A plan to upgrade and connect the current walking trail system throughout the Town of Osoyoos is where a large percentage of Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding provided by the provincial government will be spent in 2016.

Town of Osoyoos council unanimously supported recommendations by the town’s Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko presented during last week’s regular meeting of council on how to best spend RMI funding over the next two years.

Provincial funding through the RMI has been extended until the end of 2017, which is very good news for the community as it will allow many projects to proceed over the next 24 months, said Romanko.

“The program extension resulted in the need to update our Resort Municipality strategy,” said Romanko. “A workshop attended by invited tourism related stakeholders was facilitated … on June 8, 2015.

“Attendee stakeholders included representatives from Destination Osoyoos, the local hotel association, Osoyoos Indian Band, restaurant industry, Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, special events organizers, council and management staff. The purpose of the workshop was to identify future projects to be funded by RMI funds.’

Results from the workshop were circulated to workshop participants for feedback and minor comments were received, said Romanko,

Work was then completed to develop a final plan for provincial approval and the province wanted to approve the draft plan prior to being brought back to town council for final approval, he said.

For the past several years, the Town of Osoyoos has received between $380,000 to $400,000 per year through the RMI program.

Most of the projects identified under RMI funding are infrastructure projects, said Romanko.

The biggest project on the books for 2016 is a plan to upgrade and connect trails. The plan is to spend $443,000 in RMI funding and another $130,000 in municipal funding.

The project to upgrade current trails will enhance community walkability, accessibility and hiking experiences. The focus will be on enhancement of previous RMI investments to the Canal Trail, which will be upgraded with hard surfacing and lighting, said Romanko. An additional site will be identified for hard surfacing based on providing connectivity to the town’s natural areas.

Trails and walking paths need to be upgraded to provide increased visitor experience, he said.

The current Canal Trail gravel base provides for a poor biking and accessibility challenges for users and providing hard surface connectivity wil the current trail system will provide visitors with more riding and hiking options, he said.

This project is expected to start construction in September of 2016 and be completed before Sept. 1 of 2017.

Other projects on the books where RMI funds will be spent in 2016 include:

• $45,000 in RMI funding and another $10,000 in municipal funding to continue the Beach Cleaner capital upkeep program. The project goal is to continue providing safe, clean and attractive beaches that will enhance visitor experience. The quality of local beaches has increased by providing finer sands and having rocks removed. Feedback on beach user satisfaction has been ongoing for seven years now and has received positive reviews from benefitting local hotel owners.

• Spending another $66,500 and additional $3,000 in municipal funding to continue the boat trailer parking program in Osoyoos. The town will continue to lease two areas of private lands in order to provide boat trailer parking. One area functions as the marina parking overflow and the other services hotel guests that bring their boats. The program started in early 2015.

• Spending $103,000 in RMI funds and another $50,000 in municipal funding towards continued downtown revitalization. The program will continue to revitalize the downtown core through the development of new sidewalks, lighting, pedestrian safety bump outs and street amenities. Main Street property owners and shop leaders will continue to be engaged to develop a downtown revitalization project. Significant investments have already been made in activity areas and the town needs a refresh of its Main Street to enhance tourism appeal. This money will be spent through the fall of 2019.

• A total of $67,000 in RMI funding will be spent to provide “seed funding” to clubs and organizations to develop events that will attract and entertain tourists. Projects may involve the development of new attractions or the support of existing attractions such as the Cherry Fiesta, Gyro Park summer concert series, Desert Live Music Festival and Cactus Jalopies car show.

• Spending $24,000 on waterfront safety improvements, including the capital purchases and installation of swim area safety buoys. Osoyoos Lake is a comparatively small lake with very extensive boating, manpowered watercraft and swimmer conflicts and the buoys are needed and identify secured areas from power boaters, swimmers and paddlers to enjoy a safe water activity experience.

• Spending $104,00 in RMI funding through 2018 to install tourist directional, amenity information and environmental and community history signage across town.

Romanko said RMI funding has had a profound impact on the development of facilities and services that make Osoyoos a destination resort community, enhance visitor experience and contribute to the overall quality of life of residents across the region.

Mayor Sue McKortoff said the town extends a sincere thank you to the provincial government for its vision and fortitude to implement the RMI.

Council also thanks the small business community and volunteers who have contributed to the public consultation sessions that built the Resort Development Strategy and the many other planning documents that guide the community’s future investments.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times