By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
An informational sign at Pioneer Walkway near the Memorial Fountain was vandalized last week with the sign ripped from its foundation, and ending up on the beach below.
The sign – originally paid for by the International Joint Commission (IJC) which is responsible for transboundary issues regarding Osoyoos Lake – commemorates cooperation between Canada and the US on water issues in the lake. There is one sign here in Osoyoos and an identical one in Oroville, Washington.
The sign was ripped out of its foundation and found upright on the beach below on Thursday, Oct. 27 just ahead of the two-and-a-half day Nk’mip (Osoyoos Lake) Water Science Forum.
“We’re really disappointed this happened especially when they’re all here,” Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff said in reference to IJC representatives and others from the US who were in town for the Forum.
“I have talked to the IJC about it and they assured me that these types of things happen occasionally and they would help pay for the damages,” she said.
“We’re looking at it,” McKortoff said in reference to the sign which along with its Oroville doppelgänger was made in Oliver.
“We’re probably not going to do anything about it right now because we don’t want to start fixing it in the winter time,” she added.
“We’ll have a good look at it and we’ll talk to the company that made it to see what kind of repairs need to be done. There is a kind of a brownish mark across the face of it. We’re not quite sure how much damage there is,” McKortoff said.
Whether a police report is filed over the vandalism the mayor says she’s leaving the issue in the hands of the CAO and town staff for now.
The Town is at a loss as to what happened to the IJC sign commemorating transborder lake cooperation. Don Urquhart photo
