Vernon Matters file photo

By Liam Verster

Infrastructure Spending

Vernon installing new fire hydrants with reserve funds

May 27, 2025 | 4:46 PM

The City of Vernon is improving its ability to respond to local fires, but is leaving little money for possible infrastructure needs.

Vernon City Council was presented with an opportunity to install four new fire hydrants at a cost of $65,000 at the regular meeting Monday, May 26.

The hydrants will be installed along 42nd Avenue between 20th and 27th Streets, as part of the Regional District of North Okanagan’s planned capital improvement project for the area, and funded through the city’s Infrastructure Reserve.

As of the latest update, the reserve had a balance of $78,704, meaning it would be left with $13,704 after this investment, which raised some concern from Councillor Brian Guy, who wanted to know how the city planned to fund infrastructure projects with a reserve that low.

City staff assured council that was a suitable reserve, as $7.8 million was carried over from the previous year, $7.2 million of which had been allocated toward funding capital and other projects.

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Council voted in favour of funding the hydrant project, and the Mayor reaffirmed that the money left in the Infrastructure Reserve was enough for the remainder of the year.

“What we do is we allocate all these funds and then at the end of the year we figure out how much we have for reserves,” Victor Cumming told Vernon Matters.

“That’s fine, we’re in good shape.”

Once installed, the hydrants will become RDNO assets and future renewals and replacements will be funded by the Regional District. A timeline for installing the new hydrants was not provided.