By Steve Hubrecht 

[email protected] 

The District of Invermere’s new municipal showcase format for its annual budget meeting proved a hit last week, with turnout exponentially higher than in previous years.

The event drew between 60 and 70 members of the public to the Columbia Valley Centre on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 9. Attendance like that has been unheard of at annual budget meetings during the past decade. Sometimes the crowd has numbered in the single digits.

This year the budget meeting was transformed into a “showcase,” with many different municipal departments setting up information booths and even creating interactive games to engage attendees. Department staff were on hand to answer questions. 

In some ways the budget showcase, with the information booths and the mill of people, resembled a high school science fair. Inspiration for the showcase came in part from the Village of Radium Hot Springs, which took a similar approach last fall, and which also got a solid response.

District of Invermere departments with booths and staff at the showcase included leisure services; public works; water and sewer staff; the Invermere fire department; building services; FireSmart; bylaw officer; development and planning; environmental planning; finance; and corporate services.

Staff at each of the booths all told the Pioneer they’d been steadily busy answering plenty of questions. Residents seemed particularly curious about FireSmart grant programs, the municipal water system, large capital projects, paving, the district’s new municipal organics (composting) program, a possible new electric vehicle charging site, upcoming district events, and the potential rise in policing costs once Invermere’s population hits 5,000, among other topics.

Invermere councillor Grant Kelly told the Pioneer the showcase was an excellent way to get information not just about municipal finances, but also about the bigger picture of what the district does. 

“Yes, you can find all this information out on your own, but you’d have to do a lot of research. Here it’s all right in front of you,” said Kelly.

Those in attendance included young families, middle-aged residents and seniors, longtime Invermere locals, those new to the community, a few people considering moving here, and some residents from communities that neighbour Invermere.

The Pioneer spoke with a retirement aged couple living on the western shore of Columbia Lake who are considering downsizing and moving to Invermere to be closer to services and amenities. They were impressed by the array the information on offer.

Adrian Johnson, Nicole Corbo and daughter Flora Corbo-Johnson came to the showcase to find out about older buildings in town that they feel could be enhanced with murals and other public artwork, as well as to find out general information about the district. They thought the showcase was well organized. 

“We live in Wilmer, but we are often in Invermere multiple times a day. What happens in Invermere is important to us,” said Johnson.

Invermere residents Shawn Ridsdale and Victoria Lang came to find out more about the Athalmer boat launch, the health of Lake Windermere, short-term rentals (STRs) and a range of other topics. They held similar opinions as the Corbo-Johnsons. 

“The way they did it was engaging. Much better than a dry council meeting,” said Ridsdale. “It was really nice to be able to talk to councillors outside of a council meeting and informally ask questions,” added Lang.

Both new Invermere chief administrative officer Dean McKinley and Invermere mayor Al Miller were pleased with the surge in turnout.

“It’s gone over extremely well,” said Miller. “Based on what we’ve seen, we’ll be doing it (the showcase format) again in the future.”