Osoyoos town hall. (File photo)
By Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
While a petition attempting to change Osoyoos town council’s minds on the national park reserve was submitted, there were no questions for councillors relating to the annual general meeting.
Birgit Arnstein was the only Osoyoos resident to step up to the podium after town council and staff presented their annual reports on Monday at 1 p.m. in Town Hall.
“I just wanted to say as a member of the community, as an individual member also a person on various committees, I interact with both staff and council and I really appreciate how warm and receiving staff and council are when we have questions,” Arnstein said.
Dustin Stephens showed up to the annual general meeting to present Mayor Sue McKortoff with a copy of a 405-signature petition urging council to reconsider their collective position on the proposed national park reserve in the South Okanagan.
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The town chose not to join MLA Linda Larson’s call for a referendum on the proposed park reserve in the South Okanagan in March.
“What I was hoping was that they would change their minds and reverse their decision. On an individual level if they want to support the national park, that’s totally fine, but since they are elected representatives, this is a unique case,” Stephens said.
He added the national park will have a big impact on the town and surrounding rural areas, putting council in a unique position. There is “confusion as to where the majority of support lies locally,” according to Stephens.
“To be fair, in the true spirit of democracy, let’s put it to the people, the people who will be most directly impacted by this park and put it to a vote, put it to a referendum,” Stephens said.
While McKortoff spoke with Stephens after the annual general meeting on Monday, receiving a copy of the petition, he was unable to speak, as the subject of a national park was not related to the annual report.
Stephens said his attempts to formally present before council at regular meetings have been “stonewalled.”
Year in review
Mayor Sue McKortoff highlighted two events where council and staff spent the most time and resources in 2018: the flooding and evacuation of homes in May and the election of a new council.
“(The flooding) was definitely a huge issue for all of us to deal with and we hope that we’ve learned quite a lot about how to manage floods and get resources and use the facilities that we have, certainly the regional district was a big part of it too because that was the emergency operations centre,” McKortoff said.
The total cost of the flooding for the town was $127,337, according to the town’s annual report, a majority of which was recoverable from the province. Over 200,000 sandbags were used as well as 1.3 kilometers of tiger dams.
Last fall’s election marked the first election held in Osoyoos since the census population went over 5,000 residents. The first advance voting in Osoyoos on Oct. 10, 2018 saw 187 ballots cast, with 307 cast at the second advanced poll. In total 1,593 votes were cast for a 39 per cent voter turnout, down from 42 per cent in 2014 and 40 per cent in 2011.
Looking ahead, McKortoff said a downtown revitalization project will be taking form some time in the next two years after some consultation with the community has been held.
“I believe very soon we are going to choose a group to come in and lead that, so that’s a positive. I think it will take another year, but it has been taking awhile to get that one organized,” McKortoff said.
By the numbers
The Town of Osoyoos received 263 total complaints in 2018, up from 183 in 2017, but considerably down from 2016 when the town office received 513. Most complaints revolved around unsightly premises, with 91 complaints lodged, followed by 45 animal-related complaints and 44 general requests, which include “transient complaints, abandoned vehicles and boats, tree maintenance, litter, unsafe fencing, etc.” the annual report states.
Osoyoos bylaw dealt with 1,123 alcohol infractions, up slightly from 1,306 in 2017. Bylaw also responded to 1,023 dog-related complaints, 689 smoking-related infractions, 126 traffic issues, 86 skateboard infractions and 42 infractions related to driving or parking on grass.
A total of 151 warning tickets and 166 municipal tickets were issued last year, most (130) related to boat trailer parking. Bylaw officers completed unsightly property inspections on 91 different properties.
“Seasonal workers continued to be an issue in 2018,” the report states. “The town continues to work with the RCMP and focusing bylaw enforcement on parks and beaches to minimize issues.”
The Osoyoos Fire Department responded to a total 128 town, and 60 rural, calls. Firefighters responded to 17 motor vehicle incidents in town and 14 in rural areas, 11 vehicle fires in town and five in rural areas and two wildfire responses in the town boundary, and eight in rural areas.
