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Kootenay Power custom-ers.Last month the B.C. Utili-ties Commission approvedWKP's application for theproject which would fol-

Osoyoos Times. ~~esgay. September 2. 1998 - Page 23

WKP gets;green.light'to rebuild traQSmissiop.,Jine . li£LbL",U'.,_,',S'XlRUlSdWU.:

low, for the most part, the lengthy outages' of whiCh t

existing right-of-way,.b:ut·:. 7Spcr~Dtarcattributedtoit did not give the compaily . structure failures of the 44everything it wanted. " .;. .~.' Line With· many outagesWKP had applied tobuild ~ueto the advanced age of .the line to a 138 kV stan~- . ·the line! Lightning exPo-ard but the BCUC willowy suretootherllnes audotherallow it to he built to a 63 system collapses cause 25kV standard. :. ' pcrcentofthe~utagetime ..The utility company had. ,WKP said.a:~nd line

argued there would not he w()uld~ve,' minimal im-an increase in re~ility of pact 'on the .frequency .ofthe line ifit was operated at oqtagesbecauscthese out-138 kV :llthou~ the m-' ag~~~.!lyupstreamcreased msulation levels facilities;> ' .. ' '.would provide anincrCase4 :WKP, co~lud~ Iisecondmeasure of protection from supply to' OsoYoOs could·dust and other airborne not he j\JStified and the ex-contaminanrsaudthatfcwei 'istingline necdCd to be re-cross-arm failures caused : p~forreaSons:ofphysi-by fires wo~d~expCcted;,:,~.~~~~~~c,tY.T~e h~ m ,Osoyoos:: ,:',A,maJor.~ar~eµt pre-

earherthissummcrw~.to.d·',sented at the hearing dealtthat the 138 kV capacitY with electromagneticwas not .expected:. to.' ,~he,..:fields. The, cOmmis~nneeded WIthin the. DCXtZO ,':- concludetftbeie is no rea-years. ..,'. ';":. :,;':';-',.sOntO refuse the appUca-A number of people at-· non, or reqyire the ~Oca';

tending the public hearing ~ the Oliver oiOso-and a town ball, meeting y008 substations, .on theexpressedconcemabouttbe basis of exgosure'to elec-rebuild option. because' it tfomagnctic 'fields.·'would not provide aback:, -WKP estiuiaies'the costup line to O.SOy008.':, .., .....: ofmoviDgthe.'r~WKP acknowledged that . ~on~w _-

an analysis of reliabiHo/" .~ par=rs ;46mil-date showedOsoyoos:e~-l(on; about Oge..thfrd 'ofperienccsboth~,aud which'would.bc.forc new'

',' :}':'... distribution ~rsfromth~'ne'YSUbsqltio.n~iteinto~town~re. MlyOrJohIi-COOper hiS been 10bbyipg

, .~. to move its substa-{~.~oni.from: the'M8gtj &~t .

~~', Tbc rebuilding of the only, power linC to the OSOy005

area is not expected to sig-nificantly . reduce thenumber of power outagesexperienced by West

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"0S6y00S Times; WedneSday. July 16. 1997: Page'9

Cooper calls on WKP toreconsider office closure

West Kootenay Powerhas decided to close itsoffices in Osoyoos andKeremeos by the end ofAugust.

But Mayor John Cooperdoesn't want to see thathappen.

Customers have been sentletters advising of the revi-sion to services in the SouthOkanagan andSimilkameen.

Bob Bernard, customerservices manager for theDesert Valley area, says to

{~'" maintain competitive cus-te-.3 tomer rates, it is necessary

to realign office services.

"This was not an easydecision for us to make,"Bernard says. "We under-stand the importance oflocal services; we havebeen serving communities

~-----

throughout the area for thepast 100 years."

He said ultimately alloperating costs, includingoffice overhead, is a directcost to all customers.

"To maintain competitivecustomer rates, from timeto time, it is necessary torealign office services."

