Town of Osoyoos council is willing to contribute $300,000 in local taxpayer funding on the condition the Town is successful in applying for half a million in funding from a provincial Rural Dividend Grant (RDG).
In a report to council on Monday, chief administrative officer Barry Romanko said “the focus of this grant is economic development and community economic sustainability. The program has three application components, with amounts to the maximum of $10,000, $100,000 and $500,000.”
At the last Committee of the Whole meeting in early November, Osoyoos Golf Club board member Paul Daminato provided council with an outline of the club’s issues relating to the need to install a new irrigation system on the original nine holes of the Park Meadows course.
The project was estimated to have a price tag of $1.2 million and the club was seeking a $300,000 contribution from the Town.
“The request for support was based on the link between the club and the Town’s need to distribute recycled water to maintain lagoon levels,” said Romanko. “The Town’s waste water distribution system is operationally tied to the club’s successful distribution of irrigation water. The club distributes approximately 85 per cent of the Town’s treated waste water.”
The RDG enables the Osoyoos Golf Club to apply for $500,000 in funding to assist with the irrigation project based on its link to the economic development contribution of golf activity to the Town’s overall economy, he said.
“There may be additional environmental points made because the use of water for golf course irrigation prevents the distribution of treated sewer water into Osoyoos Lake,” he said. “In order to receive consideration for the $500,000 grant, there must be a partnership component to the application.
“The partners don’t need to contribute funds, however, the partnership illustrates broader community support. It is proposed that the Town, Destination Osoyoos and the Osoyoos Golf Club will partner on this application.”
Destination Osoyoos will assist by providing economic impact information, the Town by illustrating support through providing some matching funds and the club through contributing the needed information and the remaining funding of $400,000, said Romanko.
“This request for funds is coming prior to (2018) budget due to the timing of the grant deadline,” he said. “Bringing the request for decision to the Dec. 6 (council) meeting would result in a small window of time to develop the grant application,” he said.
The community needs a high performing and reliable irrigation system at the Osoyoos Golf Club to ensure the proper and efficient distribution of recycled water and there is funding available in the Town’s sewer reserve account to contribute $300,000 towards this project, said Romanko.
Romanko told council he doesn’t know how the members with the golf club would raise their $400,000 contribution, but suggested it would come through a fundraising project or borrowing money and repaying it over a longer term.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said this project “seems like a lot of money”, but she understood the importance of replacing the irrigation system at the golf club and ensuring the Town’s distribution system for recycled water remains intact for years to come.
Council voted unanimously in favour of partnering with the Osoyoos Golf Club and providing $300,000 from its sewer reserve account to assist with paying for a new irrigation upgrade at the golf course.
Romanko made it very clear that contribution will only be forthcoming if the Town is successful in receiving the $500,000 RDG funding from the provincial government.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
