Castlegar’s Communities in Bloom committee is asking the city to make changes to ensure this year’s watering snafu is never repeated.
Chair Darlene Kalawsky told council last month that 80 per cent of their floral display was lost due to the erroneous application of calcium chloride.
The city says the truck used for watering flowers is also used for dust control. Normally after dust control is finished, the tank is emptied and washed so it can be used for watering, but in this case it didn’t happen, with disastrous consequences.
Kalawsky says they have replaced all the soil and filters in their containers, but she asked that the city switch to dedicated watering equipment.
She had a few other requests of during the group’s annual budget presentation, including that a formal committee of council be established for Communities in Bloom. She said that would help the lines of communication be “reinforced and strengthened” and noted other communities across Canada are adopting similar models.
She also said they have also struggled in attempts to have some unsightly properties dealt with through the city’s bylaw department.
“We’re not getting response in terms of what is actually happening,” she said. “We’re following all the processes.”
Kalawsky said there haven’t been a lot of problem properties but pointed to the area at the highway interchange near Chevron.
She said they would also like to see the adopt-a-road program “reinvigorated,” as they have been noticing a lot of litter.
The group’s budget request for 2024 was $30,725.
Castlegar was honored with a national Communities in Bloom award this year in the heritage conservation category for the Butterflyway Project at the Kootenay Gallery.
Castlegar has been involved with Communities in Bloom for nearly 20 years, and averages thousands of volunteer hours annually.