Bernard says a greaterrange of services will beavailable at the Oliver of-fice.

The Osoyoos office willbe closed as of August 27,1997.Cooper says council has

asked for a meeting withthe board of WKP to im-press upon directors the

importance of the office tothe community.

"This would be a greatinconvenience to our eld-erly residents," Coopersaid last week.

"It is not a responsibleposition for a large corpo-ration to take," Coopersaid. "This is wrong, con-sidering the amount ofmoney they are taking outof the community. "

Cooper estimated it iscosting WKP $2,000 to$3,000 a month to main-tain the local office, yet hebelieves the company istaking 10times that amountout of the community eachmonth ..

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OSOYOOS TIMES

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Dan Charlton,OWNER/OPERATOR

·Wblte stockwltb blacktberm~ngr.tYlng·Some designrestrictionsapply·Many otber colorsand stocks anlliilble

'1Wr~~.SONIA 495-5323

Slater pointed out thematter was only in the dis-cussion stage. Mayor JohnCooper suggested that if aproposal comes back tocouncil then input can beobtained from people whomay be impacted.

CHARLTONCONTRACTING*' Custom Homes

• Renovations*' Residential, Commercial*' 20 Years ExperiencePHONE CELLULAR495-3530 498-7667rtn

To Mal Turner for personallyreturning my rings which Ithought were lost forever!-Your honesty is greatlyappreciated.

Pam Farinha

THANKYUU

along II 5th Street. He saidit would provide easier ac-cess to service the line. Tominimize the impact on anyfuture golf course develop-ment, ithasbeen suggestedthat WKP could follow theexisting right-away to apoint near 74th Ave. andthen move towards l15thStreet.

Things got bogged downwhen Coun. Virginia Cooksuggested the principals ofCasitas del Sol be includedin the on-site meeting.

West Kootenay Powermayor may not be relocat-ing its major transmissionline along the West Bench.

Last week the utility com-pany advisedOsoyoos towncouncil that it would berebuilding the line on theexisting right of way.

But Coun. John Slaterasked for an on-site meet-ing with West KootenayPower and staff from theOsoyoos Golf Course tolook at options to relocatethe line.

It's a confusing story.WKP had sought the town'sapproval to relocate the linealong an extension of 115thSt. between the IndustrialPark and 62nd Ave. One ofthe benefits was that itwould remove the utilitypoles from an area that isbeing eyed for a future ex-pansion of the OsoyoosGolf Course. Council gaveits consent and agreed todedicate the road allow-ance for the 115th StreetConnector.

But no sooner had thatpermission been grantedwhen residents of Casitasdel Sol appeared beforecouncil opposing the relo-cation, which would seethe line go along the south-ern boundary of the resi-dential development nextto the industrial park.

Because of that opposi-tion and the lack of othersuitable options, WKP in-formed the town it wouldnot be proceeding with aline relocation to a differ-ent route.

Slater maintains it wouldbe in West Kootenay's bestinterests to locate the line

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Osoyoos Times, Wednesday, May 14, 1997· Page 9

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Power line creates controversy

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The least expensive op-tion would be to constructthe line along the riverchannel (which forms partof the Oliver Hike and BikeTrail). The river channelroute is the company's firstchoice in terms of reliabil-ity, and accessibility,

That option would costabout $3.5 million.

Other options would beusing the abandoned Ket-tle Valley Railway right ofway at a cost of $4.3 mil-lion, the existing powerlineright of way for $4.7 mil-lion or the abandoned irri-gation ditch at a cost of $5million.

The quest for a securepower supply for Osoyooshas resulted incontroversy.

West Kootenay Powerplans on building a new138kilovolt power line be·tween Oliver and Osoyoos.There is currently just onetransmission line servingthe southern communityand in the event somethinghappens to that line thetown and surrounding areais without power, some-thing that has happenednumerous times in the past.WKP is looking at four

options to bring the linesouth from Oliver but onehas generated a great dealof opposition.

