Town of Osoyoos council has tentatively approved allowing two street food vendors to operate mobile units in town this summer.

Senior staff will now meet with the owners of Brennanigan’s Valley Ice Cream and Osoyoos Delight Asian Fusion Snacks to discuss which location they would prefer following discussion by councillors on Monday.

Senior planner Dilys Huang said the owner of the Asian fusion vending cart is looking to set up the food truck in Goodman Park, while the ice cream mobile unit had accepted opening on Pioneer Parkway, after the town discussed possible problems with parking at the preferred location of Lions Park.

Coun. C.J. Rhodes said location is very important to the success of these temporary street vendors and he was worried about the proposed Goodman Park location because it is used as a dog park by many local residents and visitors.

At the end of a lengthy discussion, Huang said she would meet with the proprietors to discuss their preferred choices in either Lions Park, Goodman Park or Pioneer Walkway.

Once the final locations are selected, the business owners can apply for a business license and they should be able to set up shop and start selling products before the Canada Day long weekend, said Huang.

All street food vendors approved by council in Osoyoos must meet strict health and safety standards implemented by Interior Health, she said.

Brennanigan’s Valley Ice Cream are interested in operating until mid-October and propose to serve ice cream, frozen yogurt, cold drinks, chips, and ice cream floats.

Osoyoos Delight Asian Fusion Snacks is interested in operating from early July until the end of September, and proposes to sell various snack items, such as cold beverages, chow mein, deep fried fish, chicken, chips, calamari, and sushi, said Huang.

Food items will be prepared in the vendor’s existing kitchen at O’De|ights Cafe and will be served from a vending cart.

Each business will be required to pay a business license fee of $125 and $350 per month to use town land to run their operations, she said.

An additional fee of $150 for each parking stall consumed will also be charged.

Fire hall construction is under budget

Town council heard Monday that construction of the new fire hall for the Town of Osoyoos is under budget and should be finished on time for its scheduled opening this fall.

Jim Zakall, the town’s director of financial services, said just over $2.8 million of the $6.6 million project has been paid out so far.

The budget for the fire hall was $6,619,800, which is being funded from a contribution from the Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection District and a Federal Gas Tax grant.

The amount of borrowing established through a fire hall referendum held in conjunction with the 2014 municipal election was $5,962,657, said Zakall.

The cost of repaying that loan will be shared between the Town of Osoyoos, the Osoyoos Rural Fire Protection District and the Osoyoos Indian Band. “At this time the project is projected to come in under budget,” said Zakall. “The amount under is yet to be determined.”

With the final cost of the new fire hall yet to be determined, Zakall said he is recommending that council approve a temporary borrowing bylaw that would allow the Town to borrow up to $5 million to  “internally finance the remainder of the project through to completion this fall.

“This allows for the project to be completed and the final costs accounted for before borrowing the funds through debenture in the spring of 2017,” he said.

“This allows for all the costs associated with he construction of the fire hall to be compiled before requesting the long term borrowing.”

Council unanimously supported Zakall’s request.

Council will apply for funding again

The Town of Osoyoos will try again to apply for funding under the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program.

CAO Barry Romanko said the federal government has announced another intake of applications for funding.

An earlier application by the town in the amount of $175,000 for the paving and lighting of the canal trail was unsuccessful, said Romanko.

With a lesser amount identified, the project may have more chance of receiving funding if a smaller project amount is submitted. This is a “shovel ready project” that will meet the grant program intake and construction, he said.

The amount that will now be applied for is just under $60,000, he said.

Council has already approved this project’s tendered price and additional resort municipal funding for additional walkway paving to link the Desert Rose subdivision and additional canal trail paving on the north side of the highway, he said.

This project will be completed in fall to avoid the busy summer season and to allow for estimates and engineering on the new trail sections, he said.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times