By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

Despite Osoyoos council’s support of the proposal, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) has once again refused to grant the removal of the “Wish” property from B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).
“Excluding the property would have a negative impact on agriculture in that it would remove an 8.8 ha (hectare property) from the limited agricultural land base and transfer the urban/rural boundary and any potential conflict areas to the east,” states minutes of the ALC’s decision regarding the property.
The ALC made its decision at a June 10 meeting in Kelowna.
The decision also states that the land in question has agricultural capability, is appropriately designated as ALR land, is suitable for agricultural use and the removal of the land from the ALR would be inconsistent with the objective of the commission’s responsibility to preserve agricultural land.
Pemborough Developments Ltd., which owns the property, was working through agent Brad Elenko from Urban Connections to remove the land at 4927 Main St. in order to subdivide it into four lots for large format commercial retail uses, establish a 125-unit RV park and create medium to high-density residential housing.
The property’s owner previously applied twice to have this land removed from the ALR and while those applications were also supported by the Town of Osoyoos, they were denied by the ALC.
In 2004, the Town entered into a dispute resolution process with the ALC and the mediator agreed that an application for the property’s removal from the ALR would be reconsidered after the Town completed its new Official Community Plan in 2007.
The most recent application was forwarded to the ALC after a March 1 council meeting where councillors voted 3-2 to support the property’s removal.
Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells and Coun. Michael Ryan voted against the application, but councillors Margaret Chadsey, CJ Rhodes and Ted Cronmiller all voted to support it.
Ryan is pleased with the ALC’s decision.
“I am convinced that they made a wise and correct decision,” he said via email, adding he is not surprised with the decision in light of previous refusals.
“I voted against endorsing it for exclusion because I was convinced that it was suitable for agricultural use and, if released from the ALR, would also put more pressure on the adjacent agricultural land to be released,” Ryan said. “I hope that the land will soon be turned once again into productive agricultural land.”
He said there is always the possibility of using the property for greenhouses, if not as an orchard, and as a last resort the property could be donated to the Town of Osoyoos for use as a community garden for interested residents.
The property’s owner and his agent declined an opportunity to comment on the decision.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

Part of a development project proposed for 28 hectares of Osoyoos Indian Band land at the head of Osoyoos Lake includes a plan for 150 boat slips.
The Chilliwack-based Van Maren Construction Group is spearheading a plan to build what’s being called the Stelkia Resort Development.
The construction group aims to build between 275 and 300 cottages or recreational homes on two parcels of land off of an extension of Black Sage Road belonging to band members Jane Stelkia and Modesta Betterton.
For the development to go ahead, more than 50 per cent of the band’s members would have to vote in favour of the development concept and the band would have to grant the developers a 99-year lease for the land where the homes would be built.
Eric Van Maren, one of the construction group’s owners, said band council is in favour of the project and band members will vote on the matter on Sept. 16 at the band office.
At the moment, the developers are applying for the ability to install 150 boat slips in the water adjacent to where the development would be built.
Van Maren said there would be no fuel sales or boat launches attached to the boat slip facility and for any slips to be built, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the provincial Integrated Land Management Bureau would have to sign off on the idea.
He added that requests for referrals would go out to other governments that border the lake such as the Town of Osoyoos and the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen.
On July 22, the developers took representatives from the Town, the Okanagan Nation Alliance and Transport Canada to the site of the proposed boat slip facility by boat, Van Maren said.
As for the development proposal as a whole, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has now signed off on the developers’ environmental studies and plans for the area and Van Maren said the next step is for band members to approve the project through the Sept. 16 referendum.
INAC will also have to oversee and approve the referendum and authorize the long-term lease.
There will be a public information meeting on the proposed development at 5 p.m. on Sept. 2 at the band’s Community Hall at 2814 Sandpoint Dr.
Should the development go ahead, marketing will begin in the early part of 2011 and the first homes would be completed in May of 2012, Van Maren said.
The homes would range in price from $225,000 to $320,000, with lakefront units going from $550,000 to $600,000.
According to a brochure from the developers being mailed out to band members, benefits to the band from the proposed development include property tax revenues of between $400,000 and $500,000 per year.
The band would also receive $1,050 from the sale of each home and $145,500 will be paid to the band when construction begins.
news@osoyoostimes.com

