The summer is just about over and so is our term in office with the Civic Election coming up on November 15.
It has been a busy three years with a number of issues and projects on going in our community. Everything from Nelson electric streetcar, the Downtown Waterfront Plan, proposed developments, achievement of the Nelson Civic Theatre Society and the success of Nelson airport airshow.
The Nelson Electric Tramway Society has over 55 active volunteers who work to keep the streetcar running during the summer. As city council liaison and volunteer operator, we have had a few issues to deal with.
The upgrading of the parking lot at the Lakeside playing fields has been a work in progress. Because the new curbing was placed closer to the streetcar tracks, we have had to change the parking layout, putting the angle parking next to the tracks.
If vehicles were parallel parked next to the tracks, an open door could be hit by the streetcar traveling by. It’s also unsafe to unload children from a vehicle onto the right-of-way next to the tracks. Therefore, for these safety reasons, the city had to place the angle parking next to the rail line.
Unfortunately, the streetcar hit a pick-up truck that was backed up too close to the tracks.
Because of this, plastic reflective posts and signs have been placed between the angle parking and streetcar tracks to prevent vehicles parking too close and informing drivers not to back up into the angle parking. The objective for the city and Nelson Electric Tramway Society is the safety of the passengers along with the pedestrians.
The Downtown Waterfront Plan continues to be a work in progress. Council has had numerous discussions, along with staff, to come up with the best plans to proceed. The upgrade to the end of Hall Street and the IODE Park will begin soon, and we all hope this will be an improvement to that area for the businesses and the community alike.
Of all the proposed developments, three have received conditional approval. The development at the golf course and Choquette Avenue has had a lot of dialogue and input from the public. The city staff will be reviewing the roads in the area with the objective to do some improvements, if possible.
Nelson Landing also has conditional approval but may be coming back to council to add additional buildings to begin the project. There also has been a lot of discussion and input for this project to deal with the issues of a narrow road and lack of sidewalks.
The Nelson Commons project is hoping to pre-sale more condos so that it can get the required financing in order to proceed. If Nelson Commons goes ahead, parking in that downtown area could be an issue and an ongoing concern.
The Nelson Civic Theatre project is proving to be a great accomplishment with huge support from the citizens of Nelson. It took a lot of energy to get it started with the work of the non-profit Civic Theatre Society, along with council and the city. With the continuous support from business and the citizens, it has become one of the most successful projects so far and it should continue to be successful.
The recent success of the Nelson airshow at the Norman Stibbs Airport shows that we can have a successful Nelson airport operation. With the assistance of city staff and the sponsorship of the Nelson Pilots Association, the airport operates in the black and has huge support from the public. The successful operation of the airport supports the firefighting operation and brings business to Nelson along with medevac flights which continue to be an asset to our community.
With all these plans, projects and objectives ongoing in the city, I look forward to being re-elected for another term to carry on with the substantial work that we are all involved within the city of Nelson.
— Nelson city councillor Robin Cherbo shares this space weekly with his colleagues.
