Council tweaks details in 2023 budget

By Steve Hubrecht steve@columbiavalleypioneer.com

e District of Invermere’s 2023 budget was tweaked a bit last week, prior to getting two further readings during the Tuesday, Mar. 28 council meeting.

A total of six changes were made during the meeting, including the Columbia Valley Centre’s 35-foot projector screen, funding for a new bank swallow habitat project in the Lake Windermere Resort Lands, a sprinkler trailer for the Invermere Fire Department, increased funding for the planned Christmas tree for the Cenotaph Plaza, a new plow blade for one of the district’s snowplow trucks, and increased funding for Invermere’s public works electric vehicle, electric vehicle charging station, and the solar panels to go on the courthouse.

e sprinkler trailer, the projector screen, and the Christmas tree is paid for by grants and donations, but some budget changes are partly funded through district reserves. ese reserves have been set aside from budgetary surpluses from past years — in essence, Invermere taxpayers e green energy initiatives collectively will cost $149,000 ($20,000 for the solar panels, $23,000 for the electric ve- hicle charging station, and $106,000 for the electric vehicle itself). Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) grants will pay for $97,900 of that, with the remaining $51,100 coming from reserves. e increased budget for solar panels is to allow for any potential structural changes that may be needed to the courthouse roof structure to accommodate the additional weight of the panels, she added. e bank swallow habitat will cost $22,500, with $5,000 of that coming from a grant and the rest from reserves.

Invermere chief administrative officer Karen Cote explained that the district was not eligible for provincial or federal rebates for the electric vehicle as it had hoped, so chose to make up that cost from reserves, and that the charging station costs more than originally planned because the district opted to get a double charging station instead of the single one applied for under the CBT grant.

“ e cost to increase it to a double-charging station was nominal and it allows for potential for future electric vehicles for the public works department,” said Cote.

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