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

The Town of Osoyoos, the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) and the NK’MIP Resort Association expect to finalize an agreement with Destination Osoyoos (DO) next month for tourism marketing services.
The trio of partners signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in January where they would contribute $150,000 worth of funding that DO will use to carry out marketing services for the entire Osoyoos area.
Through the agreement, the Town will contribute $72,876, the RDOS will contribute $12,000 and the resort association will contribute $15,124, with the remainder of the funding, a total of $50,000, coming from monies collected through the two-per-cent Additional Hotel Room Tax.
How much each partner contributes to the funding, at least when it comes to the Town and the resort association, was calculated by looking at how many hotel or resort beds each partner had within its area.
Derek Noske, a past-chair for DO who signed the MOU, said DO has been operating under the terms of the MOU while the details of the actual contract have been worked out over the past seven months.
He said the parties plan to meet in early August to finalize the contract and the reason it’s taken more than seven months to seal the deal was due to modifying some of the legal language contained in the agreement.
Noske added that it has been difficult to finalize the contract in the past month or two since many of the people who have to sign off on the document have been away at various times on summer vacations.
The DO board of directors is on board with the agreement, he said, and once it’s finalized, DO and the trio of partners will sit down in September to hammer out a three-year strategic business plan on how marketing activities will be carried out.
Noske said the plan will serve as DO’s “marching orders,” but DO will reserve the ability to give priority to any “special projects” that may come up after the plan is developed.
Mark Pendergraft, director for RDOS Area A, said there were one or two “sticklers” in the contract that the partners and DO have had to work on since the MOU was signed.
One example he mentioned was what the plan would be “if something happened and DO went bankrupt, who would be left holding the bag?”
Pendergraft added that he wasn’t sure how such a situation would be handled and the partners and DO were looking at how to address such a concern in the contract.
On July 8, the RDOS board of directors authorized Pendergraft and Bill Newell, the RDOS’s chief administrative officer, to finalize the agreement with DO.
Pendergraft said that will likely happen at the August meeting.
As for the Town’s role, Barry Romanko, Osoyoos chief administrative officer, said he could not comment on the ongoing contract negotiations when asked what details were still left to be worked out.
The previous contract between the Town and DO, where the Town contributed $226,000 to the organization to provide tourism marketing and economic development services, expired Dec. 31, 2009.
The Town has now hired a community development manager to handle economic development responsibilities.
In March, DO unveiled its new governance structure at the organization’s annual general meeting.
It was announced that “voter-stakeholders,” namely people already using DO’s programs and services whose primary income comes from the local tourism industry, will nominate and elect future DO boards, and appoint DO’s executive.
Jo Knight, who was named DO’s new executive director in February, said DO has not been idle in the past seven months since the MOU was signed.
In that time, she said, the organization has helped organize and host a number of conferences and delegations, including the Economic Development Association of British Columbia’s conference in June.
It also ran the annual Showcase Osoyoos event this winter, was a key partner in presenting the second annual Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival last month, helped the producers of The Big Year, filmed in Osoyoos in June, find accommodations and equipment and partnered with the Osoyoos Coyotes, sending out packages highlighting the community to 150 prospects invited to the team’s recruitment camp in April.
The contract between the partners and DO, once finalized, will be in effect for three years, terminating on Dec. 31, 2012.
It states that DO will provide the partners with a complete operations review of the organization’s activities before Oct. 31 of each year.
The contract also includes a clause that the partners and DO can agree to expand the range of services provided by the organization to include “new projects and programs and to increase the Annual Fee to pay for such new services.”
news@osoyoostimes.com

