News Leader News for May 13, 2008
NEWS FROM TOWN COUNCIL
Town changes parking demand
An office building proposed for construction on Tapton Avenue will go ahead following a change in parking space requirements. On May 5, Town Council voted to allow a variance to parking spaces, reducing the requirement from 13 spaces to seven spaces.
The new building will provide three office spaces and a caretaker suite. The variance permit was requested by Beaupré Drilling Ltd. Council liked public input
Mayor Randy McLean and Councillor Pam Jones remarked on the good turnout to the public meeting about the proposed aquatic centre.
Mayor McLean was careful to add that the meeting was a fact finding session to see what the people of Princeton want in an aquatic centre. The next step will be to design a centre and estimate the cost, including the added cost of property taxes. Then the proposal will be taken back to the public. The final stage in the approval process would be to go to referendum this fall. Love your local airport
June 7 has been designated as the first Airport Appreciation Day in Princeton. At the May 5 Town Council meeting, Councillor Ray Jarvis outlined some of the activity expected at the airport on that date.
There will be planes coming from the Lower Mainland to do a display of aerobatics, and Councillor Jarvis said he hoped to be able to offer plane rides to the public. Food will be available at the airport, and many visitors are expected to arrive by air. He said he would have more information at the May 20 Town Council meeting. Ultraman plans Princeton leg
Ultraman Canada will take place August 30 through September 1 this year. This event involves a 10 km. swim followed by a 145 km. bike ride which will lead from Okanagan Falls to Osoyoos and go over the Richter Pass to Keremeos and back to Okanagan Falls via Highway 3A.
The next challenge, a 274 km. bike ride, begins in Penticton and covers a lot of backroads in the Okanagan area, including Green Lake Road and Twin Lakes, then west to Keremeos, up the Similkameen Valley via Highway 3, and onto Highway 5A to complete the ride at Allison Lake.
The third day is an 84 km. double marathon run from Princeton to Summerland via Highway 40. Poker run set for June
ATV/BC will hold a poker ride in Princeton on June 19 - 22. The Poker Ride is the main event, to be held Saturday, June 21, but there are other events, including a parade of 50 quads in downtown Princeton on Friday, June 20, from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
The total number of participants in the weekend events is estimated, by ATV/BC, at approximately 600 to 700, and includes riders from Alberta and Washington as well as from all areas of B.C.
The location for the organization of the poker ride and other activities will be the fairgrounds. A dunk tank is planned, with proceeds going to charity. Town Council members are invited to be dunked. Town Council plans travel
Princeton's Town Council has agreed to attend two upcoming events. The first invitation comes from Tonasket, Washington, Princeton's "sister city". Mayor Randy McLean, or his delegate, and any other members of Town Council, will attend Tonasket Founder's Day on May 31, and will participate in the Founder's Day parade.
The second invitation accepted was to attend the 100th anniversary of the Red Bridge in Keremeos on July 26. Mayor McLean, or his delegate, and other members of Town Council who are available, will join the Keremeos celebration.
LEADERS EXPRESS PARK STUDY CONCERNS
Directors of the Similkameen Valley Planning Society, which represents the communities and First Nations of the Similkameen Valley, recently issued a statement of concerns to Parks Canada.
A study of the feasibility of a new national park is reaching its final stages. The proposed boundaries place over 80% of the proposed park in the Similkameen watershed. The SVPS says the study method is flawed and results provided so far ignore the interests of Similkameen residents.
SVPS Chair, George Hanson, says there are three main concerns.
"First, there has been no consultation with our organization, our Economic Development Officer or other managers of the Similkameen economy about our economic realities and strategies. The Parks Canada consultants have done their analysis in isolation from local knowledge and expertise.
"Secondly, we have voiced concerns that residents of the Similkameen will suffer economic and social losses if the park goes ahead, while primary benefits might go to the South Okanagan. We will lose range lands and ranches, most of the last free Crown Land will be protected from development and the last unrestricted sports and recreation lands used by local residents will be off limits. Should the park go ahead, then in compensation we expect the park headquarters and visitor centre to be located in the Similkameen. As far as we can tell, Parks Canada has made no commitment to that equitable trade-off.
"And, thirdly, the Lower Similkameen Indian Band has crucial issues with park development related to traditional rights and title. Band members will be the most effected by a park, because it would surround their reserves, cutting them off from their traditional and historic land base."
Chief Joe Dennis of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band says that while the rights and title issues are most important, lack of economic benefits for his people is another concern.
"Right now (Parks Canada) is offering us almost nothing in the way of jobs for our people."
Parks Canada began studying the feasibility of a new national park in 2004. In 2006, a tourism impacts study was completed without input from the SVPS. The final socio-economic feasibility study is being completed by a consultant from Vancouver. Michael McLaughlin is Similkameen Valley Economic Development Officer. He says he is puzzled by the consultant's failure to contact him.
"You would think that, without someone on their team who is familiar with the area's economic plans, they would ask for information. And you would think that if Parks Canada wants to build an economics benefits case for the park, they would want to show the park will be complementary to existing strategies and developments. Instead, they work in isolation, as if a park is not connected to the economy around it."
The SVPS has stopped short of expressing opposition to the park. In the words of SVPS Director Joe Nitsch, "results of the current study are irrelevant and unsuited as a basis for a park proposal."
Hanson has written to Parks Canada Feasibility Study Project Manager Tom Hurd requesting a dialogue on dealing with concerns in the Similkameen.
It is a question of credibility, says Hanson.
"Parks Canada has to prove to us that they have the sensitivity to develop a park on an occupied landscape in a way that respects and addresses the lifestyle and interests of the people who live here."
LALI DEMANDS PGH CUTS RESTORED
Harry Lali, NDP MLA for Yale-Lillooet, called on the Minister of Health to restore cuts to the Princeton Hospital and presented a petition May 8th on behalf of Princeton residents that protests the cuts to community health services.
"The people of Princeton are very clear about the failure of the Campbell-Liberal government to provide much-needed health services to their community," said Lali.
"The petition containing 662 signatures from residents in the Princeton area calls on the government to keep the Emergency Room open and to reinstate surgical services at the Princeton Hospital."
During debate May 7th in the Legislature on Bill 25 entitled Health Professionals (Regulatory Reform) Amendment Act, 2008 Lali said, "On behalf of my community, they've asked me to lobby the Minister. I'm lobbying the Minister to give a little bit of attention to these communities who have been hurt by the Campbell-Liberal government's agenda of cuts."
Since 2001 the Campbell government cut services in small, rural communities.
"The result has meant fewer acute care beds, loss of surgical procedures, and the closure of the natal care units, including the one in Princeton," said Lali.
"Now patients must travel long distances to places like Penticton, Kelowna, Chilliwack and Kamloops for care they previously received in local hospitals in the 1990s. It is simply unacceptable. No one in Princeton can forget Jessica Obey giving birth to her son on the roadside in her family's SUV while the child's father received emergency instructions for delivering the baby over the cell phone," said Lali.
"The family had to rush the pregnant mom 110 kilometres, over mountain passes, to the Penticton hospital all because the Campbell government shut down the natal unit in Princeton. Unfortunately, the BC Liberal government is again handing down more cuts," said Lali.
"And in Princeton people are facing further cuts to the Emergency Room and surgical services. When will this Liberal government stop hurting small communities?" asked Lali from the Legislature.
"The Campbell-Liberals approach has led to crisis after crisis in small communities. The reality is communities in my constituency look forward to the day the Minister rectifies the situation so we don't have these kinds of crises surfacing every few months."
