Kelowna Off to a Great Start in 2015

With vast development projects scheduled for the near future and great financial gains on the horizon, the City of Kelowna is off to a fantastic start this year.

On Monday, City Council received information for the first quarterly report of 2015. Highlights of the report include new service and growth at Kelowna International Airport, a fibre optic leasing deal with Rackforce, millions in construction value, and the approval of more than 300 micro suites.

Photo credit: KelownaNow.

Kelowna International Airport is on the rise. With over 400,000 passengers and new flight path routes, YLW is on the road to positive development and is expected to continue down that path.

In light of encouraging financial growth, Kelowna recently signed their first company to the City’s dark fibre optic network. Rackforce, a Kelowna based company, will be working in conjunction with the City to bring fast and effective internet service to users.

Mayor Colin Basran and RackForce Presidents and CEO Tim Dufour at the company's facility in Kelowna. (Photo Credit: Contributed.)

“Our company was interested in using this service ever since we were informed about it,” said Tim Dufour, President and CEO of RackForce. “It allows RackForce to bring world-class cloud services to local business at significantly lower costs for Internet and other IT services connected to the new Kelowna fibre network.”

In terms of construction projects, the City of Kelowna has an estimated $112.3 million in value and many are already underway or will begin shortly.

Major projects include Lakeshore Road, John Hindle Drive, Ethel Street, and a number of small-scale infrastructure projects such as crosswalk implementation and pedestrian lighting.

The City expects quality of life will also improve with the approval of more than 300 micro suites, 15 per cent of which will be set aside as affordable housing.