By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

Preliminary estimates for the construction of the proposed marina at Lions Park show Phase 1 as costing approximately $1.17 million, said Glen Harris, from Osoyoos Shoreline Development Limited, the developers of the Watermark Beach Resort.
The marina project will be a joint venture between the development company and the Town of Osoyoos at a 50-50 split.
Harris said Phase 1 includes boat slips within the lagoon, a de-sludging process for the lagoon, construction of boat ramps and development of a parking area for vehicles and boat trailers.
Two F-shaped docks would follow in other phases if the marina project goes ahead and will cost an additional $700,000.
“The whole thing is somewhere between $2.3 and $2.5 million,” Harris said, emphasizing these are all still preliminary cost estimates.
The site-specific zoning amendment that will allow for the building of the marina was officially adopted at the July 19 Osoyoos council meeting.
The Lions Park lagoon area, which is adjacent to the Lake Osoyoos Sailing Club, will still be zoned Parks and Recreation, but a site-specific amendment will allow for the marina construction in the immediate area surrounding the lagoon
A marina is defined as “the use of buildings, land or surface of the water for the sale and/or rental of water sports equipment, boats, docking berths, marine supplies and may include the sale of petroleum products.”
While the zoning amendment approved at the July 19 council meeting will allow the process to proceed, a development permit process will still need to happen prior to any construction.
The preliminary designs for the marina include the development of 30 slips within the lagoon, two F-shaped docks each containing 52 slips extending roughly 75 metres out into the lake as well as parking and landscaping alterations to the area.
Harris said he is anticipating approvals from the federal and provincial governments for the project soon and he hopes to begin the de-sludging part of the project either this fall or early spring.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com

Most people heading to other parts of the country looking for work would likely not expect prospective employers to have long-term accommodations waiting for them when they arrive.
If a student who just graduated from a B.C. university with a business degree went to Toronto to find work at a bank, was hired and then asked his employer where the bank was going to put him up, the student would in all likelihood get laughed at.
So, it’s understandable to question why we here in Osoyoos need to burden ourselves about finding places for seasonal agricultural workers to sleep and wash during the spring, summer and fall.
Every year, some cry out that the Town of Osoyoos needs to do something about the transients camping in the hills near Strawberry Creek.
Others say the orchardists and farmers are the ones who need to solve the problem.
And, in reality, if the orchardists do need these workers to bring in the harvest, the responsibility should fall on their shoulders more than anyone else.
But the issue isn’t really about who should provide accommodations and basic services such as showers and washrooms for the workers because, again, how often does any employer take on the responsibility of finding its workforce places to stay?
Much of the problem centres on an even broader challenge the area faces: a lack of affordable accommodations for workers of all backgrounds.
If there were campgrounds or hostels in town where the agricultural workers could stay for a reasonable nightly, weekly or monthly fee, would they still resort to hanging out in the hills where they have no access to water and must travel long distances to reach services in town or their places of accommodation?
Some might, but it seems reasonable that most would take the opportunity to stay in a place where they could take a shower or walk to their job if the price is right.
When it comes down to it, is the lack of affordable accommodations for agricultural workers any different than the lack of affordable housing for young professionals or people working in the tourism industry?
Some of the resorts, hotels and businesses in Osoyoos have been forced to find places for their workers to stay during the summer because of this very problem.
If this community is going to do something about the seasonal worker problem in the area, then the first step shouldn’t be narrowly focused on just establishing some place for them to stay.
The first step should be about fixing Osoyoos’s ongoing deficiency for affordable accommodations.
A great deal of time has been spent setting up task forces and creating a strategy to deal with the issue.
The ongoing problem with seasonal workers should be the catalyst to put recent efforts to find solutions to the affordable accommodations issue into action.

Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater (left) stands beside B.C.’s Solicitor General Michael de Jong as he addresses reporters at a media conference in Oliver following the release of a report on the investigation into the June 13 mudslide. Photo by Paul Everest - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-July 21, 2010

