UrbanWorkbench News

Welcome to the April edition of the UrbanWorkbench update. In this issue we explore some of the current issues in sustainability, Civil Engineering, and of course the Kootenay region and our lives here.

Rossland

This month is a busy one for us, with lots of meetings to discuss the big issues in Rossland and the Kootenays, many of them surrounding development in the watershed and the long term picture of Rossland. For those of you who don’t know what I do for a day job, I’m the manager of Engineering for the City of Rossland, and as such, I try to avoid editorializing all that goes on in this small City nestled in the mountains above the Columbia River, just north of the US/Canada border.

Rossland has, over the past couple of years gone through a community engagement and planning process known as Visions to Action, with a Strategic Sustainability Plan looking at a vision of Rossland in 2025. Following this process, (and this is where the City is up to now), the Official Community Plan will be rewritten to take in much of the community input gained through the Visions to Action process.

In addition to this, we have a consultant assisting in the rewriting of the Development Cost Charge Bylaw, a controversial document in many communities, as it has to balance the needs of the community against those of future citizens, and distributing the costs associated with these across the potential future developments.

And if that’s not enough, the development continues, existing infrastructure needs upgrading and it’s an election year!

BCWWA Conference

Robyn and I are happy to be attending the BCWWA (British Columbia Water and Wastewater Association) conference starting next week in Whistler, BC. This conference will focus on many of the issues facing the community of Rossland and others in the Kootenays, with discussions on Climate Change, sustainable water supply, water treatment, water pricing and many other talks.

I’ve never been to Whistler, so I’m excited to see what all the fuss is about. We’re leaving this Friday, heading down to Vancouver for a couple of nights, then up to Whistler. We’ll probably return through the Okanagan.

Home

Meanwhile, all this talk of global warming is pretty confusion when it’s the middle of April and we’ve got a couple of centimetres of snow in our yard.

I’m still waiting on APEGBC to accept my application for Professional Engineer status, but it shouldn’t be too long now.
We’ve undertaken some minor home improvements, the most exciting is the installation of an outdoor clothesline, of course the day after I put it up it rained!

On the UrbanWorkbench blog, it’s been pretty quiet, but here are some recent articles that you might find interesting. If you’ve got any questions or suggestions, drop me an email.

Thanks, Mike and Robyn.

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March is shaping up to be a busy month, with plenty of action in Rossland at work, the snow melting rapidly, and a couple of big events.

One of the big themes at the moment in my life is Emergency Preparedness. As one of the managers in the City, I am responsible for part of the coordination during an emergency. On the 6th of March, I am observing a scenario being run by the Regional District of Central Kootenay, in Nelson. I hope this is a good opportunity to see how things are done differently in this part of the world.

Family Happenings

On the 8th of March, I have three big events on, and it’s lucky that they are all close to each other. Firstly, I am judging at the regional science fair. I judged at the School District level last year and really enjoyed interacting with the kids and teaching them something about science in the real world.

After this, as it is Engineering Week, the local APEGBC branch is holding a popsicle stick bridge competition. At this stage it looks like Robyn and I will submit a bridge, and we’re hoping that Eden can use her creative genius to compete in the junior category.

While the judging of the bridge competition is on, I’ll have to duck across to the airport to pick my mum up. She’s visiting us for almost a month from Australia, so we’re hoping for  some good weather to be able to show her around.

Development News

On the development front around the Kootenays, Red Resort has applied for Preliminary Design Review on an 18 lot subdivision (the first phase of approximately 70 lots), at the base of the ski hill. With some innovative trail and lift arrangements, this development should grow into a pleasant neighbourhood in the next couple of years.

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