— Application to add Kruger Mountain area coming soon —
(OSOYOOS TIMES — Jan.17, 2007) —
The Town of Osoyoos will likely get a bit bigger this year.
Mayor John Slater told the Osoyoos Times last week the Town was still pursuing the Kruger Mountain expansion and should be making a formal application to the province to include a portion of the Kruger Mountain area (over 500 hectares), located west of the Dividend Ridge subdivision, in the next few weeks.rnIn March of 2006, after a year's worth of petitioning by the Town of Osoyoos to annex five areas into the town's boundaries, the Kruger Mountain area's owner voted in favour of joining the town and getting hooked into the town's services. Slater said the area's uses will be a combination of residential and protected areas.
In another area, the so-called northeast extension which includes the East Bench, three of the five property owners (60 per cent) agreed to join the town, but Slater said the amalgamation would be contingent on the east Osoyoos transportation realignment.
We will be talking to the residents about coming in, he said.
The proposed northwest extension, an area that includes Lacey Point to Willow Beach, was the key area in which the Town hoped residents would vote to come into the municipal boundary.
Concern about the state of the area's septic systems and the protection of Osoyoos Lake spurred a joint sewer initiative between the Town of Osoyoos and the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen last year. A study is now underway to determine costs of either replacing the septic systems or hooking the area onto the town's sewer network.
Slater said, The answer from the residents regarding the sewer proposal will determine whether we pursue the petition [to amalgamate the northwest sector] including Willow Beach.
He added Council had not discussed the other two larger areas yet but will be looking at it again later in the year. They include a southwest extension “ taking in the area from Haynes Point to the U.S. Border, and the southeast extension “ which includes the Lakeshore Drive extension to the U.S. Border.
Slater said the Town would not pursue the southwest extension until it received clear indication from the area's residents they wished to join the town. However, he said the town has received more support from the residents in the Lakeshore Drive area due to failing septic systems that would be costly to replace.
He emphasized that any boundary expansions would be resident-driven.
