Area “G” Director’s Report

Area 'G' Director Angelique Wood

Steve Arstad
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Budget meetings at the RDOS- March 31 completion

The first two budget meetings at the Regional District have been workshop-oriented with an eye to training the newly elected directors to consider the 360 page document’s various departments with a long view to satisfying tax payers that their dollars are spent with an eye to value.

The greatest savings shown this year comes at a very controversial cost:  the transfer of 911 services from Penticton to Kelowna has cut the budget considerably, but not without job loss for a very loyal and hard working group of employees, as well as complaints from various fire departments about the loss of quality in radio transmission since the transition from the Penticton service to dispatch in Kelowna.

Mark Woods, the manager of Community Services for the Regional District, made a presentation to the regional board which summarized the benefits of the new dispatch system.  Rip-and-run sheets (sent from Kelowna through a dedicated fax line to the fire departments) were touted as a much more accurate system of information dispatch.  While it may be true that the printed word cannot be mistaken the way voice transmission can, the additional costs to many rural departments are onerous (approx $1,800 for the dedicated fax machine and fax line).

Regionally Significant Gas Tax Dollars

In November of 2011, the governing RDOS board could not agree on the allocation and disbursement of the 4.2 million dollars, meant to develop regionally significant projects.   Because it is a rare occasion for the federal government to return large dollar sums to local governments for use at their own discretion, a number of the past RDOS board wanted to see one single regional project developed and funded with this money.  Agreement could not be reached before election time and the decision for allocation of these funds was left to the next generation of politicians elected on Nov. 19, 2011.

The movement  to fund one single regionally significant project by a number of directors, a number of them rural electoral area directors, runs at direct philosophical odds with the priorities set by a number of municipalities, including Keremeos and Oliver, to apply any money which they receive from the regionally significant gas tax dollars to vital infrastructure improvements dealing with water and sewer.

The Keremeos Irrigation District, supported in principle by the Village of Keremeos, desperately believes that the reservoir project, voted down in an alternative approval process, must go on.  They believe that the $300,000 which they could receive from the regionally significant gas tax dollars would help tax payers shoulder the burden for their new reservoir.  Preliminary numbers look like a yearly increase of less than $20 to taxpayers when the long term loan is added to their tax bill.

Because the “rookie board” has many issues to learn, grasp and understand before they have real capacity in decision making, the management of the regional district has delayed the allocation of the Regionally Significant Gas Tax Dollars until after the RDOS budget is finalized at the end of March.  If you would like to weigh in your opinion on how the regionally significant gas tax dollars should be spent, email me at:

angeliquewood4areag@gmail.com.

Hedley Community Stakeholders Meeting

On Jan. 9, a number of leaders representing the volunteer organizations of Hedley met at my request at the Old Age Pensioner’s hall on Scott Avenue to receive a briefing on the current budget process at the regional district, as well as information on how the grant-in-aid process works, and a heads-up to the regional district trails master plan, currently under development.  Though the RDOS has promoted a few open houses, there are still lots of residents who do not know that the regional district is interested in hearing from you - about your favourite places to hike, bike, walk or ride. Visit the following address to cast your vote;

http://www.rdos.bc.ca/index.php?id=765

I also used the meeting to give a run-down of the other advisory groups which help develop our valley, including an introduction to the Similkameen Valley Planning Society (SVPS) and the Tourism Advisory Committee (TAC).  A great deal of interest was demonstrated by attendees, and a number of new faces should be participating in these two organizations, chaired by Brad Hope and vice-chair Nan Allison (SVPS) and Joan McMurray and vice-chair Brenda Gould (TAC) respectively.

This gathering gave us the opportunity to gather contact information including organizational information, including websites, hours of operation, and plans for the upcoming year.  A representative from each group was invited to share their group’s past achievements, challenges, and hopes for future plans.  Despite difficult financial times, an overall feeling of support and encouragement was conveyed, with many of the groups finding ways to share their resources.

Brenda Gould spoke for the Upper Similkameen Indian Band, mentioning that the Mascot Mine Adventure Tours was in the process of becoming a non-profit.  A number of attendees were interested to hear about the rental of the Olympic live site on the upper floor of the Snaza’ist building, for details on the process, call the USIB Band Office at: 250-292-8733.  For a look at the Mascot Mine web site check out:

www.mascotmine.com

RDOS Board Appointments-SILGA

Due to a number of its executive not winning their seats in the Nov. 19 election, the Southern Interior Local Government Association(SILGA) was seeking to fill a number of vacancies.  At the Jan. 5 RDOS meeting, Director Garry Litke made a case for representation from the Southern Okanagan at this interprovincial Board.  He described SILGA as the “grass-roots voice of the UBCM”.  His suggestion was that when we face a regionally complex issue, the representation offered by SILGA can demonstrate a large body of support to the provincial government.  Much like the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM), this group can lobby for our needs louder than any one of us single politicians can speak on all of our behalf.

I therefore agreed to sit on an interim basis on the SILGA executive, until the AGM which is scheduled for April.   Director Litke took me on a day-trip to Armstrong, on Jan. 11 for a SILGA executive meeting, where discussion was underway planning for the educational component of the upcoming conference and AGM.  The educational topics considered were diverse and very interesting.  The conference will be of interest to all levels of local government, particularly in the Interior region.

RDOS Board Appointments -SIBAC

On Jan. 30 I will attend a meeting of the Southern Interior Beetle Action Council in Vernon; after the meeting a tour is being planned to see a bio-mass burning project.

This committee is especially relevant to our area, particularly from Princeton toward Hedley along Highway #3, and of course all of the wilderness beyond.  After the meeting I will report back to you on its direction.

- Angelique Wood