Road issues
Okanagan Falls resident are upset that a section of White Lake Road was repaved a week after the Grandfondo cycling event, and improvements promised to Eastside Road have not yet begun.
Area “D” Director Tom Siddon expressed a desire for the regional district board to put more pressure on the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to improve local road issues, which many residents felt were not being looked after. It was proposed that the a highways spokesperson be asked to meet with the board later this year.
Osoyoos Lake salmon fishing
Sportfishing on Osoyoos Lake is a popular pastime of late, with 500,000 salmon now spawning in the lake, said Osoyoos alternate Director C.J. Rhodes.
“It’s a wonderful process,” he said to the board, congratulating the Okanagan Nation Band for their work to restore the salmon run in the Okanagan.
Rhodes also commented on the annual problem of transient misbehaviour. He said that Osoyoos was combatting the problem this year by purchasing extra police service that allowed an RCMP member to patrol with bylaw enforcement officers. He said the procedure was working well so far.
Keremeos notes
Keremeos Director Manfred Bauer told the board that the Similkameen Valley Planning Society was currently looking at the terms of reference for the Similkameen Watershed Study. He expected it to be coming before the board for approval shortly.
Bauer noted that Keremeos had few reports of transient misbehaviour this summer, so far.
He also noted that Greyhound was looking for a new depot in the village before the end of August.
Ambulatory Care Tower letter campaign
Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital Chair Janice Perrino told the board that the letter campaign to engage the public in lobbying the provincial government to provide funding for the Penticton Regional Hospital Ambulatory Care Tower was proceeding, with 600 letters sent so far.
Tourism down
District of Summerland Director Orv Robsin told the board that his community had seen a drop in tourism so far this summer. RDOS Chair Dan Ashton observed that it was widespread, noting that comments he had heard from businesses in Jasper, Alberta, had echoed similar sentiment.
In Keremeos, Infocentre Manager Colleen Christensen said visitor counts were down between 75- 100 visits for the month of July.
