Dear Members,

Over the past month the East Kamloops BIA compiled and shared a report (link to be added)
and can now share the following update on the City’s review of the May water outage.

The top two outcomes for businesses we heard were;

Need for improvement in Communications the City

Clarity on compensation for affected businesses

Need for Improvement in Communications the City

At it’s recent June 23rd meeting, Kamloops City Council received a staff report outlining lessons
learned from the incident. You can review the report here:

City of Kamloops Report to Council: Water Outage Debrief Report to Council (PDF)

The primary takeaway from the report—and one that many of you identified through our survey
and correspondence—is the need for improved communication during emergency events. We
are pleased to see that the City has acknowledged this as a key priority and is now working on
updated emergency communication protocols and response procedures for future incidents.

The East Kamloops BIA will continue to participate in these discussions and advocate for
business needs as the City develops these protocols. Members can expect our next update once
the City has finalized and shared its revised communication framework and protocols. In the
meantime, the City recommends staying up to date on any emerging issues via the Voyent app.

We also want to sincerely thank every business owner who completed our survey, shared their
experience, or wrote directly to Council. Your feedback formed a significant part of the
information presented to City staff and Council and helped ensure that the impacts on local
businesses were clearly understood.

Compensation Information

If your business experienced financial losses as a result of the outage, the best first step is to
contact your insurance provider to determine whether your policy includes business
interruption coverage.

If your claim is denied or you are unable to obtain compensation through your insurer, please
let the East Kamloops BIA know. We are keeping track of businesses that have been
unsuccessful in obtaining compensation so we can better understand the overall impact on our
business community. While the City has not established a compensation program related to the
outage, businesses with questions about the City’s claims process or their individual
circumstances may contact the City of Kamloops Risk Management department
at riskmanagement@kamloops.ca

Thank you again for your patience, your feedback, and your continued engagement throughout
this process. We remain committed to advocating for East Kamloops businesses and will
continue to keep you informed as additional updates become available.

Thanks,

Clare Warner
Executive Director
East Kamloops Business Improvement Association

Author: admin@mindsai.ca

East Kamloops BIA operates on the traditional and unceded territories of the Secwepemcúl’ecw (Secwépemc) and Nłeʔkepmx Tmíxʷ (Nlaka’pamux)