One light — that's all they ask for

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• Let there be more light? Council to decide
• Lights, camera . . . no action
• Red-light camera on way
• WHO WILL LIGHT THE CAULDRON?
• Will council light up their lives?
• More money approved for infrastructure valves, lights

Something smells rotten on Lorne Street and area residents were out in force at Kamloops' second public-budget consultation meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

For several years, residents at Park Place have complained of a foul odour emanating from the Lorne Street sewer lift station, but the city's efforts to deal with the issue have so far failed.

An odour-control bed, which would fix the smell, is in this year's budget as a supplemental item, which council must choose to approve or cut following its community-feedback period.

It would cost $340,000.

Of the approximately 60 people who entered Interior Savings Centre for the budget discussion, this time focused on public works, many appeared to have an interest in seeing the odour-control bed get approved.

Park Place resident Debbie Taylor said the smell has become difficult to live alongside.

“Without getting too graphic, the smell that comes from our system smells like very bad plumbing and I ask you to consider the health effects for residents that live in this building,” she said.

Another resident called the smell "truly embarrassing" for property owners and residents who come to the area to show off Riverside Park and the Rivers Trail to visitors.

Taylor agreed.

“We have the Rivers Trail, which is the perfect walking, jogging area for many people, and they cannot help but be taken by the smell that comes from the poor system we have in place at Lorne Street,” she said.

Another supplemental item got a boost from Finlay Avenue resident Steve Garner.

Garner asked the city to put at least one streetlight on the Juniper Heights road. Council has the option to approve up to two lights at a combined cost of $25,000.

"We're a dead-end street, we have no lights and we're in the shadow of a hill that blocks the lights on the nearest street, Qu'Appelle [Boulevard],” he said.

“We would be happy to have just one light. One light, that's all we ask for. We ask the council when you're looking at this, if you can't see it as a priority, can you give us some reasons why the flowers and all the nice-to-haves make it ahead of the safety brought on by streetlights?”

Others questioned the city on the costs of the Valleyview bike overpass, a pesky pothole on  Overlanders Bridge and whether it might be worth raising the Tranquille Road overpass to avoid another long shutdown if a truck runs into it, as one did last summer.

Public-works staff said the pothole is on the list to patch as soon as weather conditions improve, while former public works director David Duckworth said the city is looking at adding more warning signs in advance of the overpass, but raising its height would likely lead to another "traffic nightmare."

The city's final budget-discussion evening will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at ISC and features presentations from development and engineering services and the corporate services and community safety departments.