Lake Country Calendar, March 04, 2015

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March 4, 2015

▼ CN RAIL CORRIDOR

Inside

Familiar face Former district councillor hired as the municipality’s new community development manager ...............................

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‘No’ side keeping quiet In the aftermath of the defeated Alternative Approval Process temporarily halting the CN rail corridor property acquisition, reporter Kevin Parnell finds the triumphant ‘no’ vote side strangely quiet. ...........................

Referendum pursued for Lake Country KEVIN PARNELL The acquisition team representing Lake Country, Kelowna and the North Okanagan Regional District will meet Thursday to discuss options moving forward with an attempted purchase of the CN Rail corridor, with Lake Country looking to hold a referendum to help raise its $5 million portion of a $22 million tentative deal. More than 10 per cent of Lake Country residents voted down the district’s attempts to borrow $2.6 million in a failed Alternative Approval Process attempt, which has sent the partners back to the drawing board in attempting to secure financing for the deal, by a March 31 deadline. As of the Lake Country Calendar press deadline on Monday, the team had not yet heard from CN Rail on its request for an extension to the closing date on the tentative deal. The extension would be needed to hold a referendum on the question of whether or not the district can borrow $2.6 million, the same question that failed in the AAP. “A referendum is our only option,” maintained Lake Country Mayor James Baker Monday morning. “The big issue is to protect the corridor and keep it public but this is also an investment for Lake Country.”

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SEE CORRIDOR A2

CONTRIBUTED

LAKE COUNTRY’S 2014 Citizen of the Year Dorothy Dussault is awarded the annual Sax Koyama award by Oceola Fish and Game Club president Sean Richardson and Lake Country Mayor James Baker. See story on A3.

▼ FOOD BANK

Flyers ■ Budget Blinds ■ Home Depot ■ Hometown ■ Jysk ■ Save On Foods ■ Shoppers Drug Mart ■ Staples ■ Summit Tools

Construction on new building to start March 16 A new food bank building for Lake Country suddenly got a lot closer. Shovels go into the ground March 16. Two factors have driven the agenda ahead. In January, Aviva Insurance made a $100,000 grant towards a new permanent home for the food bank, after the Lake Country Rotary Club organized a massive on-line

voting campaign in support. One condition of the grant was that the money must be spent within the calendar year 2015. The second factor was the commitment by Okanagan College in Vernon to use the food bank as practical training for their Trades Apprenticeship program. This semester, students get

five weeks of theory in class, 16 weeks of hands-on training on a project, and wind up with another five weeks of classroom work. To get in the 16 weeks of practical experience, food bank construction has to start no later than March 16. Representatives from a variety of organizations who made construction possible

will be invited to take part in the ground-breaking ceremonies. These will include the food bank itself; the District of Lake Country, which provided the land; Aviva Insurance; Okanagan College; the provincial government.; major donors; and the Rotary Club which has spearheaded development thus far.

Blueprints, engineering specifications, and materials lists are currently being completed. The municipality is expediting the building permit process. Contractors are being coordinated. Okanagan College’s stu-

SEE BUILDING A2


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