Year in Review – December – Rising crime rates and plans to build new downtown pier in Osoyoos made headlines

Concerns over the rising crime rate in Osoyoos, the deal to sell Mount Baldy Ski Resort leading to legal action and town council moving towards approving a new $1 million pier in Gyro Park made headlines in December.

It was announced in early December that local residents would be asked to attend a community town hall meeting organized by the RCMP to discuss the serious increase in property and petty crime in Osoyoos over the past several months.

The new commander of the Osoyoos RCMP detachment told Town of Osoyoos council that property crime and petty crime has become rampant in our community over the past several months.

Sgt. Randy Bosch recommended a town hall meeting be held to discuss the problem and educate the public on what they can do to not become a victim of crime.

Bosch acknowledged there has been a spiked increase in motor vehicle thefts, thefts from vehicles, break and enters into residences and businesses and internet and mass marketing fraud schemes over the past several months.

The increase in criminal activity in Osoyoos has remained over an extended period of several months, prompting him to suggest a community town hall meeting would benefit local residents, said Bosch.

“My goal is to try and educate the public and prevent these crimes from happening to them and to take the time to work with us to prevent them in the future,” said Bosch.

After hearing from several councillors, Bosch agreed that holding the meeting in March to ensure strong attendance is a really good idea.

Thanks to the good people at the Osoyoos Baptist Church, no one went hungry or was alone on Christmas Day in Osoyoos.

That’s because the Osoyoos Baptist Church organized its annual Christmas Day Dinner, which has traditionally attracted between 120 and 150 people over the past several years.

The church handed out more than 100 food hampers through the Osoyoos Food Bank.

The Christmas Dinner has been around for more than 15 years and has become as much a part of this community as hot weather in the summertime, said Pastor Phil Johnson, who has been the pastor at Osoyoos Baptist Church for 12 years.

Unlike other communities, where Christmas dinners are geared towards street people and those suffering from economic hardship, the Osoyoos Christmas dinner is all about community, said Johnson.

“Our Christmas dinner is not just for the poor … it’s for everyone in the community,” he said. “There are those who don’t have a lot and would be alone at Christmas, but we also get families that come out and parents who want to show their children what being part of the community is all about.

“A lot of people who are going through a tough time for whatever reason often have a very difficult time coping with Christmas and the holiday season,” he said. “It’s just good to know that people don’t have to be alone and that everyone is welcome to join us on Christmas day.

Town of Osoyoos council appeared fully supportive of a plan to build a new $1 million town pier that will be erected in Gyro Park stretching out into Osoyoos Lake at virtually the same location as the town’s old pier that was torn down several years ago.

The pier, which would tentatively be 63 metres in length and five metres wide, could be one of the most unique and “iconic” in the country as it would be visible from almost the entire length of Main Street, which is packed with tourists during the busy tourist season in Osoyoos, said consultant Ray Grifone.

Grifone is the project manager with CTQ Consulting from Kelowna, the company hired by the town to complete the Gyro Pier Advancement Study.

During a presentation to town council, Grifone said there has been overwhelmingly positive response from town council and local residents to the proposed pier.

It’s expected the pier would be built with funding provided to the town through the province’s Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding, which is aimed at increasing tourism in the community.

The town received $400,000 in RMI funding for 2015. Grifone noted the pier could be built and financed in phases over one or more years.

An agreement with a new prospective buyer that could have seen the Mount Baldy ski resort open this season hit a major bump in a Vancouver court in early December.

The agreement in principal was reached in mid-November after the receiver and major secured creditor rejected a last-ditch offer from Baldy Capital Corporation on Nov. 4.

Baldy Capital Corporation operated the resort last season under an operating agreement from January to March, 2015 until a purchase agreement could be reached. That purchase fell through last spring and efforts to reach a new agreement this fall were unsuccessful.

When lawyers for the receiver and secured creditor appeared in court Monday, seeking clarification and permission from the court that would have allowed the new deal to go ahead, Baldy Capital Corporation filed an objection.

Gary Powroznik, the receiver with G-Force Group, said that because the application before the Supreme Court of B.C. remained contested, he didn’t believe a deal could be reached to open the facility in 2016.

Two members of MLA Linda Larson’s secret focus group oppose a national park in the South Okanagan and two were undecided.

The fifth member was unidentified from the group that will be reviewing public feedback on the provincial government’s Intentions Paper, which proposes two unconnected areas for a national park reserve.

Larson had refused to identify the members of her group saying that this would open them up to harassment.

The two national park opponents are Jesse Zeman of the B.C. Wildlife Federation, a major hunting, angling and conservation group, and Ernie Dumais, a member of the anti-park Grassland Park Review Coalition.

Those saying they are undecided are Beth Garrish, an Oliver realtor, and Mark Pendergraft, the chair and Area A (rural Osoyoos) representative on the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS).

Pendergraft acknowledges that he’s often identified as being on the “no” side and he has family members who own land in the affected area, but he says he sees both sides of the issue.

Zeman, who lives in Kelowna and is a program manager with the B.C. Wildlife Federation, said his group actively supports conservation, but opposes involving Parks Canada.

“Our position on the area is that we support conservation,” he said, noting that members have contributed to the Nature Trust of B.C., the B.C. Conservation Foundation and the Okanagan Wildlife Heritage Society Fund.

“We recognize that it’s a very special part of British Columbia and of Canada, but in terms of Parks Canada’s approach, it’s not something that we have supported,” he said. “Their model tends to be more of an exclusive as opposed to an inclusive approach to conservation.”

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times