OSOYOOS TIMES-July 22, 2009
Osoyoos town council has been put in the middle of at least two disputes in town this month where neighbours are feuding over various reasons.
In both cases, the universal suggestion from council has been for the parties involved to sit down, find common ground and mediate a solution.
It’s wise advice.
And it’s advice that council should now apply to an issue that has arisen thanks to plans put forth by former mayor Tom Shields regarding Desert Park.
Shields, and the organization of investors and entertainment industry heavyweights behind him, have pitched a rousing agenda to re-launch arena-sized concerts at the park.
Part of his plan includes having his organization take over operation of the park while signing a series of five-year leases for the facility with the Town and inviting the South Interior Recreational Equine Centre (SIREC) to join in to manage all things horse-related at the park.
The idea, regardless of its pros and cons, has raised the ire of SIREC since its members were under the impression that no discussions about the future of the park beyond the group’s six-month lease would be entertained until the fall.
Having the Town bend an ear towards Shields at the two-month mark of the lease has ruffled SIREC’s feathers and rightly so.
The group’s president, Allan Carswell, was spot on when he said no one has done anything beyond talk about reviving the park for years until SIREC stepped up and began breathing life back into the facility this spring.
Now that SIREC has taken a step forward, other groups are coming out of the woodwork to express interest in getting involved with the park, he said.
Perhaps that is a sign of the confidence SIREC has inspired in the wider community about the possibility of returning the park to its past glory.
Regardless, SIREC is a major player in any business having to do with the park at this point.
The Town has listened to Shields proposal and has rightly not committed to anything other than keeping their ears and minds open.
Now is the time for them to sit down with SIREC and Shields’ party, find common ground and mediate a solution.
Because what’s at stake here is the future of a very important resource in our community.
If careful and sensitive steps aren’t taken, anyone who is interested in turning Desert Park back into a vibrant place will walk away out of distrust of the processes at work to find someone to run it, and out of skepticism that the community is serious about the park’s revival.
