Capital News Thursday, August 18, 2011
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NEWS W GLENMORE
Agriculture land set aside for future rec site Alistair Waters ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kelowna has convinced its agricultural advisory committee (AAC) to support its proposal to use agricultural land in Glenmore for future recreational purposes. And it did so by agreeing to address agricultural land issues in Glenmore and other areas of the city. According to Terry Barton, manager of parks and public places for the City of Kelowna, the “city-wide solution” won over the advisory committee after its initial decision not to support the creation of the proposed Glenmore Recreational Park at the corner of Longhill and Valley Roads. The committee refused to support the proposal to use 10.5 hectares of ALR land because it felt the plan was not in the best interests of agriculture in the city. But after city officials went back to the committee and agreed to several measures aimed at enhancing agriculture elsewhere, the committee relented. The committee’s support is considered critical to getting the provincial Agricultural Land Commission to approve the removal of the land from the agricultural land reserve. “Council asked us to get the support of the AAC, so we went back with several mitigating proposals,” said Barton. Those measures include removing
existing sports fields at Scenic and Valley Roads so the land can once again be used for agricultural purposes, moving the existing area fire hall off agricultural land to what is considered a better location and improving water and drainage on a large block of agricultural land in the Benvoulin and Springfield Road area. Moving the firehall could be as long as five to 10 years off. The proposals put to the committee also call for a covenant for the new recreation park to have the land return to the ALR when it is no longer needed for recreational use. “There are only so many things we can do in the (proposed) park so we looked instead at a city-wide solution,” said Barton. The land the city wants to use for the new park is currently privately owned but the city has made a deal with owners pending approval by the land commission to allow the recreational uses. Development of the new park would likely take place over several years, similar to the development of the Mission Recreation Park on Gordon Drive and could cost millions to complete. Some preliminary work on the recreation site concept has been started, but no specific proposal is drawn up yet. The decision to move forward will rest with a decision by the ALC, for approval of the land being removed from the Agriculture Land Reserve.
WADE PATERSON/CAPITAL NEWS
LAKE PATROL… Kelowna RCMP
Const. Steve Holmes (above) explains the typical day in the life of the RCMP patrol boat unit, while Const. Rohel Williams (left, checking a boat operator’s license and registration) navigates the vessel. The patrol boat’s first focus is to help out anyone in distress. The patrol boat also ensures that boat operators have the correct license, registration, a visible serial number and that they are not intoxicated or speeding while riding on the water.
W POLITICS
Municipal auditor-general position called redundant by mayors Needless from A1 Those rules include mandatory audits and the prohibition of budget deficits and the requirement that provincial permission be received in order to borrow large amounts of money. “This appears to be a solution in search of a problem,” said Baker, echoing a position paper on the proposal issued by the Union of B.C. Municipalities. “I’m not really sure why it is necessary or what is the reason for it.” Like Fielding, Find-
later and Shepherd, Baker said he feels municipalities are already prudent with their finances, noting each year a limited number of demands for additional services, infrastructure and facilities can be met because of financial constraints. “We’d would love to provide everything people want but we can’t. We have to budget within our means.” And it is not just small municipalities that are questioning the need for the a municipal auditor general. Shepherd, whose city
is the ninth largest in B.C. and the biggest outside of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, agrees with the trio of local smaller community mayors. “It’s hard to comment because we don’t know what the rationale is for this,” she said. But she added the issue is certain to be discussed at the next UBCM meeting in September. As the chairwoman of her city’s audit committee, Shepherd sees first hand what she calls the “very stringent” accounting practices her city has to follow.
“Is this (proposal) setting up another department that will prove costly for all taxpayers?” she asked. The Central Okanagan Regional District board, on which all four mayors sit, has also come out against the proposal. The Union of B.C. Municipalities paper notes the many measures currently in place when it comes to keeping municipal finances in check, including statutory responsibilities and limits, mandatory audits, requirements for open meetings, and open financial and perfor-
mance reporting, annual reports, wage and salary reports, financial plan consultation with the public and existing third-party oversight by B.C.’s ombudsman, inspector of municipalities and officials with the community ministry. Fielding said in addition to creating another level of bureaucracy, the new proposal has municipalities concerned about potential interference in how municipalities spend their money. “The word ‘meddling’ comes to mind, doesn’t it,” said the Peachland mayor.
Findlater, whose council “took a pass” on the issue when it came to it for comment, said his personal view is that the province would do better strengthening the existing audit process for municipalities rather than creating a new level of bureaucracy. That, he said, could be done with chartered accountants and certified general accountants. In addition to municipal politicians being against the plan—which was first announced by Clark during her run for leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party—the NDP
has come out against it as well. But the NDP’s opposition was slammed by Les, who said when current NDP leader Adrian Dix was chief of staff to former premier Glen Clark, that government had eight consecutive deficit budgets. “Good management of taxpayer money is not in the NDP psyche,” said Les. “So, it’s hardly surprising they would reject a look at how tax dollars are spent at the local level.” awaters@kelownacapnews.com
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