.----C-

ft p£..IL 2~ \clq:t- r' 4·Letters to the Editor

Concerns aboutdaycare next topowersubstationApril 21. 1997Editor, The TimesDear Sir:I have recently heard that

the town plans to build aday care centre and playschool facility next to anelectrical sub-station inOsoyoos.

The question about theeffects of electro magneticwaves on human health hasin recent years become ahotly debated topic in medi-cal circles. While it maybe true that there is noconclusive evidence thatelectro magnetic waves dohann human health, thereis significant group of re-spected scientists and phy-sicians who are of the opin-ion that there issufficientdata to raise serious con-cerns and that more re-search is called for.

It is my opinion that itwould be medically andpolitically foolish to goaheildwith plans to build afacility for babies andyoung children next to asub-station at this point in

time. I think our children'slives are far too preciousto risk exposing them to apotential health hazardwhile the debate is stillongoing. If in the future itis established that electromagnetic waves do playarole in the development ofcancer or other illnesses,then we will have made aterrible mistake by pro-ceeding. If we discover thatelectro magnetic waves donot pose any health risk,then surely we will havelost little by erring on theside of caution, and find-ing an alternate buildingsite.

Even if we put medicalconcerns aside, we shouldbe sensitive to the currentpolitical climate. It is awell known fact that inrecent years many residen-tial properties close topower lines and sub-sta-tions have plummetted invalue. How lacking in fore-sight it would be for theimage of Osoyoos if aplayschool and day carewas to be built next to asubstation.

I hope that the town, andespecially parents of smallchildren who plan to uscthis facility, will give seri-ous consideration to thisletter. I feel there should

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be more of a public debate .before proceeding withsuch a controversial andpotentially devastating is-sue.

Yours sincerely,Dr. Erik Baasch

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E-veryone mum at public hearingMum was the word at a

recent public hearing inOsoyoos.

In fact, nobody from thepublic said a word whenIsked three times to com-menton the proposed child;are centre.A public hearing was held

o gather submissions on a:oning amendment bylaw,vhich would see the prop-:rty designation change'rom parks and recreationo private and public insti-lltion.The town is proposing to~asea parcel ofland to the)soyoos Nursery Schoolociety for a new day careentre near the primary:hool.This site has prompted)me controversy since it

adjacent to the Westootenay Power substation] 89th St.Councillor John Motzmtends the day care siteunsafe for children be-

lUse of low-level radia-m. However, research.snot proven that a healthzard exists in this situa->0. Furthermore, theinistry of Health has ap-

proved the site for the childcare centre.

Council adopted bothzoning and leasing bylawsat a special meeting onApril 9, two days after the

public hearing. Town Ad-ministrator Elsie Lemkesaid this was done becausethe Osoyoos NurserySchool Society is anxiousto get working on theproject.

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rdotz not convinced Child Care location safe~~'-:

Councillor John Motz isnot convinced that the pro-posed site for the OsoyoosChild Care Centre is safe.

Motz expressed. his re-newed concerns on March17, when council.receivedcorrespondence on the is-sue.

"It is irresponsible for usto allow children to spendthe major part of the daywhere low-level electro-magnetic forces do exist. "

Motz said that inconclu-sive research does notprove there are no healthhazards or dangers associ-ated with power stations,such as the one owned byWest Kootenay Power on891h St.

Council is currently ne-gotiating a lease to allowthe child care centre to beconstructed adjacent to thepower station.

Mayor John Cooper saidthis issue of concern willbe dealt with at a publichearing on April 7.

The chairperson of theOsoyoos Child Care Com-mittee stated that assur-ances have been providedthat no health risks to chil-dren exists.

Heather Kelliher notedthat experimental researchhas repeatedly demon-strated no health problemscaused by electric andmagnetic fields. The sitewas approved by the childcare licensing departmentof the Ministry of Healthbefore the grant applica-tion was submitted, shepointed out.

