By Steve Hubrecht
Invermere residents who want a say on the district’s 2023 annual report can do so in council chambers on Tuesday, June 25 at 7 p.m.
The meeting offers a chance for taxpayers to ask questions and give comments on the project-heavy report that was released last week.
Aside from listing many of the projects undertaken by the district last year, the report also gives insight into what initiatives it hopes to accomplish in 2024. Some of the more notable ones that already have been completed earlier this winter or spring are the creation of new short-term rental (STR) bylaws and regulations; and the core area infrastructure assessments for downtown Invermere and for Athalmer. Ones that are still in the works include the replacing of Fort Point bridge; a drinking water strategy and security study; mitigating the stench from the sewage lagoons that often wafts over parts of Invermere in spring time; working with the Columbia Valley Housing Society (CVHS) to develop a housing strategy; and a public communications function review.
The public works and operations department looks set to be particularly busy in 2024 with (in addition to some of the projects mentioned above) plans for a wastewater treatment plant capacity study; a stormwater management master plan; an infrastructure priority plan update; designing a new spillway for the middle dam at the Paddy Ryan Lake reservoir; a composting facility startup; a sewer use bylaw; a Mount Nelson Athletic Park (MNAP) water treatment plant pressure study; and upgrades to Kinsmen Beach concession stand.
Also in 2024, the district will continue its efforts to hire a municipal environmental planner, a role that has been unfilled in Invermere for several months.
“The search . . . for Invermere’s new environmental planner has taken some time. We hope that this important position will be filled soon,” wrote Invermere Mayor Al Miller in the 2023 annual report.