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

An investigation by the provincial government into the June 13 mudslide in Oliver has concluded that “more could have been done to avert the disaster caused by the debris torrent and mudslide.”
A report on the investigation released on July 14 from the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General found that there was a “consistent pattern of concerns and warnings about the state” of the earthen dam on the man-made reservoir on Testalinden Creek that failed and caused the mudslide dating back to at least the 1960s.
The report states, however, that “there is no indication that actions had been taken to remedy the situation that has persisted for decades.”
Two days before the mudslide happened, a hiker from Osoyoos noticed that the Testalinden reservoir was full and that water was overflowing onto the road.
He passed this information on the Osoyoos Visitor Information Centre, which informed the RCMP.
The RCMP contacted the B.C. Forests and Range Ministry which passed the information along to the Ministry of Forests Compliance and Enforcement Technician.
The information was left on a voice mail for the technician, however, which was not retrieved until after the dam breached.
Because the relayed information concerned a road washout on a “non-status road,” as opposed to a forest service road, the information was not described as a priority.
The report therefore states that communication protocols between different government agencies need to be improved and providing the public with information about who to call when they observe such a situation should be a priority.
To address these findings, the report lays out 12 recommendations.
They include recommendations that the B.C. Environment Ministry review its record keeping practices when it comes to dams and install signage at all dam locations to inform passersby that the structure is a dam while providing emergency contact information.
It was recommended that Emergency Management BC work with local officials, police and first-response agencies to provide a quick reference list of key contact numbers focused on “who to call when.”
The same day the report was released, B.C. Solicitor General Mike de Jong spoke at a media conference at Oliver Town Hall after government officials met with the residents affected by the mudslide to discuss the investigation and its findings.
He told reporters that, in addition to Disaster Financial Assistance offered by the government, where affected property owners could claim up to $300,000, the government is looking at additional compensation for the residents affected by the mudslide.
The government is prepared to have conversations with the affected residents about compensation, de Jong said.
It will look at the cost of cleanup at the site of the mudslide but if the costs are too high, he added, the government will consider buying the affected properties from the owners at the value of the land prior to the mudslide.
Right now, neither the projected value of the cleanup costs nor the value of the damaged properties is known, de Jong said, so assessments will have to begin.
The mudslide has sparked a review of the province’s 2,000 dams and between June 15 and June 29, Environment Ministry staff assessed more than 600 dams across B.C.
According to the ministry, three of the assessed dams required “immediate attention” and 142 require “follow-up” attention.
As part of the province’s “Rapid Dam Assessment,” 48 dams were looked at in the South Okanagan and surrounding area and the ministry stated that “one dam required immediate attention and nine others were identified for further follow-up later this season.”
“The owner of the one dam requiring immediate attention has been drawing-down the level in the reservoir to reduce the immediate risk,” the ministry stated in response to questions from the Osoyoos Times about local dam assessments. “Additional long-term actions to address less urgent concerns are anticipated.”
During the media conference, de Jong said the investigation into the responsibilities of the Testalinden reservoir’s licence holder, Elkink Ranch Ltd., is ongoing.
The owner of Elkink Ranch Ltd. is Ace Elkink.
The investigation is being carried out by the Environment Ministry’s Conservation Officer Service.
Environment Minister Barry Penner said under B.C. Water Act regulations relating to dam safety, people are required to properly maintain dams on their properties.
Not following such regulations, he said, could mean a $200,000 fine or six months in jail.
Liability laws will also apply, de Jong said.
Kathy Mercier, who owned a home with her husband Gene that was wiped out in the mudslide, said one recommendation that should have been included in the report is for succeeding governments to be briefed on what outstanding non-compliance issues they inherit.
Problems with the Testalinden reservoir dam were reported as far back as the 1940s, she said, but there have been several successive governments that have come into power over the years.
Mercier said incoming leaders, department heads and government officials should get a full rundown on any issues they inherit from an outgoing government to prevent this kind of problem from happening again.
As for compensation, Mercier said she wants what she had before the slide took place including a house, the 2.9 hectares of prime, mature grape plants and a hydro pole near her home.
She said she’s willing to negotiate some of the details, but she doesn’t care about how much it cost the government because they are partially to blame for the disaster.
“A succession of people knew this was a ticking time bomb and no one did anything,” she said.
news@osoyoostimes.com

Edmonton’s Marilyn Sebzda checks out the cherries for sale at Osoyoos’s Fernandes Fruit Market. The price of cherries varies significantly from fruit stands to local grocery stores. Photo by Laurena Weninger - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-July 21, 2010

By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

“I think generally speaking, when they cheapen the product the overall feeling among some consumers is cherries are cheap,” said Greg Norton, chair of the Okanagan Kootenay Cherry Growers Association. “I really am uncomfortable when these supermarkets do that. It sets a tone that production is cheap.”