"} understand that if onewere to measure the EMF(electric magnetic field) onthe proposed site for the

child care facility, it wouldread much lower than theEMF in every one of ourhomes."

Kelliher said computerscreens, hair dryers andmicrowave ovens expose achild to far greater levelsof EMF than would thepower station.

The issue of magneticfields and cancer amongpeople was researched in a1992 study in Stockholm.A total of 500,000 peoplewere studied, includingthose living near and farfrom high voltage powerlines. The results showedonly 39 cases of childhoodLeukaemia.

The study found that chil-dren who lived in a housenear a power line did nothavea significant increasedrisk of leukaemia or othercancer. No association wasfound between measuredmagnetic fields and child-hood cancer or adult can-cer, the study suggested.

However, the study ig-nored exposure of childrento fields generated fromhousehold electricity use.

The elevated risk wasentirely contributed bychildren living in singlefamily residences. No ex-cessive risk was evident inchildren living in apart-ments, yet more than half

of the cancer cases wereapartment dwellers, withhigher measured magneticfields than single familyresidences.

In summary, the studydid not support the possi-bility of an association be-tween higher magneticfield exposure and child-hood leukaemia, but can-not be considered defini-tive because the findingscontain contradictions.

Where effects have beenobserved, they are consid-ered so minute that thechance of causing harm topeople is remote, accord-ing 10 a federal-provincialadvisory committee.

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Fa:e!;-8~=:::: =--~Aging power linecauses more outagesThis summer West wire, causing the outage, ally defective or suspect,

Kootenay Power hopes to, which took some time to he noted. However, "webegin construction on a restore because crews had can't catch them all," henew power line to address to replace the cross arm, admitted.a nagging problem -- power Jones said. Jones said WKP hopes tooutages. According toJones, these construct a ncw line from

Once again a cross arm fires occur when the wood Oliver to Osoyoos, mainlyfirc caused an outage in ages and begins to shrink. along the river channel forOsoyoos for nearly (Wo causing (he surrounding easier access. Instead ofhours last week. For peo- hardware LO loosen, which wood, the poles will bepIe who rely on computers in turn causes an electro- constructed of steel so theyto carry out their work, magnetic induction, which won't burn,they were out of luck. In can start a fire. It is hoped constructipnfact, people who needed to Some of the poles in the Will begin this summer ~')dsee were out of luck be- area are 40 years old, Jones finish in 1998, Jones sa d.cause all the lights went pointed out. . In the meantime, W CPout. You couldn't even buy But WKP inspects these crews were busy last weeka 6-49 ticket for the$S aging lines annually and, replacing power poles nearmillion jackpot. replaces any that are visu- the elementary school.

Kevin Jones,WKP man-ager of engIneering con-struction, said the fire oc-curred on a power pole'scross arm at Willow Beach,just north of town. Theblaze weakened a wire,which fell onto another

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services provided hy thl'local Be Gas officc,

"The cmploymcnt impactwithin small communitiesis much greater than officeclosures~ or cutbacks inlargc communities becauseof thc limited number 01full timc cmployers withil'our communities."Continued on page 2

The utility company hasdecided to discOl1linue seil-ing gas appliances. As aresult, company facilitiesin 16 communities, includ-ing Osoyoos, will convertto Field Centres that willserve as work headquar-ters for service technicians,construction personnel andmanagement staff.

A regional OperationsCentre will operate out ofPenticton which will serveas work headquarters forservice technicians, con-struction and operationspersonnel, planning tech-nologists and managementsta ff.

Osoyoos council had lob-bied against the move,Acting at the request of theOffice and ProfessionalEmployees' InternationalUnion, council wrote toBC Gas strongly voicingopposition to the move,The union represents morethan '/00 workers at BCGas,

Mayor John Cooperwrote that small munici-palities such as Osoyoosrely heavily on the full timeemployment and customer

demonstratea great COUll:l8'" U"'- ;:'OlU' UU'f w,~ ~~,

fore hitting the ice with a grand Photo by ",,,,let Robinso.n..performance. The carnival, pre-

A strong protest fromOsoyoos town councildoesn't appear to have hadany impact on a decisionby BC Gas to close itscustomer service office inOsoyoos.

