Carol Youngberg (right), the newly-elected Town of Osoyoos councillor, was the special guest speaker of the Osoyoos Rotary Club during its weekly Thursday luncheon last week. Even though she has had to step down as the leader with the Desert Park Exhibition Society, Youngberg told Rotarians that she believes the future for Desert Park looks bright. Plans are being put in place to renovate the grandstand and repair the roof of the grandstand building, said Youngberg, who also informed the crowd of how busy she has been and how she has enjoyed being on council since being elected in November.
KEITH LACEY
Renovating grandstand is crucial, Youngberg tells members of Osoyoos Rotary Club
With some tender loving care and financial commitment to fixing the grandstand, there’s no reason Desert Park can’t become one of this town’s most popular and accessible community facilities.
That was the message from rookie town councillor Carol Youngberg during a presentation made last Thursday at the weekly luncheon meeting of the Osoyoos Rotary Club.
Since being elected to Town of Osoyoos council in November, Carol Youngberg has left her position as the executive director of the Desert Park Exhibition Society.
While she will no longer have a say in the daily operations of Desert Park, Youngberg said she is very proud of the work done by the society over the past several years in not only bringing back horse racing to the community, but also improving and upgrading many of the facilities.
After mentioning that Gary Dyck has taken over as the manager of the Desert Park Exhibition Society and is working hard with more than 100 horses from Alberta now using the barns at the racetrack facility, Youngberg told Rotarians that repairing the grandstand and roof should be the top priority of the organization in 2015.
“It’s critical the grandstand be repaired and usable,” she said. “That building is really important to the community and it’s already owned by the Town of Osoyoos.
“We need citizens to voice their concerns.”
During one of two horse racing dates last summer, she observed that dozens of patrons left early because it was a sweltering hot day and they couldn’t seek protection from the sun by sitting in a upgraded and approved grandstand seating area, said Youngberg.
“It was too hot and there was no place for people to sit,” she said. “I know I’m not going to go to an event when you have to stand up for four hours in the hot sun.”
While she doesn’t foresee a day when Desert Park won’t be used as a horse training and racing facility moving forward, Youngberg shares the opinion of many other citizens that it would be used for much more.
“The focus has to be on sports and community events,” she said. “It could be used to attract tourists and be a real economic driver for our community.”
An engineering report is being completed to detail what’s needed to fix the grandstand and initial reports are the building can be salvaged and upgraded at a reasonable cost, said Youngberg.
There is still plenty of work to do, but the society is hopeful renovations to bring the grandstand to meet all building code obligations can be completed by the end of May, she said.
There is also a plan in place to repair the roof, which should also cost far less money than originally anticipated, she said.
Youngberg, who has lived in Osoyoos for 37 years and has worked all of that time in the real estate industry, started her presentation by talking about how hectic and busy she has been since being elected to town council.
“You’re overwhelmed by all of the material that is constantly placed on your desk,” she said.
She has been appointed to several committees and has thoroughly enjoyed all of the responsibilities that come with the job, she said.
“It’s very exciting and I’m enjoying it a lot,” she said.
She has attended several orientation sessions, along with fellow rookie councillors Mike Campol and Jim King, and they helped immensely in preparing her for all of the duties and responsibilities that come with being a town councillor, said Youngberg.
She is looking forward to learning more on the job and serving her constituents to the best of her ability over the next four years in office.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
