 p.m.
The next regular Council meeting: February 9.
e-KNOW file photos
e-KNOW