As of March 23, custom-ers will no longer be ableto pay their gas bills at BCGas offices. As a result ofthe move, 30 full-time and64 part-time positions willbe eliminated throughoutthe province.

BC Gas says 90 per centof its customers uti Iize vari-0us other bill payment op-tions and the continuedexpense of over-the-coun-tel' payments can no longerbe justified.

Before ending the prac-tice, customers who regu-larly pay at the office willbe contacted to identify thebest alternative paymentoption open to them,

Toll-free telephone ac-cess will be provided from7 a.m. to 6 p,m. Mondaythrough Friday so custom-ers may obtain informa-tion on their accounts, ap-ply for service or termi-nate an account.

Be Gas closingcustomer service office

brutally assaulted with anaxe in Osoyoos On Dec.10, 1997, Sirois had beencomatose in hospital sincethe assault.

Police say the attack wasthe result of an escalatingargument between Siroisand the accused.

Gelinas is scheduled toappear in court on Jan 27,at which time a prelimi-nary hearing date may beset.

A charge against a 30-year-old Osoyoos man hasbeen upgraded to seconddegree murder in the deathof a 35-year-old male.

The initial charge of ag-gravated assault against EricGelinas was upgraded tomurder last week follow-ing the death of PierreJoseph Sirois. The victimdied in Kelowna GeneralHospital from head inju-ries he received after he was

Il:r;~~[prompted Oliver ~li;gjtr~dt:'~i~I~;N~~~~/;;ksoughtMayor Linda Larsen to City address,demand an apology from "The virgil.net web site Police are looking for theLillman. appears to be no longer culprit who damaged a

Bernard Klatt, owner of operating, but the file is parked vehicle in OsoyoosFairview Technology Cen- still available from other last Friday,In:. says he docs not evalu- web sites (none of which Cpl. Terry Wild said;11<: orcontrol web site con- are FTCnetservers)," Klatt someone threw rocks at atent uploaded by his cl i- says in a press release, vehicle parked at 107thel1ls, "Contrary to Littman's Street and Highway 97 on

lie also attacked Littman assertions, there is no indi- the evening of Jan. 16,I'or maligning the residents cation or evidence that the The officer said the forceof Oliver. 'Rats' cartoon file was at of the rocks broke the

"What evidence does he any time ever hosted on windshield and dented theoffer of any involvement this FTCnet client's web passenger side door of abytheTownofOliverwith page," 1988 truck. Damage wasthe web site content he com- Klatt says he cannot af- estimated at $1,000,

WKP won't change :="W(Jm;~location of powerline ~I· mft

West Kootenay Power has WKP is planning to re- Industrial Park and 62nddecided to rebuild its ma- build the line and had sug- Ave. While council initiallyjor transmission line serv- gested the line be routed agreed to the suggestion, iting Osoyoos along the ex- along a proposed extension rescinded the approvalisting right-of-way. of 115th Street between the when the residents and de-

velopers of the Casitas delSol subdivision com-plained.

Council has now been in-formed by WKP that it willrebuild the line in its cur-rent location.

The proposed route wouldhave been along the south-ern border of Casitas delSol to 115th Street. A sug-gestion was made that theline run along Highway 3but that was found to beencumbered with landingstrip height restrictionsand Ministry of Transpor-tation safety setbacks,

of iife we all e~(oy, then perhaps all shouJa De paymgtowards it. (""

It's great optivlls are being presented to put sewersaround the lake but all details will have to be broughtforward for proper discussion.

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WKP proposesre-Iocation of transmissioilline

Letters to the Editor

Traffic tips.Time to cleanwaterfrontareas

December 12, 1997Editor, The TimesDear Sir:Having lunch yesterday

at the Holiday Inn restau-rant resulted in noticing the

·dutter that is now exposedat the edge of Osoyoos Lakedue to the lowering of thewater level. It was really asad mess, which not onlylooked unsightly, but is alsoa potential health and safety

. hazard, not to mention theeffect these drums and alsopart of a boat are effectingthe quality of our lake.

