Committee of the Whole Highlights

April 16, 2019

BC Hydro on Power Security
Council was provided information by BC Hydro about a planned upgrade to the Westbank Substation which BC Hydro says serves 22,000 customers in West Kelowna and Peachland. The upgrade is intended to increase capacity of the substation, served by a single transmission line running from the Nicola Substation to Westbank, and to replace old equipment and accommodate a connection for a new transmission line. BC Hydro had promised in 2015 that a new transmission line would be built to ensure power security for the Greater Westside, Peachland and Summerland. However, it was announced last month that this new line would not be built within the timeline that was previously promised, and instead BC Hydro would undertake more analysis as costs were more than expected. Council unanimously indicated disappointment with this decision as West Kelowna Council has lobbied for almost 10 years for power redundancy to ensure the community has access to power when needed. BC Hydro tried to reassure Council by advising that the line has experienced only a handful of outages in the past 20 years and that work would be undertaken to bolster the resiliency of the existing line. Mayor Gord Milsom pointed out to BC Hydro that one of its own reports on its website indicates that extreme weather events are becoming more common, a trend that is expected to continue, and that power resiliency is essential in light of this. He asked if BC Hydro would support an analysis other local power generation alternatives like wind, solar or biomass. He was advised that BC Hydro would have to check with its planners before commenting. BC Hydro indicated the Substation Upgrade will take five years to complete and that they will host public open houses to receive input on this project in June.

Regional Transportation Plan
Council was provided an update on the developing Regional Transportation Plan spearheaded by the Sustainable Transportation Partnership of the Central Okanagan. This is the first region-wide transportation plan for the Central Okanagan and began in earnest in 2018 with a number of initiatives including public surveys and events to raise awareness of the developing plan. In 2019 work will continue with a final plan to be developed. Public engagement in 2019 will begin with an April 24 world café event at UBCO. Council will receive a further update on plan progress in the coming months. More information is available at www.smarttrips.ca.

Road Maintenance Policy and Contract
The City of West Kelowna’s current road maintenance contract is set to expire on April 30, 2020 and staff are starting the process that will see the contract go to market near the end of this year. Working with consultant Associated Engineering, staff sought input from Council on the current road maintenance activities. Council was advised that a service level and policy review, with information gathered from Council input as well as regional best practices and standard service levels, will be undertaken before putting the contract out to market.