OSOYOOS TIMES-February 10, 2010

By Paul Everest - Osoyoos Times

The Town of Osoyoos plans to use money once earmarked for a proposed swimming pool to purchase a new community bus for the town and replace aging windows at the Sonora Community Centre.
At its Feb. 4 meeting, the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) board of directors gave its support to a request from the Town to reallocate $195,129 in federal gas tax money.
The cash was originally meant to help pay for energy efficient components such as solar panels and glass windows for a proposed aquatic centre for the town.
The Town has put the aquatic centre concept, which carried a price tag of roughly $6.3 million, on the backburner for now and has opted to use the gas tax funding to replace the community bus with a newer model and replace roughly 200 of the Sonora Centre’s 250 windows.
The gas tax cash is part of the federal government’s Building Canada infrastructure plan and is meant to support sustainable municipal infrastructure projects such as public transit and efforts to use green energy.
Gas tax funding is provided to the province from the federal government and its distribution is managed by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).
The RDOS applied for and received $2.6 million in gas tax funding from the province and the board approved allocating the $195,129 for the former pool project.
The application to shift the cash towards the bus and windows projects still has to be approved by the UBCM.
If the application is approved, the Town will spend roughly $85,000 to replace the current community bus, which has been in service since 1976.
The bus is used for various community events, youth program outings and occasionally to help people get home safely after events at the Sonora Centre.
Local service clubs also use the bus from time to time.
Gerald Davis, the Town’s recreation director, said the Town is looking at either a 2008 or 2009 model bus that would help reduce carbon emissions.
Replacing the bus is also an issue of safety.
Although it has been well-maintained over the years, the vehicle is aging, Davis said.
The rest of the money would be used to replace the windows at the Sonora Centre.
Davis said the majority of the windows being replaced are the centre’s original windows that were installed in the mid-1950s.
They are single-paned and are not energy efficient, he added.
The new windows would be double-paned and would help reduce the centre’s “carbon footprint” and operating costs, Davis said.
Both projects are part of the Town’s business plan and will be included in the 2010 budget, said Barry Romanko, the Town’s chief administrative officer.
Davis said it is hoped the projects will be completed before the end of the year.
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