Standardbred horses make their way down the track in the first ever harness race at Desert Park in August. The course was one mile long and the horses passed the finish like twice during the race. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Newly-elected Mayor Sue McKortoff and Town of Osoyoos council were asked to provide annual funding to ensure Desert Park can become a modern, multi-purpose community centre, while the Cactus Jalopies Car Show would like an annual contribution of taxpayer dollars to ensure the popular motorcycle stunt team that performs at that event will return each year.
Those were just two of the requests made during a public input session organized by town administration Monday evening in council chambers at town hall.
McKortoff told the crowd of almost 20 local residents that the idea to hold a public input session to allow members of the public to provide comments and ideas to be considered by council during upcoming budget deliberations was suggested by town chief administrative officer Barry Romanko.
Suggestions and ideas presented at Monday’s meeting will be strongly considered by council during the 2015 budget deliberations, which are scheduled to begin in only a few weeks, said McKortoff.
“We will listen and take questions, but no final decisions will be made” as a result of the public input sessions, she said.
Five local residents made presentations to council during the inaugural public input sessions – three were representing local businesses or organizations, while the other two were private citizens asking council to consider infrastructure upgrades in their neighbourhoods.
Gary Dyck, representing the Desert Park Exhibition Society, said the organization has big plans to turn the facility into one of the premier horse racing and multi-purpose community facilities in the entire South Okanagan.
All the organization’s plans are contingent on ensuring the grandstand and clubhouse facility are fully upgraded and brought up to provincial building code standards, said Dyck.
The plan is to rebuild and upgrade the facility in three phases over the next couple of years, with all upgrades detailed in a recent engineering report approved by the society, he said.
“We feel this is a unique facility unlike any other in the South Okanagan … it can create economic spinoffs that will be huge,” he said.
The society has plans to hold regular events at Desert Park, including dog obedience trials, heavy horse pulls, cricket tournaments, gospel music concerts, vintage car shows and large soccer tournaments, he said.
“We plan on greatly increasing the number of user groups,” he said.
The society would also like to increase the number of horse racing events from the current two per summer, he said.
Members of the society would like to make a more detailed presentation about their future plans for Desert Park at a regular meeting of town council within the next 30 days, said Dyck.
“We are excited by the prospects of what we bring to this community,” he said.
The society will be asking town council for $37,000 in funding as part of the 2015 budget process and would like a commitment of this amount over the next several years to ensure rebuilding plans for the grandstand and clubhouse facility can be completed, he said.
Ingrid Jarrett, general manager of the Watermark Beach Resort, made a presentation encouraging council to spend the money it receives from Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding from the province to go towards beautifying Gyro Park and other downtown amenities.
The Watermark pays over $500,000 annually in municipal property taxes and contributes another $80,000 through the town’s hotel tax program on top of the $70 million spent to build the hotel five years ago, said Jarrett.
“We want to know what does the future look like in this beautiful town,” she said.
Jarrett said she was thrilled to see the town issued a request for proposals on Monday relating to building a brand new pier near the town’s main beach on Gyro Park.
Plans to complete the renovation of Gyro Park, known as Spirit Square, is also greatly appreciated as are plans to replace the bandshell inside the park, she said.
The town does a good job with landscaping and installing plants and shrubs along Main Street, but it would be nice if that could be extended along the boardwalk along the shores of Osoyoos Lake, she said.
Improving a designated cycling trail throughout the town would also be appreciated as would increasing the number of garbage and recycling bins along the walkway that begins in front of the Watermark, she said.
Gary Dell, representing Cactus Jalopies Desert Wine Tour and Car Show, said plans for the 10th annual show are well underway and organizers are hoping for another hugely successful event.
This year’s car show will take place in Gyro Park on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 with more than 120 vintage cars put on display, attracting huge crowds to the park, he said.
The event will conclude with a drag racing event at Osoyoos Airport sponsored by the Wine Country Racing Association on Sunday, June 8.
Cactus Jalopies has in less than a decade become one of the best vintage car shows in the province, said Dell.
“We’ve put Osoyoos on the map as one of the premier car shows in the Pacific Northwest,” he said.
One of the most popular events is the motorcycle stunt show that takes place in the town parking lot behind The Owl Pub and Restaurant, he said.
It costs organizers roughly $5,000 to bring in the equipment and professional riders who put on the show.
“If this kind of show was held indoors, people would easily pay $20 to see a show of this calibre,” he said.
Dell requested town council provide $5,000 annually to defer the costs of paying for the motorcycle stunt team to come in from Kelowna to perform at the Cactus Jalopies event.
Brad Elenko, a longtime Osoyoos resident, asked council to consider completing a project that would extend the sidewalk along Main Street between 68th Avenue and 85th Street.
A section of sidewalk was installed from Osoyoos Elementary School to 85th Street, but the sidewalk ends and should be extended to Main Street, said Elenko.
The project has been on the books for several years, but has yet to be completed and should be as it presents a serious safety concern, said Elenko.
Completing the sidewalk project would improve crosswalk safety, vehicular safety and create more than three dozen new parking stalls, he said.
“It’s the longest crosswalk in town … it is a very dangerous crosswalk … I haven’t seen anything serious happen there, but it’s only a matter of time,” he said.
Ralph Otto, a longtime homeowner on Jasmine Drive, said the roadway is in need of serious upgrades.
He invited all members of council to join him for a walk along the road at their convenience to see the poor condition of the road.
McKortoff thanked everyone who made presentations to council and assured them their concerns will be seriously considered by council during budget deliberations over the next several weeks.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