This is not the only areawhich is now exposing amultitude of various ob-jects, but a great deal of thelake edge is also clutteredwith garbagc and debris ofall kinds,

What a perfect opportu-nity to clean up our lake!May I suggest that possiblythe Town ofOsoyoos couldremove those barrels atHoliday Inn, or maybeAggregate Associates (be-ing they are in the immedi-ate area working) woulddonate an hour or so oftheir backhoe and truck thebarrels to the dump, withpossibly having the tippingfee removed for their ef-forts. This would be a start!

A concerted effort by thecommunity to clean up thebeach area at this time orbefore the level of the lakeis raised again would be awonderful project, but willneed the cooperation of thetown-let's forego the dumptipping fee, have the townpick up the debris that resi-dents collect and so on,. , ..

Yours truly,Mariannc FourtOsoyoos

West Kootenay Power isproposing to re-Iocate itstransmission line along theWest Bench.

A presentation was madeto council Monday eveningoutlining the reasoning forthe change and to seekcouncil's approval to pro-ceed.

The line currently runsthrough land designated toaccommodate an expan-sion to the Osoyoos golfcourse. The new routewould go along a proposedI 15th Street extension run-ning along the abandonedirrigation canal betweenCasitas del Sol and Oso-yoos Secondary School.

The company says thealternative route is wellremoved from the presentand possible future golfcourse area and wouldshare a common corridorwith'the new road connec-tor. Another advantage isthe visual impact of theline would be considerablydiminished.

The disadvantage, how-ever, is the line would benext to a future bike pathwhich the town is propos-

ing to develop.WKP is seeking a right of

way agreement for the lineand would subsequentlyremove the redundant sec-tion of the existing right ofway .

To proceed, WKP is seek-ing the town's support anda commitment for the townto undertake 'timely roaddesign and constructionpreparations and to imple-ment rough grading andother construction work toallow WKP to begin lineconstruction next fall.

A suggestion that the linebe put underground hasbeen dismissed by WKPbecause it would cost 10times as much and wouldcreate problems for serv-icing.

Municipal Planner BradElenko reported to councilthat the proposal wouldresult in long term benefitsto the town by increasingthe usability of the vacantWest Bench lands. The costto the town would not bean additional cost but ratherbe part of the cost thatwould be spent at somefuture date to design and

construct the 115th St. con-nector.

He rccommcnded thetown authorize its engi-neer to prepare the neces-sary level of engineering

STUDDED TIRES:Are you preparing for

winter road conditions?Part of those preparationsmay include the installa-tion of studded tires, Studsare useful on packed snowand ice to improve tractionand keep you moving.

Studded tires are allowedto be used on British Co-lumbia highways betweenOctober 1st and April 30theach year. At any othertime, or on a highwaywhere the Minister ofTransportation and High-ways has forbidden the useof studded tires by publi-cation of a ban in the Ga-zette, vehicles must not beequipped with studdedtires,

Studs must not protrudefrom the tire tread morethan 3.5 mm or number

detail at a cost of $5,500and that council budget$3,000 in 1998 for therough grading of the right·of-way and the cost of thededication survey.

• •more than 130 per tire onvehicles having a GrossVehicle Weight of not morethan 4600 kg, or more than175 per tire on vehicleshaving a GVW over 4600kg.

Studded tires must not beinstalled on the frontwheels unless they are alsoinstalled on the rearwheels, but this doesn'tapply if the vehicle's li-censed GVW is 9100 kg ormore and it is equippedwith a device to allow theinstallation of a snow·plough,

If you have any questionsor would like to see a cer·tain topic discussed pleasecontact Cst. Bryce Petersenor Cst. Andy Hiscox of theSouth Okanagan HighwayPatrol in Keremeos.

