Our city, along with council, is working on a number of interesting issues. With this being the warmest year, with the least rainfall, since 2003 there could be concern over the availability of water in our community. As well with Nelson Landing construction starting, trucking down Sproat Dr. could be a concern with local residents. On our Hall St. Stores to Shores project, construction is coming to an end, hopefully sooner than later. The city also has to clean up and complete insurance claims from June’s wild storm. That will be an ongoing issue for a number of months.
Hopefully everyone in the city is aware of the water restrictions in place and even with the previous rainfall there still could be a shortage of water going into October. If long-range forecasts are correct, water will probably be an even stronger concern for the city in the future. We are having discussions on how to maximize the city water supply in looking at all sources.
While the city waters Rotary Lakeside Park and the playing field with West Arm lake water and has installed a well for watering the graveyard, it still may not be enough. The city’s main source of water is Five Mile Creek with back-up from Anderson Creek and Selous Creek, which are lower than 2003 levels. With the help of citizens in water conservation we can hopefully have enough water to get the city through until November rains. A long-term plan for the city is to possibly build another concrete reservoir on the site of an old dirt reservoir in the Uphill area, as well as pumping water from the West Arm of Kootenay Lake. Another conservation idea is to have a study to see if it is feasible to use gray water systems in homes to flush toilets in the city rather than treated drinking water.
The Nelson Landing housing project will be going ahead in the near future and with the trucking of materials to the site, there will need to be patience from local residents until the first phase of construction is complete. According to the agreement there will not be a second access to Nelson Landing on Seventh St. until 70 units are complete.
Not have a second access until then is concerning with only one crossing of the CPR line if there is a need for access by emergency vehicles. There is an opportunity to have the development use Kootenay Lake water for irrigation which would save more drinking water being used from the city reservoir.
The Hall St. Stores to Shores project is going well but construction may go a bit longer than projected because of weather issues. I am sure everyone is looking forward to completion so that traffic flow and shopping at local business can improve. Local businesses and the public have been very patient in this project so hopefully the finished product will meet everyone’s expectations.
The June storm has caused a number of problems such as damage to the tennis courts so improvements will have to be put off until 2016. As well the city greenhouse needs an insurance evaluation to determine how to proceed with repair or replacement. There are also playground repairs needed at Rotary Lakeside Park along with further tree planting. All these matters will be dealt with in a timely manner as claims are processed.
From storm damage to water issues and street construction, it has made a very busy year so far in Nelson, but all the improvements hopefully will attract more business and tourists for the benefit of all.
Nelson city councillor Robin Cherbo shares this space weekly with his council colleagues.