July
The City of Kimberley hired a new Corporate Officer, Dawn Attorp. Attorp’s first task, which was still ongoing at year-end, was to begin to update all of the city’s bylaws, some of which hadn’t been redone in 20 years or more.
The Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank Duck Race, held annually on July 1, sold out again in 2016, raising $22,100 for the Food Bank.
The Kimberley Pipe Band announced plans to celebrate their 90th anniversary in 2017 with a grand tattoo. It will be held on July 15 and feature two hours of pipes, drums and dancing.
A couple of days of mediation between the City of Kimberley and United Steelworkers 405-1 failed, it was announced. At this point, the union membership had given a 99 per cent strike mandate and Jeff Bromley from the Steelworkers said he felt a work stoppage was “inevitable”. However, the Union promised there would be no strike until after the important JulyFest weekend. The City applied for some services, such as water treatment and RCMP clerical, to be declared essential.
The Kimberley Aquatic Centre was also finally ready to re-open after months of shut down due to damage from a water main burst, but it was unclear whether it would due to the possible labour dispute. Eventually the City decided to go ahead and open it.
A male and female suspect were arrested in Cranbrook on July 17 after a violent assault. The incident occurred at a Slater Road residence, where one victim was beaten unconscious.
A Kimberley resident raised concerns about why a rural fire department was not dispatched after a vehicle fire near the Elko sawmill. After investigation, the RDEK concluded that the fire was originally interpreted to be outside the fire protection area, when in fact it wasn’t. There was an error in the dispatch of the call, the RDEK said.
Military Ames held their first big fundraiser for the new Veterans’ Memorial Park over the JulyFest weekend and raised over $4,000. Community support for the park continued to be strong, said facilitator Cindy Postnikoff.
Jared du Toit, granted an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open lifted the entire nation with an improbable run at the title. Although he eventually finished three strokes back, du Toit went on a magical ride and became a Canadian hero in the process.
The Single Track 6 international bike race made its way through four East Kootenay communities, including Kimberley, at the end of July. The race was another feather in the cap for those who have been working so hard at expanding and improving Kimberley’s trail system.
A Kimberley woman, who had parked her vehicle at the Cranbrook RCMP station while attending a local drinking establishment, hit the building when attempting to leave the parking lot. Police arrived quickly at the scene and handed out a 90 day driving prohibition.
August
Despite fears that building may slow down because of the elimination of the flat tax, building permit values in Kimberley continued their brisk pace, reaching over $7,000,000 by August.
Council turned down a request from 100 Mile House that municipalities with KIJHL franchises establish a fund to assist with their travel to tournaments such as the provincial championships. Kimberley Council did not have an appetite for tax payers supporting a hockey franchise in that manner.
The provincial government indicated it was considering removing a timeline that would give the Jumbo municipality a vote at the RDEK table. However, Jumbo could still have a vote the year after the taxable value of the land reached $30 million.
Kimberley mourned the loss of Stan Salikin, who passed away August 10, after battling cancer. Stan was remembered as one of Kimberley’s great citizens, a tireless volunteer and great booster for his town.
Early numbers indicated that Kimberley was having a great tourism years, with numbers at the visitors center up 25 per cent and the hotel spend up 16.6 per cent.
Local 405-1 members were set to vote again on the last offer from the City of Kimberley. The City sent the final offer to each member and asked them to vote in a closed ballot. The Steelworkers recommended that its membership reject the offer.
On August 23, while the Union said it had no intention of issuing a strike vote, the City raised the possibility of a lock out.
The Kimberley RCMP Detachment finally got a permanent Officer in Charge and he was none other than long time temporary OIC Chris Newel. Newel was promoted to Sgt. and said he planned to retire in Kimberley.
City union employees rejected the final offer from the City of Kimberley and the city in turn issued a notice of lock out, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 29. However, intense negotiations through the weekend led to a tentative deal and the work stoppage was averted.
September
It was announced in September that Cranbrook had won the right to host Rogers Hometown Hockey in February 2017.
Putting an end to a long and contentious set of negotiations, the City of Kimberley union employees ratified a new deal with the city.
The rebuild of Gerry Sorensen Way proceeded without problem over the summer and was almost complete by mid-September, on time and on budget.
Cranbrook para-cyclist Tristan Chernove won three medals at the Rio Paralympics and would be named Canadian para-cyclist of the year in December.
Military Ames announced that although fundraising was going well, the new cenotaph would not be ready for the 2016 Remembrance Day ceremony because the shipment of special granite for the monument was delayed.
School District 6 announced that the board was considering reconfiguring Kimberley’s elementary schools after receiving a Long Term Facilities Plan mandated by the province. The tentative plan was to make all three elementary schools — Marysville, Lindsay Park and McKim — into K to 7s. A public meeting was scheduled for early October.
The Kimberley Refugee Resettlement Group, which had been working hard for over a year to sponsor a family, announced that a Pakistani family of five would be arriving in Kimberley by the end of September. KRRG said there was more than enough money and volunteers to support the family.
Integra Air shut down its service between Calgary and the Canadian Rockies International Airport, citing poor winter numbers.
