Nelson  

Twenty five: Co-op Radio station energized after AGM

KCR elects new board

Photo: Contributed

The new Board at KCR consists of, from left, Sydney Huculak, Kathleen Cauley, Hannah DeBoar-Smith, Kim Bater, Jaymes Bowman, Galen Elfert and Catherine Fisher.

Kootenay Co-op Radio (KCR) hosted its 25th annual general meeting on Nov. 28 in the newly renovated basement of the station at 308 A Hall Street.

Along with the important business of an AGM, the members in attendance also celebrated the organization's 25th year of serving the community.

KCR, like many member and volunteer-led organizations, has seen a drop in engagement which, in part, has led to running a deficit budget in the past year.

There was much discussion with the members present at the AGM about ways in which to re-engage members who have drifted away from participating in KCR events, membership drives and community outreach.

"Kootenay Co-op Radio relies on its membership revenue as a significant portion of the unrestricted budget," said board chair Kathleen Cauley.

Cauley was honoured to be the chair during this momentous year.

She went on to highlight some of the station's recent achievements, including renewing the strategic plan, continued great content from the Kootenay Morning team, and Doug Jamieson’s show Bach and Beyond taking home a Community Radio Award in Broadcasting in the classical century category.

Keith Wiley and Jane Burton, who have been internal auditors for the past four years reported that “the accounting is managed professionally and provides accurate information to the Co-op.”

Most of the current board stood for re-election with three new individuals joining them to make a robust board of seven. Kootenay Co-op Radio is mostly a volunteer-run station and every year they vote for a volunteer who has gone above and beyond.

This year two individuals were chosen Jim Van Horn and Kim Bater.

KCR staff with the help of a Community Radio Fund of Canada grant are working on a series of live-to-air basement sessions called Sing Chong Sessions in honour of the historic nature of the radio station building.

The next one of these will be a holiday special on Sunday, December 22nd.

The staff are also gearing up for the annual Polar Bear Swim down at Lakeside Park Beach on Wednesday, January 1st.

This is a fundraiser for KCR and the Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society.

Creston, B.C. beekeeper, honey producer wins award

Beekeeper wins award

Photo: Picnic Creative

Ben and his wife Amanda Goodman Lee at the awards ceremony at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster, BC.

A British Columbia beekeeper has been recognized for his delicious honey and his work resettling Ukrainian workers.

Jeff Lee, co-owner of Honey Bee Zen Apiaries and Swan Valley Honey in Creston, B.C., has been awarded the 2024 Leadership Award at this year's BC Food and Beverage Rise Awards.

A former journalist turned beekeeper, Lee is now the largest honey producer in the Kootenay region along with his wife Amanda Goodman Lee.

Lee was also nominated for his efforts to resettle Ukrainian workers, almost all of whom work in the honey or grocery business.

“I believe firmly in helping others within our food sector and as an immigrant myself to Canada, helping settle the Ukrainian families into the Creston Valley was the right thing to do. Canada has been very generous to us, and I wanted the families to also experience my country’s generosity,” Lee says.

Earlier this year Honey Bee Zen won top North American honours for its Creamed Honey, single flower Fireweed Honey and Cranberry-Orange Infused Honey at two prestigious shows in the United States.

Fruitvale man learns hard way how to transport gasoline in a vehicle

Gas job leaves man fuming

Photo: Contributed

A Fruitvale man in his 70s learned the hard way how to transport gasoline after Trail RCMP responded to a report of a vehicle driving erratically on Highway 22 near Trail on Saturday evening.

RCMP said officers responded to the call at 5:54 p.m. and located a 76-year-old Fruitvale man and the vehicle parked outside a business in the 1500 block of Second Avenue.

The officer allegedly detected a strong odour of gasoline coming from inside the vehicle before spotting a full gas can inside.

Upon further inspection, the officer allegedly determined gas fumes had affected the man’s ability to drive and instructed the man to remove the gas can from inside the vehicle before continuing to drive.

The man complied with the officer’s request then elected to get a safe ride home.

However, before they parted ways the man was issued a $368 fine for driving without due care contrary to the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act.

"Gas fumes can cause driving impairment, and worse," said RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich. "Gasoline should be secured in a safe location when transported by vehicle, as well as not leaking fumes into the inner compartments."

City swaps land with local developer in closed council meeting

Land swap in Fairview

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A decision made in a closed city council meeting earlier this week will give Nelsonites a little better wildfire protection and parkland, while adding some more lots of residential construction.

The closed meeting — necessary as it related to the city’s financial interests and dealt with emergency preparedness information — gave council the opportunity to “swap” land with developer Sunburst Acres Inc.

According to a city press release on the closed meeting deal, “the land swap will create a public road through the current private lands at the end of Trevor Street” as well as creating parkland.

“This will significantly enhance the community's wildfire resilience, emergency preparedness, and connectivity,” said city communications coordinator Dauna Ditson in the release. “This strategic exchange allows the city to secure a key parcel of land that is important for wildfire mitigation and to create a critical emergency access route at the top of Fairview.

The land swap had been in the works for over one year, with a section of forested area extending from the Great Northern Rail Trail into Nelson being added to the city’s inventory.

