City Restructure Approved for Phase 2 of West Fernie Project

The City of Fernie and Regional District of East Kootenay have received notification from the Province that the City’s boundary restructure has been approved for Phase 2 of the West Fernie Servicing & Restructure project.
“This is an exciting day,” says City of Fernie Mayor Mary Giuliano. “We are pleased to welcome the Phase 2 residents into the City of Fernie and look forward to officially celebrating the conclusion of the project in 2018.”
With the approval, approximately 115 properties on the north side of Highway 3 in West Fernie are officially part of the City of Fernie. This means all inquiries and applications for development (such as building permits, rezoning, subdivision) should now be directed to City of Fernie staff.
The RDEK’s Project Supervisor Elizabeth Ahlgren will continue to work on – and answer questions related to – the project until its final completion.
“We have been looking forward to this day for a long time and it’s great to see the restructure move ahead and West Fernie officially become part of the City,” says RDEK Electoral Area A Director, Mike Sosnowski. “Having said that, there is still work to do to complete the project.”
Remaining work scheduled to resume this spring includes some road work in two areas north of the Highway, along with ditching, storm work, water tie-ins, final grading, topsoil and hydroseeding.
A formal celebration will be planned for the completion of all phases of the project in 2018.
The 2018 property taxes for the 115 Phase 2 properties will be issued by the City of Fernie, and will be the first of a five-year transition from the RDEK tax rate to City of Fernie tax rate. A parcel tax to cover the cost of the project will be applied to all West Fernie properties starting in 2019.
For more information on the West Fernie Servicing & Infrastructure Project, visit www.westfernie.ca or contact Project Supervisor Elizabeth Ahlgren at the RDEK’s Cranbrook office.