Norton is talking about the price of cherries at some of the local grocery stores and how those prices compare to local farm-gate cherry sales.

A tour of cherry outlets around the Osoyoos area shows a discrepancy in prices.

The best of the shiny, red, plump cherries at two local fruit stands - Fernandes Fruit Market and the Golden Mile Fruit Market - were going for $3 per pound on July 16.

Osoyoos’s Family Foods was selling local vans for $2.49 per pound - but they had just recently been on sale for $2.29.

On July 17, Buy Low Foods had bags of local cherries for only $1.48 per pound.

Norton said he can’t imagine how the stores have managed to set prices so low and still pay the farmer for the product.

“I really have to assume that is a loss leader,” he said.

A loss leader is a sales technique in which a store will sell something at a loss in order to get more people to shop at the location.

“That’s a ridiculously low price,” Norton said. “I can’t imagine them getting cherries so cheap they could make money at $1.48.”

But Trudy Harrison, a produce clerk at Osoyoos’s Family Foods, said they aren’t selling the cherries they have to offer at a loss.

“We still mark them up,” she said, pointing out the store’s cost for the fruit this year has been anywhere from $1.50 to $2 per pound.

This year, the supplier for the store’s cherries is a family related to one of the store’s employees - but Harrison doesn’t think that is a big factor in the pricing.

Last year, the store also paid anywhere from $1.50 to $2 per pound.

The store then marks up the fruit, anywhere from 25 to 35 per cent.

Daniel Bregg, president of Buy Low Foods, would not discuss the company’s pricing policies.

He said they try to be competitive in the marketplace and the price they set on the cherries would be based on the price they paid for those cherries - but he would not comment on how much they paid or whether the fruit is being sold at a loss.

Norton said the fruit stands’ prices are more in line.

“The $3 at the fruit stands reflects the cost of production and allows the producer to make a living.”

Plus, cherry prices are strong this year due to lower production, both in the Okanagan Valley and the U.S.

“Washington is less than half,” he said, pointing at last year when Washington state cherries flooded the market, making Okanagan cherries harder to sell.

But even though prices are good, it’s still a tough year for local growers.

“When you get less than half a crop, the prices never make up for it,” he said.

The biggest challenges this year are mostly weather-related.

A cold snap last October started off a season of weird weather.

A mild winter, spring frost - and not much heat yet this summer.

“We’ve still only had six or seven days of real heat. That’s incredibly unusual,” Norton said.

He said these conditions have added up to cause the most challenging year he has ever had as a grower.

reporter@osoyoostimes.com

By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

The best solution to issues surrounding seasonal workers in Osoyoos would be to develop a pickers’ camp like Oliver’s Loose Bay.
That was the consensus from a meeting held in Osoyoos on July 15 attended by 25 representatives from B.C.’s forests and range and environment ministries, the Conservation Officer Service, local RCMP, bylaw enforcement, the B.C. Fruit Growers Association (BCFGA), the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) and the towns of Oliver and Osoyoos.
The meeting was held only weeks after the Forests and Range Ministry evicted approximately 150 people from “French Hill” in the Strawberry Creek area.
“It was actually a really good meeting,” said Rory Smith, a forest officer from the ministry who was at the meeting. “I think everybody got a better understanding of how big the issues actually are.”
For example, Smith said a report was given about fire activity in the French Hill area that has for the past several years been used by the workers.
The report states that a total of 14 fires have broken out in the area in the last 10 years. Last year, $85,000 was spent on fire suppression in that area alone.
According to a media release from the Town of Osoyoos, three key issues were focused on at the July 15 meeting – accommodation, transportation and communication.
The development of a camp for seasonal workers is top of the list.
“Work began on the development of the criteria to support a camp taking into account public safety, health, environmental protection and the health and wellness of the workers themselves,” states the release.
The camp would be like Oliver’s Loose Bay, which is located off of Secrest Road north of Oliver in the rural area.
Mark Pendergraft, director of RDOS Area A, agreed to take the lead with this project and look at what options might be available and bring his findings back to a future meeting on the seasonal workers issue.
“It is important that consistent information be available for those wishing to come to this area to pick fruit,” states the media release.
That would include information on harvest times, employment and accommodation.
The use of “social networking” sites for the distribution of information will be considered and the BCFGA has agreed to include a page on its website to provide information that local and out-of-province workers considering employment in the area can use before coming to Osoyoos.
Written pamphlets containing such information in English and French will also be made available.
The focus of the meeting was to look at solutions for the accommodation of the workers, states the release, but it was also recognized that a small faction of the seasonal visitors in the community are not workers and “have created issues within the Town of Osoyoos and (outlying) jurisdictions.”
Local police and bylaw officers have reportedly had their hands full dealing with many of the workers evicted from the Strawberry Creek area and several residents have voiced concerns about workers gathering on local beaches and in community parks.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com

