THE www.keremeosreview.com PM Agreement #40012521
Review Vol.16 Number 34
Serving the communities of Keremeos, Cawston, Okanagan Falls and Kaleden
Similkameen competitors have had a good year See page 9
Province issues Request for Proposal
CYCLE OF HOPE RIDE CONCLUDES IN KEREMEOS
Province seeking to lease Grist Mill lands after present operator’s contract expires in March, 2015
ARCHERY ACES
By Steve Arstad news@keremeosreview.com
ALS ride continues to grow See page 3
COMPLEX CLEANUP
Hotel site clean up underway See page 8
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The Province of B.C. recently issued a Request for Proposal to lease the Grist Mill properties. In an effort to make provincially owned heritage properties self-sufficient, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Resource Operations developed the RFP for the purpose of selecting a succsssful proponent with whom to negotiate a lease agreement. The ministry hopes to attract “local governments, First Nations, School Districts, individuals, businesses, organizations or a combination of the above” with a proposal for use of the Grist Mill property. The site is presently operated as a museum under the management of Chris Mathieson, under a general services contract which ends in March 2015. The RFP does not stipulate the property be used as a historic site, only that the “new use will be economically viable, will have a public benefit component, will not depend on the government financially, or will significantly reduce financial dependence on the government.” Deadline for proposals is September 26. Present operator Chris Mathieson would not comment on the RFP .
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Photo by Steve Arstad
Long cool ladies in black dresses: Business women along Keremeos’ Seventh Avenue dressed up in black on Friday, August 15, “in support of each other as business women, working together.” From left: Rebecca Malek, Laurie Lion, Liza Needham, Brenda Hug, Mari Lindley, Val Adams. Missing from photo is Daphne Wood and Salena Shemilt.
Directors seek updates on Similkameen dam proposal By Steve Arstad news@keremeosreview.com Regional District Okanagan Similkameen Directors discussed the Fortis Similkameen dam proposal during committee meetings on August 7. Princeton Director Frank Armitage, West Bench Director Michael Brydon and Princeton rural Director Brad Hope insisted the board meet regularly with Fortis officials in order to be kept up to date with respect to the company’s intentions with the dam proposal. “We need to know where we’re at, and where we intend to go,” said Armitage. He insisted the board, as representatives of the region, needed to be fully informed about the project. “We should be talking to Fortis about this on a regular
basis,” he said, “we need to get our homework done, and, let’s talk about revenue sharing, too.” Brydon agreed, noting the dam proposal was being considered by private shareholders and “their rationale”. He questioned the apparent policy of the provincial government to get out of the dam building business, describing the situation as one where the province, providing regulatory control, should be responsible for doing a cost benefit analysis for the residents of B.C. “Let me hear from Fortis, but let me also hear from the Governement of British Columbia, that they’re on the job. I don’t want to hear, ‘oh, we’re doing budget cuts, we haven’t looked at it, we don’t have staff, we haven’t had time to look at what the long term
consequences are.’” Director Hope expressed his concerns regarding regulatory control, alluding to the recent Imperial Metals dam breech at its Mount Polley Mine near Williams Lake. “As board directors, we need to know as much as we can about a project like this,” he added. “I’ve been trying for three years to find out from Fortis where the revenue was going to be generated from, and this last meeting was virtually the first time that was mentioned.” Board Chair Mark Pendergraft advised the board of Fortis’ intention to speak to the issue in the coming weeks. He recommended the board wait until that time before requiring an official status update on the continued on page 3