Fireworks a 'hot' topic for RDCK director in Area E
By Nelson Daily Staff
By Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily
Fireworks went off at the February meeting of the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
Or at least the topic did.
Area E director Ramona Faust said she was getting complaints about summer fireworks even before she was elected and it was time to get some help.
The topic went “viral” on the internet last summer, she said.
The complaints not only deal with setting off fireworks in Harrop/Procter/Balfour but that the Regional District is not doing anything about the situation.
“Dogs are running away, door frames are getting chewed, shift workers are waking up, horses are kicking their stalls. I had one complainant who said her son didn’t sleep for five days because he thought the big bang was going off.”
Faust said the problem is not an easy one to solve. For one thing, it is not easy to ban or moderate use of fireworks under the Local Government Act, which governs regional districts.
Secondly, “our economy is dependent on absentee landowners and tourists. When they visit, they like to come celebrate. There are ongoing fireworks two to three times a week.
“They go off from all over the place.”
Furthermore, Faust said, tourists who visit for a couple weeks are not even aware of the fire bans that may be in place.
And even more complicating factors are that two stores in her area sell fireworks and all of the residents, whether part time or not, are taxpayers.
“It’s a governance dilemma. I can see both sides of it,” she said.
Faust said that two directors from Slocan Valley also have been getting complaints.
The board decided to look for help from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District that also had to deal with the problem and came up with a plan.
“I have asked staff to find out how it has worked, the cost, and if it was effective,” said Faust.
But, she said, the public must take equal responsibility.
“If there are fireworks going off during a fire ban, the public should let the Ministry of Forests know they are policing this.”
Faust said she has had no firework complaints from the Blewett side of Area E.
“They have different issues there,” she said. “They like to have burning palette parties.”
In other RDCK news:
Based on the priority outcomes of the Communities Adapting to Climate Change workshop in January, the RDCK will apply for $10,000 in match funding from the Columbia Basin Trust to develop and undertake a hazard mitigation strategy in known flood hazard areas.
Participants in the workshop considered fire hazard and water source management.
“One issue that stood out for staff was that we need to do geotechnical hazard management strategies,” said Sangita Sudan, general manager of development services.
“We need to identify the areas where we have to do further studies.”
The board also entered into a five-year agreement with Morrow BioScience Ltd. commencing March 1, 2013 to provide a mosquito control program in a portion of Electoral Area D (Duncan Dam) and the Pineridge Subdivision south of Kaslo.
The program focuses on larval control through ground and aerial application of biological larvaecides.
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