OSOYOOS TIMES-October 6, 2010

By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times

The proposed Lions Bay marina may only include boat slips in the lagoon next to the Lake Osoyoos Sailing Club and not the planned F-docks.
At a closed meeting on Sept. 9, Osoyoos council “committed to only constructing the first phase of 32 slips to ensure cleanup of the lagoon and guarantee 16 slips for (Osoyoos Shoreline Development) customers,” states a semi-annual report from Alain Cunningham, the Town’s planning and development services director.
The report, which was prepared for the Sept. 20 committee of the whole meeting, also states that during a conference call between Coun. Ted Cronmiller, Barry Romanko, the Town’s chief administrative officer, and Glen Harris of Osoyoos Shoreline Development Limited, the developers of the Watermark Beach Resort, Harris said he may have to “rethink his 50/50 cost sharing for the parking/staging area and public washroom, but would certainly continue his commitment to sharing in slip costs.”
The plan for the marina was to build more than 130 slips in the lagoon and on two F-shaped docks extending into the lake.
The Town and the developers were going to share the costs of the project and split the slips between the resort and the public.
On July 19, council gave final approval to a zoning amendment that would allow for the development of the marina in the Lions Park area off of Spartan Drive.
However, council also passed a provision earlier in the summer that any marina developed in the Lions Park lagoon area would be subject to a development permit process and if the project is phased, council would have to approve each phase.
Mayor Stu Wells said council has only committed to this first phase of the project at this point because, in his opinion, the overall concept is “too big.”
He said developing the lagoon and upgrading the boat launch between the lagoon and the sailing club is enough for now and it would be too expensive to build the F-docks.
Wells added, however, that the F-docks could still be built at a future date.
He said much of the reason for council’s decision on committing only to the first phase comes from input provided to the Town during information sessions and public hearings on the marina concept.
Discussions are still ongoing between the Town and developers about how exactly the slips at the marina will be shared and how much each side will pay for the marina’s construction.
Harris said the decision to focus on just the lagoon right now is a good one.
He said he’s confident that once the lagoon phase is completed and proves viable economically it will give the Town and the developers the incentive to start discussions about moving ahead with the next phases of the project.
The reason for having to “rethink” some of his cost-sharing commitments to amenities such as parking and washrooms comes down to dollars and cents, Harris said.
Because the plan is to now build fewer slips, there will be less cash coming in that could be put towards infrastructure projects such as the parking and staging area.
Guests of the resort will be able to park at Watermark, Harris added, and public money is available for parking near the lagoon.
Discussions are still ongoing with the Town about how cost-sharing will be carried out, he added.
Phase 1 of the project will cost roughly $900,000 without parking and it is hoped construction could start as early as the end of this year and be completed by April, Harris said.
The entire project was expected to cost as much as $2.5 million.
Transport Canada issued the “main approval” for the project on Aug. 12, Harris said, and all three phases of the project have now been approved, with the exception of some outstanding tenure documents, by the provincial Integrated Land Management Bureau and Environment Ministry as well as the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Cunningham said he received an email on Oct. 4 from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that they are prepared to give approval to the marina concept under the federal Fisheries Act.
The Town has also made an offer of purchase to property owners holding three titles to lands where the former Canadian Pacific railway was located.
These railway easements run parallel to Spartan Drive and the Town wants to purchase them in order to widen the road and provide more parking in the Lions Park area.
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