WEDNESDAY JANUARY 6, 2016
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CHRIS NEWEL PHOTO
Kimberley cross country skier Molly Miller (centre) lines up to start a race at the Kootenay Cup races held at the Kimberley Nordic Club this past weekend. Miller was one of the local skiers to qualify for the BC Winter Games. See more on this weekend’s Kootenay Cup on page 3.
Most homeowners can expect increase in assessments in EK C AROLYN GR ANT
BC Assessments has released its 2015 property assessments, but the only information available this year is a regional perspective, with one home price per municipality, rather than broken down into neighbourhoods as it has been in previous years. “We have moved to a Regional format this year, as a result there won’t be a release for each municipality,” said Ramaish Shah, Deputy Assessor, BC Assessment Kootenay Columbia Region. In the next few days, owners of more than 142,000 properties throughout the Kootenay Columbia region can expect to receive their 2016 assessment notices which reflect market value as of July 1, 2015.
“The majority of residential home owners within the region can expect an increase, compared to last year’s assessments,” said Shah. “Most home owners in the Kootenay Columbia region will see modest increases depending on their location. For example, a typical single family home in Nelson that was previously assessed at $315,000 was valued at $333,000 in the summer of 2015.” Overall, the Kootenay Columbia region’s assessment roll increased from $36.97 billion in 2015 to $37.89 billion this year. This value reflects a change due to market movement as well as $361 million in growth due to subdivisions, rezoning and new construction.
See ASSESSMENTS, Page 3
All animals are in the mix City Council sets course for new Animal Control Bylaw
ARNE PETRYSHEN
Poisonous snakes and pet pigeons aren’t usual fodder for Cranbrook city council, but with a new Animal Control Bylaw up for debate, no animal was off limits. At the meeting council approved the first three readings of the bylaw which replaces the current Animal Control Bylaw, which dates from 2006. The bylaw sets an updated fee schedule and also includes regulations on the use of the new offleash dog park at the former Muriel Baxter Elementary property. At the city council meeting on Monday, Coun. Ron Popoff had a
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number of questions about the bylaw that dealt with certain inclusions in the document. “For clarification, things like snakes and bats, those are considered wild animals and wouldn’t be part of this bylaw?” Popoff asked. City Bylaw Enforcement Officer Deb Girvin said that was correct. “That is regulated provincially and would supersede anything we have at this level,” she said. Popoff spoke of when he first came to Cranbrook as the public health inspector. “When I first came to town as
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the public health inspector, I got a complaint to go and prohibit exotic, poisonous snakes that were being kept in an apartment building,” he said. He asked how the province would deal with the snake complaints. Girvin said it would be the province that enforces, though she admitted she wasn’t sure of the actual enforcement guidelines. “The onus would not be on the municipality to enforce regulations that are set provincially,” she said.
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 3
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