Desert Park closes.

At the February 6 Osoyoos Town Council meeting, council passed a resolution to temporarily close Desert Park for horse boarding. The maintenance contract between the Town of Osoyoos and Ricardo Ortega Gonzales was also cancelled.
In a report from Janette Van Vianen, Director of Corporate Services, it was stated that the reason for the closure is simply that there have been very few users of the facility.
The cost of maintenance has outweighed that which is collected from the users. Unless a user with a substantial number of horses approaches the Town of Osoyoos for use of Desert Park, it is being recommended that the facility be closed as of February 7, Van Vianen stated.
Councillor Allan Carswell said he wanted to reassure the public that the closure is temporary.
An important point here is that we're not closing the facility, we're suspending its use. There are no horses; if a substantial number of horses return, we'll reopen the facility. It's as simple as that, said Carswell.
Mayor John Slater said the town does want to continue to use the facility.
We certainly want the facility not to be a huge burden to the taxpayers of Osoyoos, and I believe our policy has been that if somebody does want to bring 40 horses or more and pays to reopen the track, we will certainly do that, Slater said.
Carswell reaffirmed later that the decision in no way affects the future of Desert Park.
We are moving ahead with the planning and critical pathway analysis for the proposal that the town received from the Rocky Mountain Turf Club, said Carswell.
As soon as that analysis is complete we will pass it along to the public and announce the timing of the various meetings that will take place. We are excited about the possibility of live horse racing returning to Osoyoos and look forward to seeing year-round use at Desert Park.