The Town of Oliver has another group of projects that it wants to gain support for at the UBCM convention this month.
An important weekend for Oliver’s town council is just around the corner.
The annual convention of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities takes place September 21-25, and Mayor Ron Hovanes, along with Councillors Maureen Doerr and Petra Veintimilla, plan to get some important face time with government.
The UBCM is a lobby group representing close to 200 local governments. According to its website it was formed to “provide a common voice for local government,” which it does primarily through its annual conventions.
The UBCM convention is one of the best opportunities for local government representatives to sit down with provincial ministers. Hovanes said that goes a long way towards securing provincial support for important town infrastructure projects.
The mayor said there are four main projects he and town councillors will be pitching.
For two of those projects they have set Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone in their sights.
Hovanes explained that he will ask Stone for provincial funding to help create a roundabout at the notoriously complicated intersection near the hospital. He explained that council has already met with the Osoyoos Indian band and local ministry officials, but he wants to meet with the minister “and just see if there’s some provincial support for that project.”
Additionally, Hovanes said he will petition the minister to help chip in to build a second bridge over the Okanagan River. With several developments—including the soon-to-be-completed provincial prison—and emergency services all on one side, “maybe the time is right that we should be considering putting in a second crossing.”
Hovanes said that hopefully because the provincial prison is a factor there will be provincial money to support the project.
Council representatives also plan to meet with the Minister of Agriculture, Norm Letnick, to ask for provincial support for the continued refurbishment of the canal.
Hovanes said that the historic canal has had lots of work done but that it still needs much more.
“There’s hundreds of thousands of dollars of work that needs to be done on that canal.”
Finally, Hovanes plans to meet with Attorney General Suzanne Anton to continue to advocate for stricter rules surrounding the release of high-risk offenders into small communities.
Hovanes said that in the past these face-to-face meetings have yielded good results for the Town of Oliver.
He explained that two years ago council brought the poor condition of the provincial highway through town to the attention of Todd Stone, and shortly after it was repaired. The town’s water twinning project also got big boosts from sit-downs with ministers.
“We’ve had some real success by building relationships with our provincial partners,” Hovanes said.
“You’re never going down there thinking you’re going to walk away with everything, but I have been doing this long enough to know that these relationships are important, and if you’re not at the table they’re going to assume you don’t need anything.”
He said he is confident that by being there again this year, Oliver has a much better chance of getting its slice of the provincially funded pie.
By Trevor Nichols
