Regional Director Newsletter
July 2010
Jim Edgson, Director of Central Okanagan West (COW) Electoral
Area
What a change in weather in July! In June the forests were
greening up. For you berry pickers out there, the crop came on
strong in July, but about 3 weeks late! In later July we were in
a very hot, dry spell, and most of us had the 2009 forest fire
season on our minds as the end of the month approached. So far
it appears that most people who live in or are visiting the area
are being cautious with fires. We all got severe jolts with the
Seclusion Bay and Sailview Bay fires which, while not in the
Central Okanagan West, certainly were close to it. It always of
great concern to the residents of COW when it appears that
forest/interface fires appear to be human caused. The best thing
all of us can do is make sure we are not guilty in this regard,
and to let our visitors know about how to prevent these fires.
Someone once told me that things like human caused forest fires
were accidents. I disagree. I learned a long time ago the
difference between accidents and collisions. An accident is when
a DC-10 plane drops on your car it cannot be avoided. A
collision can be avoided. Human caused forest fires are
collisions not accidents, and they should not be sugar coated
by calling them accidents.
The Regional District is preparing the documents necessary to go
for a consultant request for proposal for the Official Community
Plans for the Trepanier and Brent Road areas. At the present
time it looks like the results from this RFP should be brought
to the RD Board later in September.
One of the main reasons that the RD Board did not support a
Front Counter BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum
application in July was due to the fact that a traffic impact
assessment had not yet been completed to ascertain whether the
road system is capable of handling the intended truck traffic
and determination of the scope of improvement that should be
completed along Westside Road to ensure public safety. As a
result, the Board resolved that a letter be forwarded to the
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure with a copy to the
local MLAs, requesting that the Ministry hold a public meeting
in the North Westside COW with respect to residents concerns
regarding improvements to Westside Road. This letter was sent to
the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and MLA Ben
Stewart. I and the Regional District look forward to hearing
back from the Ministry in this regard.
For those of you who are in the area north of Lake Okanagan
Resort, BC Hydro is finishing off work on placing four new
cables under the Lake from Lake Country to the Westside. These
new cables and all the preparatory work Hydro has been doing
over the last months should help alleviate power outages in the
northern area above Lake Okanagan Resort to Westshores Estates
for some years to come.
DID YOU KNOW? the Regional District looked into the
issue of Cell Phone Towers and where they are placed. A Cell
Phone Tower is considered a utility, and as such, can be put
pretty well anywhere. The RD does not have control over where
these towers can be put. The only control the Regional District
would have is if there was a building put up in conjunction with
the tower that exceeded 10 m2 which would then require a
building permit. As long as the proposed building met all the
conditions required for that permit, the building permit would
be issued.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION My website
www.edgson.ca is up and
running. Log on for regularly updated information and useful
links! The Regional District website (regionaldistrict.com) also
has webpage information and updates regarding Environmental
Services water projects (select Departments/Environmental
Services/Projects & Studies/Current Projects). You can refer to
these pages at your convenience to receive status updates on
these projects.
Please remember that should I be away on Regional District
and/or Electoral Area business, I do check my RD phone messages
and e-mail and will return calls as soon as possible (see
numbers below).
Until next time, Jim
Phone: 250-212-7296; Email:
jim.edgson@cord.bc.ca
