SPEAKING OUT | Ashton Creek wants community interests considered with school sale [A7]
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Friday, Feb. 15, 2013
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BE MY VALENTINE
RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
LISA VANDERVELDE/ MORNING STAR
Kindergarten students Keira Braddick (left) and Devyn Hildebrand make Valentine books Thursday at Silver Star Elementary School.
Outback marina shot down RICHARD ROLKE
Morning Star Staff
Contentious plans for boat storage on Okanagan Lake have been sunk. The provincial Integrated Land Management Bureau has denied an application from the Outback Resort to build a 72-slip marina in South Bay. “I didn’t think it Kim Nasipayko would go this way so I am excited,” said Kim Nasipayko, with Friends of South Bay. The group, which filed a formal complaint with the government in November, stated that a marina in South Bay would
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obstruct public access and potentially impact fish habitat and water quality. Use of South Bay was also opposed because the Outback has approval for a marina in nearby Quarry Bay. “I’m glad the government came to a decision and it realizes this is not a good use of that area,” said Nasipayko. “If we keep this (South Bay) as a swimming area, we can co-exist in this space.” The City of Vernon welcomes the ILMB’s ruling. “They made the appropriate decision given all of the information presented,” said Mayor Rob Sawatzky. During the 2004 permit process to develop the resort, the city had stated the marina must be in Quarry Bay. However, the lake is considered Crown
land and the ILMB was the lead agency. AN ILMB spokesperson confirmed the Outback application for South Bay was denied but they were unable to provide details behind the decision. An Outback representative could not be reached for comment, but he has previously stated that lake storms place lives and property at risk in Quarry Bay. “We had a marina there and our experience over four or five years was it’s an unsuitable place for a temporary marina,” said Darrel Zacharias, with the marina facilities committee, during a November interview. “We are not allowed to put a permanent marina there because of government regulations and sensitive fish spawning habitat there.”
Vernon residents will have no more say into how their money is spent in 2013. Council voted Tuesday not to hold any more public input sessions for the proposed budget, which now includes a 3.95 per cent tax increase. “There were three opportunities for the public to provide input and we got more members of the public attending than we normally do,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham. Cunningham isn’t convinced another public session would achieve Bob Spiers anything before council adopts the 2013 financial plan. “Last year, we had an input night where staff put together a lot of information and hardly anyone showed up,” she said. Lone opposition to ending the public process came from Coun. Bob Spiers. “Traditionally we have another meeting after we give three readings (which occurred Tuesday) so people can tell us if we got it right or wrong,” he said. “I always like listening to the public when we are spending their money.” The budget originally called for a 4.7 per cent increase in taxes but that was lowered to 3.9 per cent Tuesday after council trimmed $139,000. “It’s always welcome,” said Mayor Rob Sawatzky of lowering the impact on taxpayers. The impact on an average home is an additional $45 in taxes. Much of the $139,000 is coming from reserves and is going towards upgrades to the RCMP detachment and bolstering revenue for the community development operating budget. “It’s well thought out and consistent with our plan to meet infrastructure needs,” said Sawatzky. “Reserves were built up to deal with these projects.” Of the overall tax increase, 1.9 per cent is designated for Vernon’s future infrastructure needs.
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