Patrick TurnerEditor - Adv~rtisin9 Sal~s

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. PUBLISHERS·OSOYOOS TIMESPUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS8712 - Main Street, P ,0. Box 359,Osoyoos, B,C, VOH 1VOPhone 250-495-7225 Fax 250-495-6616e-mail topturner@ltcnet.comOpen Monday to Friday, 8 a,m, to Noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p,m,

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AS ror cu~ncu $ overall penUnllaJlCt, lVlall'ion said hf """comfortable with the progressthis count.. has made over the past 12months.

"I think this council works together quiteweI!."

Princeton Coun, George Annstrong concurswith his fellow councillor: "Randy has done agood job so far,"

1116 It..') Ulll\...C H~lC.

Council continues to beat the drum ov~eissue of attracting light industry to the\",.).1,and some would say Victoria is beginning tolisten,

When critiquing Keremeos Mayor J.C. Stra·nart, Coun. Steve Hecocks admitted Stra,nart's tenure began "like a bull in a chinashop,"

council's effectiveness over the past year."There's always room for improvement. I

don't want to go into specifics,"Couri, Evelyn Ask was also partial to an·

swering questions of evaluation in generali-ties,

"Her leadership has been good, and hercommunication skills have been good as

-.Cook also noted, sh~.llas concerns aDOlitlJl<roles of council and· 'rur.

"How do I put this ..,! vliticians have certailjobs to do, and statT has a certain job to deAnd sometimes those roles can get confused,

As for her assessment of Cooper, Cook dithave concerns, but was hesitant to expresthem in print.

What our mayors have to say one year later

PRINCETON:Mayor Randy McLean

"If there was a positive, the co·ordinationand delegation of responsibility, almost to aman, has been very effective.

"They've (councillors) accomplished theobjectives of their respective portfolios, andas a result I've been able to be more effectivein my capacity as mayor,

"I'm not trying to blow their horn toomuch, but they've done a great job so far.

"The main thing I have had to accomplishis trying to encourage people to work to-gether,

"But everyone has really been great.They've all left their egos and personal agen-das at the door.

"Hindsight is easy, but probably mybiggest disappointment has been the con-struction of our business park.

"If I would have put a timetable on it, wemay have made more progress. We've wast·ed 12 months on this, I can blame myself, Il,'Uess...I don't know.

"We have to become more proactive andmake some moves. We can't wait for the bu·reaucratic turtle (Victoria) to get moving."

KEREMEOS:111ayorJ.e. Stranart

"We (council) do have some pretty big dis·agreements at times, but philosophicallywe're all going in the same direction. Thathas allowed us to accomplish a heck of a lotmore than I thought we would.

"Generally speaking, we have made mis·takes, but I don't apologize for those. As faras I'm concerned, if you're not making mis-takes, you're probably not a proactive coun-cil, I would say Keremeos is a better placetoday than it was one year ago.

"There is a different attitude in councilnow. Staff and council work together as ateam.

"There are some areas we haven't madeenough progress· job creation to be precise.But we have turned around the perceptionoutside of the community (Victoria) thatwe're not just looking for hand-outs. We'reproposing practical solutions to our em-ployment problems, There's more work tobe done, but I think we're on the right path,

"No, I don't think conflict of interest (May-or Stranart also owns local newspaper) is anissue anymore with the community."

OLIVER:Mayor Lindfl Larson

"I have a lot to learn, but I'm still alive, It'sbeen a roller coaster over the last year;there's been incredible highs and incrediblelows, I've spent most of my time being reac-tive as opposed to proactive.

"One of my first priorities was to take theangry out of this town (post-Cartergate) andput back some pride. I think we've accom-plished that.

