City council voted to allot $15,000 from the Economic Opportunity Fund to hire a consultant review the expressions of interest in developing a bioenergy facility in Revelstoke.
More than 50 responses were received in response to a request for expressions of interest prepared in the spring by consultant John Christie, a specialist in green energy development.
Christie was paid $15,000 to prepare the request. Now a further $15,000 is being allotted for him to review the responses. This would include scoring all responses, final selection, and meeting with the selected partner(s).
The goal is the development of a bioenergy facility that would convert the community's wood waste into usable energy products like green diesel.
A steering committee consisting of Mayor David Raven, Geoff Battersby, the chair of the Revelstoke Community Energy Corporation; Mike Copperthwaite, the manager of the Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation; Ken Norrie, Penny Page-Brittin, the city's environment coordinator; and Alan Mason, the city's economic development coordinator, is assisting with the project.
The funding still needs to be approved by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, but that approval is likely.