It was a very difficult decision, but no one should be looking for villains when it comes to the decision to extend the lease for the Home Building Centre in Osoyoos for another three years.

Mayor Sue McKortoff announced on Monday – to the great surprise of many – that the town and Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) board had signed an agreement to extend the lease for the Home Building Centre on Main Street in Osoyoos for another three years.

This move will ensure that a profitable and successful business that has been a big part of this community for decades – and 16 full-time jobs – won’t be going anywhere.

Paul McCann, the owner of the Home Building Centre in Osoyoos – and three others in Penticton, Kelowna and one in Alberta – shocked the community two weeks ago when he announced he was closing the store in Osoyoos, effective the end of November.

McCann had signed a lease with the town and RDOS, which share ownership of the land where the Home Building Centre is located, to keep the store operational at its current location until the end of September, 2016.

There were “out” clauses that allowed McCann to get out of his lease early and he said he was “making a business decision” to close the store early.

Everything changed when head office from Home Building Centre in Ontario informed McCann that is was unwilling to build a new store to serve the Osoyoos market.

Head office had purchased several large lots near the Osoyoos Airport five years ago and announced it intended to build a multi-million dollar retail outlet on that land.

It was around the same time that the Osoyoos Museum started a campaign to officially look for a new home.

After Home Building Centre’s head office purchased the land near the airport, a deal was reached where it was announced the Osoyoos Museum would move into the Home Building Centre location in late fall of 2016.

There are a lot of dedicated volunteers involved with the Osoyoos Museum Society who are going to be crushed by Monday’s decision.

Instead of moving into an impressive new home in a matter of months, the reality now is they won’t be moving into that home for another five years.

Every single move the museum board has made for several years was directly tied to getting possession of the Home Building Centre building in the fall of 2016. All cost estimates, planning and marketing schemes are now out the window.

The only good news is the museum still has a home at its current site, even though that building is very old, worn down and falling apart with each passing month and year.

Everyone involved can only hope a new Home Building Centre retail outlet will be built at the airport site some time in the next five years. At the end of the day, the decision makers in this community had to choose between keeping a successful business in town and saving jobs.

If you asked taxpayers from Osoyoos if the correct decision has been made, we have little doubt the vast majority would say yes.