"I'm disa pointed in the WKP WestKoo enay Power rocess t at occurred,.-9t was my I1'stpolitI issue. As a result,

, I've become distrustful of corporations andgovernments. Not of people, but ot Corpora·flons and governments,'TiTobe terribly honest, I don't know if I

like this job. I get very frustrated with theamount of government bureaucracy I haveto go through to accomplish some things,

"As for council, they're very, very well·or·ganized people, They spend hours reosearching - very meticulous.

"It's important that people get involved oncommittees, that way they get a better un·derstanding of how the other side works,"

OSOYOOS:Mayor John Cooper

"Perhaps I should be a bit calmer; try albe more understanding about the positiOlthat councillors take, You\!e just got to kC1on listening, But it's been a very positive E'perience to date.

"We have tried our best to have commnity meetings in the day so members of tJpublic can come, We've kept our in·camemeetings to a minimum, We've also chang.the time of our committee meetings fro6:30 p,m. to 7 p,m, so people can make it ;tel' work.

"We also have a lot of citizens particip;ing on committees, In a small communilike ours, we don't have any problem fir:ing people who want to participate on CO'mittees, And that's good,

"We also have a good mixture on countWe have a couple of veteran councillors, \,have some rookies, we have a good gendbalance (one woman), Everybody (coun(lars) did a great job with their portfolios 1;'year,

"Yes, I would run again (if next munici]election was tomorrow)."

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Page 12 - Osoyoos Times, Wednesday, March 31, 1999..West Kootenay Power to finish

r~PH~I~?o£rt!o~~~!p-i~~~2~!!lJ~w!!1M~¥sbeen keeping up to the timetable on the north ofOsoyoos. Torske explains that isrebuilding of the electrical line between because of the lack of available land onOsoyoos and Oliver and it means the that side of the highway.project will be finished in the middle of Overall, he says the public has beenMay, supportive of the work, although West

"The job is going pretty darn good," Kootenay Power has been asked a fewsays area manager Ralph Torske. "So questions about the work by the public.far, everything seems to be going on He also reveals there were some peopleschedule." upset about the placement of the new

As previously reported in the Osoyoos poles, and there were attempts to solveTimes, the company won the right from those problems,the B.C. Utilities Commission to in- But even though flag people have beencrease its power capacity to Osoyoos slowing vehicle traffic on the highway,and replace the existing power line, That Torske isn't aware of any serious trafficmeans the installation of heavier wire, issues being raised by the public.new power poles and new insulators. He didn't have the cost available for the

"The whole line is getting old and project, but he did acknowledge the cus-needed to be rebuilt," explains Torske. tomers would eventually have to pay for

The rebuild is all along the west side of it. He says the cost to rebuild the lineHighway 97. although there are about would be eventually "tied into the ratetwo miles of temporary rebuild along the base."

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Ministerial MessageBy Pastor Terry JaroschOsoyoos Baptist Church

I AM THIRSTY!It is dry here. I find my-

self thirsty and drinkingmore water than ever be-fore in my life. That's nota bad thing. However,what concerns me is that Ihqve not lived through anOsoyoos summer.

Thirst is a very interest-

As the day wore on and thefishing was excellent Istayed out to catch morefish. Finally by mid-after-noon baking in the hot sunshining on the Pacific, Ibegan to get very thirsty, Iwent to the fresh water taponly to find the tank empty.Feeling I could stay out abit longer and wanting tocatch more fish I

Bloom and wine festivalnew event for Osoyoos

Agriculture and tourism are going to be combined nextmonth to create a unique public event for Osoyoos.

The first annual Bloom and Wine Festival is going to beheld April 24 and 25 and there will be both inside andoutside events.

"I think we need agriculture and tourism workingtogether because these are our two industries," sayscommittee chairperson Jean-Marc Guillamot, a directorof the Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce.

He says the idea for the festival was conceived in thegathering of chamber executive and directors in a retreatearlier this vear that served as a olannin2 session for the

Hula hoop dreamsDawn Darbyson and Suzanne Gerrard of thePerfect Image salon were practising the hulahoop to prepare for the adult Easter event, theHippity Hop Dance and Games April 10 in theElks Hall.

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