OSOYOOS TIMES-September 8, 2010

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

Members of the Osoyoos Indian Band who gathered at the band’s Community Hall on Sept. 2 for an information meeting on a proposed housing project questioned the project’s developers about how it could affect traffic and fish in the area.
Roughly 30 band members turned out for a presentation hosted by Eric Van Maren of the Van Maren Group of Companies, Rod Cook of the Kent-Macpherson real estate appraisal, consultation and arbitration firm and Darryl Arsenault, a senior fisheries biologist from Golder Associates Ltd. acting as environmental consultant to the developers.
The presentation focused on Van Maren’s bid to build between 275 and 300 recreational homes on 28 hectares of band land belonging to band elders Jane Stelkia and Modesta Betterton south of Black Sage Road.
Part of the development also includes a proposal to build 150 boat slips in a bay adjoining the properties.
In order for the developers to go ahead with their plans, they will need to secure 99-year leases for the land owned by Stelkia and Betterton.
Because of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada policies, 50 per cent of the band’s members will have to approve the development plan through a referendum on Sept. 16 and the band would have to grant the developers the 99-year lease for the properties.
One band member at the information meeting asked the developers if there were any plans to upgrade Inkameep Road, which runs from Black Sage Road to the site of the development, to accommodate increased traffic in the area from people who buy homes within the project.
The developers said there were no plans to upgrade the road, but Van Maren suggested that some of the vegetation along the roadway could be removed to improve sightlines for motorists.
Chief Clarence Louie, who was also present at the meeting, said taxation monies the band receives from the project could be used to maintain and improve the road.
Another band member asked how the proposed boat slip facility could affect fish in that part of the lake such as chinook and sockeye salmon and wanted to know who would monitor boaters using the slips and people attempting to fish in the area.
Van Maren responded by saying that it would be easy to monitor such activities and bylaws could be written by the development’s homeowners organization to deal with boating activities.
He added that all residents living in the proposed project would be subject to such bylaws.
Arsenault responded to the question by saying that the best way to protect fish is to build the boat slips in a sustainable way and keep the slip facility as far away from shore as possible.
Other questions focused on rules about rentals should the development be built.
Cook said there would be no daily rentals, but policies for rentals would still have to be worked out.
The development is meant to be “geared to families,” he added.
Van Maren said that the development would not be operated as a resort and owners would likely only rent to people they know.
The developers told the band members in attendance at the meeting that the project would be beneficial to the local environment since it would mean the removal of roughly 100 cows and horses from the nearby Stelkia ranch that graze near the shoreline and pollute the lake with their droppings.
Van Maren said 75 per cent of the beach area on the land where the project would be built would be restored to its natural condition and would not be open to the public.
There would also be wildlife corridors throughout the development with culverts under roads which animals could use to reach the lake.
As for economic benefits to the band, Van Maren said once the leases for the properties are signed, the band can begin collecting property taxes and the developers estimate such taxes will put between $120 and $150 million into the band’s hands over 99 years.
Local businesses will be used for construction purposes, he added, and employment opportunities for band members will arise.
Cook said the boat slips in the bay will take up an area of roughly 0.7 hectares.
The slips will be for the exclusive use of the project’s homeowners and the slip facility would be located roughly 600 metres away from the point where Inkameep Creek empties into Osoyoos Lake to protect fish.
Arsenault said he had recommended to the developers to keep the boat slips away from shallow areas so the slips don’t attract predatory fish such as bass which he referred to as enemies to salmon.
The most sustainable way to build the slip facility, he added, is to keep its “footprint” small by having the slips away from the shore and accessible by an elevated, narrow walkway.
The developers do not plan to include fuelling services or a boat launch as part of the boat slips facility and Arsenault said people who use the slips should be encouraged to use boats that are as environmentally friendly as possible and the location of fuel spill kits should be indicated to boaters.
He also said he recommended to the developers that the slips should be built out of sturdy materials that won’t leach into the lake, adding that a breakwater would not be needed since the slips would be built in a bay.
Louie told the band members present at the meeting that he supports the project, adding that private property owners such as Stelkia and Betterton should be allowed to develop their land as they see fit as long as they are accommodating good developments and not “flea market” projects.
He said it’s too bad the band can’t simply give the project the go-ahead for the 99-year lease and blamed the Canadian Indian Act for imposing such rules on First Nations peoples.
Band members can vote on the project from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the band’s office at 27104 McKinney Rd. in Oliver.
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