Richard Armstrong (left) and Joey Pierre, both from the Penticton Indian Band, read a Declaration of Unity signed by the Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Colville Confederated Tribes in Osoyoos on July 15. Armstrong read the document in the traditional Okanagan language and Pierre read it in English. Photo by Paul Everest - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES - July 21, 2010

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

Flanked by maps showing their territory in B.C. and Washington state, members of the Okanagan Nation Alliance and the Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) signed a Declaration of Unity at Osoyoos’s Spirit Ridge Vineyard and Resort on July 15.
Hundreds of members from bands on both sides of the border, including chiefs, councillors and elders, packed into the resort’s conference room for the signing, which took place as part of the alliance’s two-day annual general assembly.
The declaration is a formal document acknowledging the cultural, linguistic, political and economical connections between the alliance and the CCT.
Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band told the gathering that the alliance and the CCT are one nation that was cut in half by the international border between Canada and the U.S.
The idea of signing the declaration came out of talks between the alliance and the CCT about common concerns regarding land rights, government policies, issues with band members crossing the international border and fishing rights.
Pauline Terbaskett, the alliance’s executive director, said the idea for a formal declaration of unity came up at the alliance’s 2007 general assembly at the Ashnola Pow Wow ground in the Lower Similkameen Indian Band reserve.
But members of the alliance and the CCT have worked together on common issues since their communities were separated by various treaties of the U.S. and Canadian governments and the establishment of the border between B.C. and Washington state, she said.
Louie said that when the CCT asked to be part of the alliance’s tribal council, it was a “no brainer.”
When he saw the draft declaration, he questioned why lawyers and legal language was necessary to formalize what he sees as a family relationship among band members across the international boundary.
Louie added that the alliance voted at its tribal council this past year to recognize the CCT as part of the council.
The declaration signing follows the intent and spirit of the 1987 Okanagan Nation Declaration when the alliance’s seven bands — the Penticton Indian Band, the Osoyoos Indian Band, the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, the Upper Similkameen Indian Band, the Okanagan Indian Band, the Westbank First Nation and the Upper Nicola Indian Band — formalized and affirmed an atmosphere of cooperation they first began to establish in the 1970s.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the alliance’s chairman, said the unity declaration signing “has been a long time coming.”
Following a “long, dark night” of marginalization and economic repression, band members on both sides of the border are “reclaiming our nationhood,” he added.
Phillip described the relationship between the CCT and the alliance as “akin to a marriage” when it comes to culture, economics and politics.
He told the gathering that it was up to them to make sure the declaration is maintained as a “breathing, living document” and said the agreement will allow for the alliance and the CCT to continue a process of healing the erosion that has afflicted the shared culture and language of the two communities.
Mike Finley, the CCT’s business council chairman, told the gathering that he saw the declaration as a way to start educating young band members about the connections of family and land shared by the alliance and the CCT and added that the document is about bringing two families back together.
“People say this is a union,” he said. “I say this is a reunion.”
One concern that came up again and again during the meeting was the issue of alliance and CCT members crossing the border to see family or friends or conduct business.
With passport restrictions that came into effect last year, many members expressed frustrations at difficulties in crossing the border.
Louie advised the gathering to “always use your status cards” and said meetings were needed with border officials from both countries so traditional tribal items such as meats and berries can continue to cross the border.
After Joey Pierre from the Penticton Indian Band read the declaration in English and Richard Armstrong, also from the Penticton Indian Band read the document in the traditional Okanagan language, leaders from the alliance and CCT signed the declaration to the sounds of traditional Aboriginal drumming and cheers and applause from the gathering.
news@osoyoostimes.com