Considered one of the highest wildfire risks in Nelson due to its steep slopes, dense coniferous tree cover and potential risk from ember showers, the change in ownership now allows the city to perform fire mitigation on the property and create a new park along the rail trail.

For their part, the developers will receive property between Davies and Trevor streets — and be required to construct an emergency egress road to serve the 114 existing residences in the Trevor Street and Selby Street area — and then subdivide approximately 20 R1 (low-density residential) lots in phases as the roadway is constructed.

The roadway will extend from Trevor Street to Davies Street, with approximately the first half of the new road paved and the remainder built to a gravel standard. The gravel portion is required to be paved as future lots are developed.

“The lands retained by the developer will remain zoned R1 (low density housing) and will include a requirement to include as a minimum a secondary suite or a duplex,” said Ditson.

In addition, the developer will create a new public pedestrian and cycling connection from Trevor Street to Davies Street and to the Great Northern Rail Trail.

Increases considered for water, wastewater and resource recovery city utilities

Utility increases proposed

Photo: Creative Commons

Annual taxes for water, wastewater and resource recovery could be going up $100 this year.

The city could be pulling an extra $100 per year out of the wallets of Nelsonites to cover the increasing utility costs of municipal water, wastewater and resource recovery.

In a regular council meeting Tuesday night city staff tossed a pre-budget pitch of rate increases to resource recovery — $25 more per year to $150 — a four per cent increase to water rates, a 3.5 per cent for wastewater utility rates and an additional three per cent increase for water and wastewater rates.

The latter increase would be used for upgrades to capital infrastructure for water supply and wastewater treatment.

Based on an average assessed home in Nelson, the increases would work out to $8 per month, or an annual increase of $100 per year.

“These utility rate increases are needed to address increasing operational expenses, to deliver critical capital replacement projects and to support the aspirations identified in Nelson Next by protecting water, reducing waste and lowering emissions,” said city communications coordinator Dauna Ditson in a press release.

In a presentation to city council on Tuesday, it was revealed that the both operations and capital replacement needed a budget increase, given the significant generational asset renewals scheduled for the next 10 years.

City capital projects include the Five Mile pipeline replacement project ($13 million) as well as the wastewater force main and treatment plant upgrades, which could cost up to $120 million.

“These capital projects are required as these critical assets are nearing the end of their operational lifetimes,” Ditson explained.

Although there are some reserves for major capital expenditures — with a combined balance of $22 million — additional capital reserves will be required to fund these generational assets.

The proposed resource recovery fee increase provides for additional waste collection and recycling investments, addresses inflationary costs, and includes investing to modernize the waste collection fleet towards a less manual process.

If approved by council, the utility rate increases would take effect Jan. 1, 2025 and be included in the utility rate invoices that will be sent to residents in February 2025.

Nelson Hydro still determining impact of latest BCUC order on its operations

BCUC order impacts equity

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The impact of a B.C. Utilities Commission order regarding the allowable return on equity for small utilities like Nelson Hydro is still being investigated, says the city-owned utility’s general manager.

Scott Spencer said the order G-321-24 issued on Nov. 29 for the generic cost of capital stage 2 proceeding approved the allowable return on equity for all small utilities in B.C., including Nelson Hydro, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024.

Nelson Hydro is still working to determine the impact on the 2024 rates collected and the 2025 rates applied for, Spencer explained.

“Nelson Hydro and the BCUC anticipated this decision, and retroactive rate changes will be captured in a revenue variance deferral account that will be amortized over the next five years, starting in 2026 in order to minimize the impact to ratepayers in a single year,” said Spencer.

The impact of the decision will be explained to council at their next meeting, currently scheduled for Friday, Dec. 6. As well, the bylaw for the rural rate increase of 7.54 per cent will be approved after it was delayed in its final reading and adoption on Tuesday night.

Higher than expected

FortisBC’s rate increase has gone above and beyond what Nelson Hydro was calculating earlier this year.

Last week the BCUC approved a FortisBC rate increase of 5.65 per cent effective Jan. 1 on an interim and recoverable basis subject to approval of the FortisBC 2025 to 2027 rate setting framework.

“This is different than the original increase of 5.30 per cent applied for that Nelson Hydro used in its rate calculations,” Spencer pointed out. “This change will also be captured in a variance deferral account amortized over five years and be included in the rate calculations for 2026 and beyond.”

No dissent as Nelson Hydro bumps urban rates by five per cent

Five per cent Hydro increase

Photo: File photo

The city-owned utility will be increasing hydro rates for 2025 by five per cent.

There was no debate around the city council table as Nelson Hydro pays it forward when it comes to urban electrical rates next year.

The city-owned utility was given city council’s seal of approval on a bylaw to adjust the Hydro Services Bylaw (urban rates) by five per cent, beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

The five per cent annual general rate increase is largely attributable to the 5.3 per cent general rate increase sought by Nelson Hydro’s power supplier, FortisBC, which also seeks an effective date of Jan. 1, 2025.

“Beyond that, the utility’s capital renewal plans add some rate pressure as well,” said Hydro general manager Scott Spencer in his report to council. “The utility’s controllable costs — operations and maintenance — account for only a small portion of the rate increase.”

