-Delay could jeopardize sewage project-

OSOYOOS TIMES-November 12, 2008-

By Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times

Final approval of the Willow Beach Resort development application has been postponed at the request of the developers.
The application was supposed to receive fourth and final reading before the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) board of directors on Nov. 6.
It could be several months before the application comes up for final reading again.
But Georgia Laine Development Ltd. asked for the reading to be delayed because of the current international economic climate.
We're just trying to sort out our obligations right now, said Tim Ankenman, the project's chief architect. The market has obviously turned.
What we're trying to do is keep the project viable. We're trying to keep the RDOS satisfied and the community satisfied and the Town of Osoyoos satisfied.rnAnkenman added that the postponement is meant to allow the developers to assess their financial position with the current market downturn in relation to the requirements of the project, especially construction timelines laid out in a phased development agreement between the RDOS and the developers.
In the meantime we want to make sure we're not committing ourselves to financial obligations that are unrealistic in today's market, he said. Six months ago my client was very anxious to start the development and get condos in the ground and now we're looking at the worldwide economy.rnRural Area A Director Mark Pendergraft said concerns from the developers about timelines set out in the phased development agreement were definitely behind the postponement.
And zoning for the 1,088-unit project, which is slated to be located at the head of Osoyoos Lake, has not been approved by the provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry, Pendergraft said.
(The developers) just felt that until all those things are done, that they'd rather just hold off and put them all through at the same time.rnOsoyoos Mayor John Slater said the postponement could cause difficulties for the Northwest Sewer Project, which would connect the development and more than 120 homes on the northwest shore of the lake to the Town of Osoyoos's sewage system.
In April, an agreement was signed where the developers would help pay for the sewage project and the resort would be connected to the Town's sewage system.
A delay of the final reading, however, could mean the loss of grant money given to the project from the federal and provincial governments.
If the sewage project isn't completed by March 31, 2010, Slater said, the $4.5 million grant would expire.
We're just hoping that the province will recognize because of the economic times we're in right now that they will extend the grant dates, he said. Realistically we're not going to have that done by then. We're hoping the Ministry of Community Development will give us some leeway to extend the grant.
We're still comfortable that we can get the project done, but not in the timeframe that has been requested by the ministry.rnAnkenman said, however, that the sewage project is the developers' first priority and they are going to work hard to ensure that the first phase of the sewer project is implemented.rnAt the same RDOS board meeting, the RDOS granted the Town of Osoyoos permission to extend sewage service outside its boundaries to the northwest shore of the lake.
The permission came with six conditions and Slater brought up a concern that the first condition, in its original wording, would mean no one who developed in the area to be serviced by the sewage project would have to pay development cost charges.
If that were the case, Slater said, the Town's taxpayers would have to pick up such costs.
The condition was changed so that anyone who develops in the area in the future would have to pay development cost charges to the Town.
Osoyoos town council will still have to ratify the conditions.
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