Twin Lakes residents present at the November 7 town hall meeting in Kaleden had to wait until late in the meeting for an opportunity to voice their concerns.
Many of those attending the meeting had already left by the time the Twin Lakes delegation had their turn on the floor.
Concerns of the Twin Lakes residents are many, but continue to be centred on the proposed golf course development that could initially see 136 single family and 72 multfamily units built on a ridge near the golf course.
“We are ground water and recharge limited,” spokesperson Coral Brown noted in a communication to Twin Lakes residents prior to the meeting. She also noted that the area has a reputation for having fragile and unstable rock, causing issues such as the one currently afflicting a slope in the Kaleden Acres subdivision. Above an access road in the subdivision a portion of hillside is slowly slumping, directly above Something Special Bed and Breakfast.
Brown told the Review that the group got “two minutes’ concern at the end of the meeting,” intiated when Twin Lakes resident Steve Brown, facetiously announced that the Twin Lakes development should “go ahead so that the area would have more numbers and finally have a say in local matters.”
“In spite of not really being heard, the meeting proved useful to us,” Coral Brown said afterwards. “We met Zoe Kirk, who we would love to have as a water ambassador.”
Brown expressed Twin Lakes’ resident’s concerns for illegal dumping actions that were taking place in the area, making a request of the regional district to have illegal dumping signs erected.
“They have promised to provide these signs before, but nothing happened,” she said.
Brown said that she was also updated on the latest news regarding the slumping hillside.
“There are five distinct areas in Electoral Area “D,” according to Director Tom Siddon. Kaleden, Okanagan Falls, St. Andrews. Farleigh Lake and Apex - no mention of the Twin Lake area unless they are talking about development - we should have similar status as the other five,” Brown added, adding that Twin Lakes concerns were not the same as those of the other areas noted above.
Brown also revealed to the Review a copy of a letter written to RDOS Subdivision Supervisor Stephen Juch from Robert Gray, a Fire Ecologist with R.W. Gray Consulting Ltd. In the letter, Gray pointed out that the proposed golf course subdivision was in a wildfire high risk area.
“Proposed developments such as this should have become a thing of the past after 2003,” he said, “the RDOS should do a better job of determining where it is safe and appropriate to allow housing and development. No one wants to continue to see home losses due to wildfire where it can be prevented through better planning.”