The five per cent urban rate increase is required to ensure the utility’s capital reserves — which is funded by urban rates only — stays in the target zone (between $4 to $9 million) over the next several years, Spencer explained.

“Additionally, with a five per cent rate increase, urban rates will remain competitive when compared to those of both FortisBC and BC Hydro,” he added.

Now that the rate increase has been adopted by council — and prior to Jan. 1, 2025 — there will be announcements of the general rate increase in the media, the city and Nelson Hydro Facebook and Instagram pages, and the city website.

Traffic stop smokes out illicit tobacco, drugs

Seatbelt infraction goes bad

Photo: Contributed

Failure to wear a seatbelt turned into more than just a traffic ticket for a Montrose man.

A Trail RCMP officer on patrol noticed a driver not wearing a seatbelt on Bay Avenue in downtown Trail on Saturday, Nov. 30.

The officer detained the man and vehicle at the side of the road before observing a carton of allegedly unstamped (no taxes paid) cigarettes inside.

RCMP said the man was arrested for possession of illegal cigarettes under the Excise Act.

A further search of the vehicle found approximately 70 grams of a substance allegedly believed to be a street drug. The officer also discovered via police computer query that the man’s vehicle was allegedly uninsured.

The 42-year-old Montrose faces fines for:

• $109 fine for wrong number plate contrary to the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act;
• $598 fine for no insurance; and
• $167 fine for fail to wear a seatbelt.

Police said a report requesting criminal charges will be forwarded onto Crown counsel.

"Trail RCMP officers have seen a rise in the possession of illegal, unstamped tobacco in the Trail area," said RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich. "The penalties can be serious if you are caught."

West Kootenay Nurses Union organizes memorial march for Lindsay Danchella

Nurse's memorial march

Photo: Creative Commons

West Kootenay members of the BC Nurses' Union are organizing a memorial march on Thursday, Dec. 5 in support of Lindsay Danchella in downtown Trail.

Danchella died on Nov. 4 as a result of an assault by a male on the front lawn of a Montrose residence.

Trail RCMP responded to the call along with BCEHS personnel and found Danchella suffering from significant injuries.

Danchella was transported to the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital where she died shortly thereafter.

The memorial march will start at the Trail and District Public Library located at 1505 Bay Ave. before heading along a designated route in downtown.

Speeches and a call for action will follow.

The memorial march comes one day before the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on Dec. 6.

Organizers said the community has chosen to highlight the recent alleged murder of Ms. Danchella in their call for action for change.

Organizers would like for people to remember Ms. Danchella for the shining light and outstanding community member she was, and for her death to drive the need for change to prevent this tragic situation from occurring again.

RCMP said that November 4, 2024, after consultation with Crown Counsel, 46-year-old Donald James Danchella was charged for the second-degree murder of his estranged wife, Lindsay Danchella .

Rate of whooping cough infections near normal levels: IHA

Whooping cough in check

Photo: Creative Commons

Whooping cough case infections are normal for this time of the year in the Nelson health region, says the IH's medical health officer.

There may be a reason to whoop for joy after all: whooping cough (pertussis) is not on the rise in Nelson.

Despite concerns from many parents of school-aged children in the Heritage city, the highly contagious, vaccine-preventable bacterial disease known as whooping cough has a normal infection rate in the Nelson health region, said Interior Health’s medical health officer Dr. Jonathan Malo.

“The infection rate for whooping cough (pertussis) this fall has been similar to what was typically observed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, outside of the two-to-five-year cyclical peaks,” he said.

Those trends buck what is happening across the nation, where infection rates are rising, and in the U.S., where the number of people reported with whooping cough has also been increasing. According to the Centre for Disease Control — preliminary data as of June 1 — reported cases are more than twice as high this year compared to the same time period last year.

Although there are a low and manageable number of cases in the area, Dr. Malo said that was no reason for complacency.

“The pertussis infections we have observed in the Nelson area are a good reminder of the importance of keeping up-to-date on immunizations to prevent infections and further spread of the disease,” he said. “Pertussis infections typically follows a cycle where we see larger peaks every two-to-five years.”

Most infections in Nelson have occurred in children and adolescents aged 15 years and younger, but infections are also being seen in adults and the elderly, said Dr. Malo.

And, although pertussis infections are being observed across the Interior Health region, Dr. Malo said the highest rates observed so far this year are in the East Kootenay region.

Whooping cough, also known as the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable bacterial disease, with initial symptoms similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever and mild cough, but these are followed by two or three months of severe coughing fits.

Dr. Malo said the spread of whooping cough can best be stopped by families and children keeping up-to-date on their immunizations.

“Families can check whether their children are up-to-date with their childhood immunizations by calling their local public health unit and booking an appointment if needed,” he said.

“In addition to immunizations, the spread of whooping cough can be stopped by staying home when unwell and seeking medical care if someone has symptoms of whooping cough such as a prolonged cough, or becoming ill after being in contact with someone who is known to have whooping cough.”

Antibiotics can be provided to certain people who have been in close contact with a case of whooping cough to prevent severe disease.