Lyonel Doherty, Times Chronicle
The following are Oliver town council briefs from the May 9 meeting.
Council agrees to acknowledge land
Oliver town council has approved a plan to acknowledge Osoyoos Indian Band territory during its meetings.
The idea came from a meeting in March when Community to Community Forum members discussed Indigenous land acknowledgement with suggestions from OIB Chief Clarence Louie.
The following was approved by town council: “The Town of Oliver acknowledges it is situated on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Osoyoos Indian Band with the Okanagan Nation. We give honour and pay respect to the Osoyoos Indian Band and its people.”
Council agreed the acknowledgement will be read at regular public meetings, during public ceremonies, and placed on the wall in council chambers.
Councillor Petra Veintimilla said she favours the plan, noting she personally likes hearing these acknowledgements.
Oliver age friendly
The Town of Oliver has officially been recognized as an age-friendly B.C. community.
Oliver joins 61 other communities that are recognized to support seniors to live active, safe, socially engaged, and independent lives.
Notice to dissolve
Council directed staff to undertake a notice of intent to dissolve the 7D Drainage System (subject to petition against).
Last year staff communicated with land owners regarding the Community Charter that authorizes the Town to enter their properties to assess the condition of the drainage system. This may require staff to undertake excavation work on these properties.
Any cost for maintenance and repairs would be borne by the property owner.
These land owners were asked if they did not wish to incur these costs, council would be prepared to discontinue operation of the system. To date, the Town has received communication from five of the 11 property owners that they wish to discontinue and dissolve the service.
The deadline to receive petition against forms is June 27. If the Town does not hear back from anyone, it can proceed to dissolve the service.
Water Coun. Rick Machial advised council to ensure that each property owner receives the letter.
Pride Month proclaimed
Council has proclaimed June 1-30 as Pride Month.
On May 9 it directed staff to promote it on the Town’s social media and website.
Pride Month acknowledges and celebrates people who are two-spirit, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender, non-binary, etc.
Councillor Aimee Grice expressed her support, saying the Town should have a “little pocket of Pride money” somewhere to put up a few flags on community lamp posts.
There was some mention of taking down the Town flag and replacing it with a Pride flag.
Project value under $1M
A building permit activity report for April shows a total project value of $991,681.
Council received a report noting two single family developments, four single family improvements and two commercial signage permits.
44 calls for OFD
The Oliver Fire Department responded to 44 calls for service in April. There were 16 calls in the rural area, 18 in town and 10 on the Osoyoos Indian Band reserve.
