Town of Osoyoos council is ready to sign an agreement that would allow BC Transit to continue providing bus service to customers here in Osoyoos.

The town has administered the South Okanagan Transit system through an operating agreement with BC Transit for several years and this agreement must be renewed annually.

The 2016-17 operating agreement has been received by town administration and a council resolution is required to approve it, said Janette Van Vianen, the town’s director of corporate services.

“Staff has been having continued discussions with BC Transit and the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) with regard to the future of this operating agreement and the possibility of the RDOS taking this on,” she said. “No decision has been made as yet by the RDOS. The RDOS and the Town of Oliver have continued to pay a proportionate share of the municipal sharing of the operating costs on a year to year basis.”

A further report on the South Okanagan transit system is expected to be brought forward to council at either the June 6 or June 20 council meeting, which addresses the additional funding that has been provided by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for transit in B.C., said Van Vianen.

At that time, more information will be provided as to any possible future improvements and/or expansion to the transit system, she said.

OSS wants to hang grad composites at Sonora Centre

Osoyoos Secondary School administration has approached the town about hanging graduation composites at the Sonora Community Centre once the high school closes in June.

Administration and teachers at OSS felt strongly that graduate composites and possibly some banners and trophies should be put on display in Osoyoos, said Gerald Davis, the town’s director of community services during a presentation to town council on Monday.

“They felt that the Sonora Community Centre would be an excellent place for former grads to view their high school pictures and sports accolades,” said Davis. “School District 53 would like to have an agreement that states the composites, trophies and banners are owned by the school district and if the school ever opened in the future they would like to bring them back to the school to display.

“There are 33 grad pictures and an number of trophies and banners. The building has a few options where we can put these pictures on display. The school has also approached the Osoyoos Museum about taking other items that are older.”

Council voted unanimously in favour of a motion for town staff to enter into an agreement with School District 53 to display the graduate composites at the Sonora Community Centre.

With the recent announcement of the pending closure of OSS by School District 53’s board of trustees, the upcoming graduation ceremony in late June could be the last ever held at the current site of the Osoyoos high school.

Council votes in favour of repairing town Well No. 6

Town council has approved spending more than $24,000 to repair a town well that provides more than 15 per cent of the drinking water to the community.

Jim Dinwoodie, the town’s director of operational services, told council on Monday that his department requested budget approval from council to develop a second irrigation well in Gyro Park to supplement the existing irrigation system.

“In April of this year, the operational services department noticed a dramatic decline in the amount of water produced by Well No. 6 (from 700 to 250 gallons per minute),” he said. “Western Water Associates Ltd. was hired to conduct an analysis of Well No. 6 and recommended remediation measures to improve water production from this site.

“This dramatic reduction in water production from Well No. 6 is probably the result of mineral encrustation on the well intake screens.”

In order to ensure an adequate water supply to the town during the upcoming summer, it is imperative that this well produce an increased volume of water, he said.

“This can be accomplished by performing the recommended removal of encrustation from the well screens (both mechanical and chemical) as recommended in the report.

The delay in drilling an additional irrigation well in Gyro Park by one year will probably not result in any noticeable adverse effects to the appearance of Gyro Park this summer, said Dinwoodie.

Well No. 6 is located near Spartan Drive near Lions Park.

Town council unanimously approved spending just over $24,000 to do the repairs to the well.

All of the drinking water that is supplied to local homes and business in Osoyoos is done so through a series of wells spread throughout the Town of Osoyoos.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times