A design plan for the proposed Lions Park lagoon marina dated June of 2010. Image courtesy of the Town of Osoyoos - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-July 14, 2010

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

Following a public hearing where roughly 20 people spoke up, Osoyoos council gave third reading to a zoning amendment that would allow for the development of a marina at the Lions Park lagoon.
Nearly 90 people gathered at the Sonora Community Centre on July 6 for the second public hearing on the matter, followed by a special meeting of council where the reading was given.
The Lions Park lagoon area is adjacent to the Lake Osoyoos Sailing Club and is zoned Parks and Recreation.
The zoning does not include marina operations as a permitted use in the area.
The zoning amendment, if adopted, would allow for a marina to be developed at the site.
At a special meeting on June 24, the amendment was updated to clarify where the amendment would apply — “the immediate area surrounding Lions Park lagoon” — and to provide a definition of a marina.
The definition is “the use of buildings, land or surface of the water for the sale and/or rental of water sports equipment, boats, docking berths, marine supplies and may include the sale of petroleum products.”
The marina concept, which has not been approved by council, would have the Town and the developers of the Watermark Beach Resort develop the facility together.
Preliminary designs for the marina include the development of 30 slips within the lagoon, two F-shaped docks each containing 52 slips extending roughly 75 metres out into the lake as well as parking and landscaping alterations to the area.
The idea of developing the marina at the site has raised some concerns within the community and prompted calls from the public for more information about the proposed project.
During the public hearing on July 6, which followed a public hearing held on the matter on May 17, nearly a dozen residents expressed concerns about the project or suggested alternatives to the proposed marina concept.
Five written submissions also brought up concerns regarding the project.
The concerns included the sale of fuel at the site, the effects the marina could have on the neighbouring sailing club, a lack of police patrols on the lake, erosion damage to the shoreline caused by fast-moving boats and parking limitations around the proposed marina site.
Some people suggested that the lagoon should be cleaned up and slips could be developed there without the F-docks.
One local realtor said the Town and the resort should concentrate on developing a marina in the lagoon for a year and, after that time has passed, assess the situation to see if a larger facility would work.
Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society President Mark McKenney said the society is now taking a “position of neutrality” on the concept but added that the F-docks should not extend 75 metres into the lake, as per Town regulations.
A Town of Osoyoos zoning bylaw states that docks shall not extend beyond 30 metres from the lake’s high water mark.
McKenney also offered to have the society “monitor” the marina project.
People in favour of the marina concept said there is a high need to provide more moorage facilities for the lake as well as a need to improve the boat launch near the marina site and clean up the lagoon.
Some said a marina would provide new jobs and business opportunities in town including opportunities for watercraft sales and storage.
It was also pointed out that if people could dock their boats at a marina, there would be less of a need to store boats on trailers which end up getting parked on the community’s streets.
Rob Rausch, owner of Wakepilot Wakeboarding, said the marina concept could allow for the centralization of watercraft-focused businesses.
With a centralized location for operations, he said, those businesses, along with the RCMP, could educate watercraft owners about how to operate their crafts safely and respectfully on the lake while monitoring fuelling and watercraft operations on the water.
Suggestions of having the marina located in front of the Watermark Beach Resort were also brought up.
A development permit issued to the resort in 2006, however, included a condition prohibiting the development of any moorage facilities on its property as the Town’s preference is to keep Gyro Beach open to swimming.
Councillors Marg Chadsey, CJ Rhodes and Ted Cronmiller voted in favour of giving the amendment third reading, while Coun. Michael Ryan and Mayor Stu Wells voted against the amendment.
Ryan once again tabled an amendment to have “the sale of petroleum products” removed from the definition of a marina included in the zoning amendment, but his motion was voted down 3-2 with Cronmiller, Rhodes and Chadsey voting against it.
Ryan then tabled a motion that any marina developed in the Lions Park lagoon area would be subject to a development permit process and if the project is phased, council would have to approve each phase.
This motion passed unanimously.
The zoning amendment allowing for a marina at the lagoon site is likely to come up for adoption at the next council meeting on July 19.
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