Town hall meeting grapples with incorporation question

Okanagan Falls incorporation was the hottest topic discussed at the October 16 town hall meeting held at the Okanagan Falls seniors centre.

Area “D”  Director Tom Siddon described the past attempt to incorporate Okanagan Falls in the early 1990s, noting that the community had been in existence for 115 years, and never incorporated.

He described different forms of governance the people of Okanagan Falls might want to consider, intimating that a provincial decision regarding funding of  a governance study - part one of a two stage study - might be imminent.

“If the province agrees to a governance study, it doesn’t assume anything,” he said. “Should the governance study yield favourable results, there  would be an incorporation study.  A plan would be developed in front of the community and ultimately, a vote taken on incorporation. It’s not going to happen overnight, but I think we should look at the question.”

Not everyone in attendance agreed with Siddon. One resident demanded to know why he was pushing the study, and incoporation on the community.

“There are a number of people who feel we should look at this question, otherwise it wouldn’t be on the agenda tonight,” Siddon told the objector.

Siddon then asked for a show of hands of those in favour of studying incorporation, the result of which appeared to be evenly split between yes and no.

Many of those attending were concerned about costs associated with both  incorporation and the studies themselves.

“Who’s paying for this?” asked another resident, to which Siddon replied that it would come through provincial expenditures.

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?” asked an Eastside Road resident, to which Siddon replied that he hadn’t heard any more "no" than he had "yes."

“We came here for the lifestyle of the town,” the resident continued, “other people want sidewalks, they want streetlights - they want exactly what they left when they came here. We like the dark, we like to see the stars.”

Siddon asked the assembly how they felt about the community - were they satisfied with it the way it was, or did they want to develop and change with present realities, to which a show of hands appeared to be, once again, evenly split between those present. Siddon faced strong oppostion from one member of the audience in particular, who continued to demand answers, only to refute Siddon’s replies.

“I appreciate your comments, ma’am, but I think others might have something to say,” Siddon finally said, in an attempt to move the meeting forward.

“I don’t know whether I’m for or against incorporation, the same as sewers, but I’ll tell you one thing,” said another member of the audience,  “ if we don’t start moving the downtown core forward, we’re going to end up looking like poor old Oroville,” to which he received scattered applause.

Another resident said that while he didn’t favour incorporation, he felt that the last time the issue was raised, there wasn’t sufficient information available to make a reasoned decision.

“At the end of the day, we will decide whether what will happen,” he said. “Whether or not that is incorporation, it will be our decision. Getting this study started - getting it done, can only give us the information we need.”

Former Penticton councillor Joanne Grimaldi asked Siddon why he felt the community needed a mayor and council to replace Siddon, noting that the regional district currently provided Okanagan Falls with administration.

“After 22 years of council, I’m very familiar with what goes behind the mayor and council, and all of the infrastructure, the public works, the electrical, the administration, the treasurer, clerk, etc., so perhaps you can explain?”

Siddon replied that he didn’t know the answers either, noting that Grimaldi as councillor had powers and jurisdiction that he, as director, did not have.

“We  don’t control our own destiny,” Siddon said.

Siddon stated further that it wasn’t his life’s wish to become the mayor of Okanagan Falls, but he believed there was a place for democracy at the community level.

“I asked the mayor of Keremeos, Mayor Bauer, the other day, how he liked the system of government in Keremeos - would he go back?

‘We’d never go back, he (Bauer) said, ‘we control our own destiny when it comes to developing the amenities of that community’ - and we don’t control our own destiny,” Siddon commented anecdotely.

Incorporation costs remained high in the minds of many attending the meeting, as another member of the audience asked how citizens could make a decision on incorporation without a good understanding of the costs involved.

Siddon continued to insist if doubts persisted into the beginning of the second stage of the study, the issue of incorporation would cease at that point.

“If you want me to take the message back to Linda Larson tomorrow and say ‘forget it, they don’t want it, I think it’s unfair to a lot of people in this room who said they would like to see more of the information before we come to that decision,” Siddon added.

The last member of the audience to comment was a former town clerk from Ontario, who said that based on the information he had so far, he did not favour incorporation.

“However, I think we would make a huge mistake if we didn’t do the two studies and got a chance to vote on both of them.

My opinion is, incorporation would cost us too much money as taxpayers, and it won’t reduce the provincial taxes, it’ll just increase the local taxes.

That’s my opinion. However, if we don’t do those two studies, and find out what type of government could be for us, and what it might cost us, we won’t be making a logical decision for our children and grandchildren.

Having been a clerk, I think it’s too expensive, but I think we should look at it.”