NEWS
ENTERTAINMENT
KELOWNA ROCKETS assistant GM Lorne Frey is scouting across Western Canada one more time before the bantam draft.
OTTAWA AND VICTORIA are teaming up to help fund a multi-million dollar improvement to the intersection of Sexsmith and Highway 97 near Kelowna’s northern entrance.
KELOWNA’S Yukon Blonde will make their hometown the last stop for a concert before heading to Regina for the JUNO Awards. The band is up for Breakthrough Group of the Year.
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THURSDAY March 28, 2013 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
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Council puts Hiawatha decision on hold Cougar killed Alistair Waters
at a daycare
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Judie Steeves STAFF REPORTER
She said the company has let the once pleasant park that was filled with seniors go to the point where there was what she described as a “crack house” next door that took four months to be shut down. She said other residents abuse her property and have no regard for her privacy, there is litter everywhere and that has attracted wildlife like racoons, dogs and cats. Pets were once banned from the park but now defecate everywhere and she is scared to talk to her neighbours because
she fears they may retaliate against her if she complains. “I guess renters have more rights than owners,” she told council. Another resident described the park now as a “cesspool.” Temple admitted managing the park has been difficult in recent years and said it is now basically a rental park. The company has bought 76 of the 94 mobile homes in the park. Westcorp wants to redevelop the 18-acre property with 19 buildings, providing a mix of
rental and ownership. It would include townhouses and apartments, as well as an 11-storey boutique hotel. There would be an eight-storey apartment building, “stacked” townhouses and 50,000-square-feet of commercial space. The development would be done in phases and would feature restoration of Wilson Creek along the southern boundary of the property as well as a linear park on its shore. See Hiawatha A7
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$35,000, the average the owners paid for the homes is just over $27,000. Still, owners like Richard Grainger said despite the fact his home has been assessed at $60,000, Westcorp is only offering him $25,000. In addition to being unhappy with the offers made to them for their homes, the residents are also angry at the way they say the company has managed the park in recent years. “My life in the park has become a living hell,” said resident Sandra Jones.
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existing Hiawatha Mobile Home Park to allow for redevelopment of the site was the subject of a public hearing.
been pushed away from their mothers and are out looking for easy prey,” he explained. Normally, cougars are nocturnal hunters, not seen during the daytime, so he wondered if it might even have entered the playground earlier in the day. It would have had to cross busy Highway 97 from the nearest wild area, and it had taken refuge up a big tree adjacent to that busy highway. He advised anyone who sees a cougar not to turn and run because that can make the big predator think you are prey. Instead, appear as large and threatening as possible, while slowly backing away and try to grab a stick. If attacked, fight back, because they’re not used to their prey fighting back, so they might change their minds about the attack. Seitz said there have been a number of incidents and complaints involving cougars this winter, so he feels there must be a burgeoning population of the big cats. Generally, their numbers rise and fall along with those of their favoured prey animals, such as deer.
McCurdy Rd.
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ALISTAIR WATERS/CAPITAL NEWS
IT WAS STANDING ROOM ONLY at Kelowna City Hall Tuesday night as opponents to a plan to rezone the
The sharp eyes of kids playing outside at lunch at the Boys and Girls Club’s Lake Country Daycare in Winfield Wednesday may have saved them from death or injury when they spotted and reported a cougar in a ponderosa pine tree in the playground. Caregivers rounded up the youngsters and got them inside, then called the Conservation Officer Service to deal with the wildcat. Conservation officer Ed Seitz admitted it was a “very scary situation; the worst situation you can imagine.” He figured the noise that the children were making could have attracted the cat, which may have viewed them as prey. It was the second cougar that Seitz had to shoot yesterday. The other was in Oyama and had attacked and killed livestock in a farmyard. (See story on page 8). Seitz said the cougar at the daycare was a juvenile, about two years old, weighing about 40 or 45 pounds. “Typically these juvenile cougars haven’t learned to hunt successfully on their own. They’ve
the
Kelowna city council has put off a decision on a controversial redevelopment application for the Hiawatha Mobile Home Park in the Mission. After a five-hour public hearing Tuesday night, in which 31 people spoke, some twice, council quickly opted to put off its decision on the proposed rezoning and requested changes to the city’s official community plan until April 8. That will be the next full council meeting. “I have 19 pages of notes. I would like some time to go over them,” said Coun. Gail Given, in support of the unanimous motion to table a decision. The public hearing, which packed council chambers, featured speaker after speaker urging council to hold off on any rezoning until the developer, Edmonton-based Westcorp, presents what they feel is a better relocation plan for the 18 residents who still own mobile homes in the park. Westcorp bought the park in 2008 and has been buying up homes there ever since. But the majority of speakers at the hearing said the amount of money they are being offered for their homes is not nearly enough. While Westcorp’s Gail Temple said the average her company has paid for mobile homes in the park over the years is just under
★ Leathead Rd. Hwy 33w