An amendment to the five year financial plan is currently being considered by both Kimberley City Council and the public.
The amendment is to include expenditures in the financial plan that were not anticipated when the Financial Plan Bylaw was first adopted.
At a Regular Council Meeting on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, Council approved first, second, and third readings to the amendment bylaw. There will also be a public consultation on the matter.
Chief Financial Officer Jim Hendricks explained that since the adoption of the 2018-2022 Financial Plan in May of this year, there have been various expenditures identified that weren’t anticipated at the time the bylaw was drafted.
There are five different expenditures to be included in the amendment.
The first is a $12,000 capital expenditure for electric vehicle charging stations.
At the October 10, 2017 Regular Meeting Council considered a letter from Accelerate Kootenays regarding the installation of three Level 2 Vehicle Charging Stations in Kimberley, one of which would be funded by Accelerate Kootenays.
The second is a $60,000 capital expenditure for the solar electric vehicle charging structure to power the EV charging station.
At the August 13, 2018 Regular meeting Council approved the acceptance of a grant from the Solar Now Program of up to $25,000 and approved up to $35,000 of matching funds from the Carbon Tax Project Reserve to install a solar electric generation system on the proposed electrical vehicle charging station adjacent to the Kimberley Visitors Centre.
The third is a $20,000 operating expenditure for the engineered design of the Centre 64 Roof upgrades.
The funds will allow a structural engineer to provide a design to upgrade the existing roof truss systems and roof at Centre 64 to bring both into compliance with current building codes for the City of Kimberley snow load.
The fourth is a $15,000 operating expenditure for the City’s contribution to the Centre 64 Lift Project.
The Kimberley Arts Council first presented their plans to install a lift at Centre 64 to provide access to the upper floor at the July 25, 2016 Regular Meeting.
Council approved that the Kimberly Arts Council were to take the steps required to apply for a BC Rural Dividend Grant to build a lift at Centre 64.
“Subsequent presentations by the Arts Council in relation to the lift were made at the June 19, 2017 Special Meeting and the March 12, 2018 Regular Meeting,” explained Hendricks in a report to Council. “No formal Council direction regarding a budget allocation for a City contribution to the project was provided at either of these meetings, however, the minutes of the June 19, 2017 Meeting show that informal confirmation was given to the Arts Council that once they had secured the grant funding necessary to allow the project to proceed, a financial plan amendment would be brought forward to provide them with their requested City contribution of $15,000 towards the cost of the lift installation.”
The final is a $9,257 operating expenditure for over budget compressor overhaul costs.
2018-2022 Financial Plan Bylaw No. 2610, 2018 includes a $30,000 budget allocation in 2018 to rebuild the compressors at the Civic Centre, Marysville Arena and Curling Rink.
“Due to the compressors being sealed units, the budget was estimated based on their anticipated condition,” Hendricks said. “Once the compressors were opened up it was determined that they required more work than initially thought and the cost of overhauls came in at $39,257.”
corey.bullock@kimberleybulletin.com
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