Kelowna News

West Kelowna council favours municipal hall in Westbank Centre area

Wendy McLeod — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:44:00 GMT

West Kelowna council is in unanimous support for a new municipal hall in the Westbank Centre area.

While specific properties remain confidential, Mayor Doug Findlater says members are in favour of the downtown general area.

"The deciding factor for council was that a municipal hall locating in the downtown would give a boost to the downtown area in Westbank of West Kelowna. It would bring not only construction jobs but the ongoing jobs and businesses that locate around municipal facilities."

Both public and private lands have been determined as potential locations for the new building.

"Now that we've basically become focused on the general area, within 1 square kilometre so to speak, the consultant will continue on a more detailed analysis and scale these sites against one another in terms of the best deal for the municipality."

No time frame for the project has yet to be established.

Hotel room tax stays

Wendy McLeod — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:50:00 GMT

The 2 percent hotel room tax has been extended in Kelowna.

City Council voted unanimously to keep the tax for at least another five years until December 31st, 2018.

The tax was first introduced in 2004 by the province, with the earnings going directly towards Tourism Kelowna.

The money is then turned around and used to promote our community.

Gas prices drop

Wendy McLeod — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:49:00 GMT

Some good news for drivers in Kelowna.

Gas prices dropped by a nickle on Tuesday from 144.9 to 139.9.

Motorists were hit with near record gasoline prices last month.

Kelowna is still far from being the lowest place to fill up, according to Gasbuddy.com the price of a litre of regular is Abbotsford is going for 127.9.

Health officials say protect against mosquitos and West Nile Virus

Craig Power — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:45:00 GMT

With summer basically upon us, health officials are raising awareness about mosquito bites and more importantly the dreaded West Nile Virus.

Communicable Disease Specialist, Jennifer Jeyes, notes that not all people react the same way.

"West Nile Virus has symptoms like fever, muscle weakness, stiff neck, headaches but about 80 per-cent of people won't even show any symptoms," says Jeyes.

Jeyes says that while roughly 20 percent of people will actually display these symptoms of West Nile Virus, only one per-cent will end up with more severe neurological symptoms.

Long sleeved clothing, repellent and avoiding standing water can help reduce the chance of being bitten.

West Nile was first reported here in British Columbia in 2009, all three confirmed cases were right here in the Okanagan.

Photo: Contributed

Gray disappointed by actions of eastern mayors

AM 1150 — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:16:00 GMT

It's been a rough couple of months for elected officials.

The senate expense scandal has rocked Ottawa while the mayors in Toronto and Montreal are in hot water.

Toronto's Rob Ford is denying allegation of cocaine use while Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum insists he is innocent of the 14 criminal charges he's facing.

Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray is 'baffled' by what is happening in some jurisdictions.

"I am disappointed in hearing that. The good news is its in Toronto and Montreal and not here in Western Canada. If their is any power for elected officials it would only be the power of influence and of course then it is up to the person you are trying to influence. Each member of council has that same power."

Gray is disappointed by the scandals but says elected officials in the public eye have to do a better job of keeping their noses clean.

Heavy Rainfall Could Mean Flooding in the Central Okanagan

Anita Sthankiya — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:25:00 GMT

Environment Canada says we could see anywhere from 40 to 60 milimetres of rainfall over the next two days which could spell bad news for area creeks.

According to Bruce Smith with the Regional District if more rain falls in one day than the other it could cause flooding.

"The creek levels have gone down from where they were earlier this year when had that hot weather in May and actually saw the snow pack melt quickly."

Smith says residents living in low lying areas should be prepared in case of emergency and have sandbags on hand if necessary.

"We're in pretty good position right now but with significant rainfall there's always the potential that there could be some unexpected localized flooding."

Environment Canada says the nasty weather will move in by tomorrow morning and we could see some thunderstorms.

For the latest update check the Environment Canada website at http://weather.gc.ca/warnings/index_e.html.

West Kelowna RCMP Looking for Missing Teen

Anita Sthankiya — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:01:00 GMT

West Kelowna RCMP are asking for the public's help to find a missing 15 year old girl.

Police say Sarah Dunn left her home in the 2100 block of Tomat Avenue Saturday morning and has not been heard from or seen since.

Sarah is described as: Caucasian, 5'7" and 161 lbs, with hazel eyes and straight blonde hair.

Although Sarah has a history of going missing, her family has deepened concern this time as there has been little to no interaction through social media.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the West Kelowna RCMP, Cst Steve CONLON at 250-768-2880.

Detox & residential treatment centre chosen to replace Crossroads

Craig Power — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:44:00 GMT

Interior Health has chosen a new provider for residential detox treatment here in Kelowna to replace the current Crossroads Treatment Centre which is slated to close its door at the end of the month.

The Bridge Youth and Family Services Society, a treatment centre currently operating in Rutland has been chosen to continue the much needed services to clients in the Central Okanagan.

Randy Murray is the Practice Lead for Mental Health & Substance Use at Interior Health, and says the decision was based on certain criteria.

"With this particular proposal we were looking for an agency that had a good understanding of the treatment issues relating to intensive residential and withdrawal management," says Murray.

The new contract will provide 20 residential treatment beds and 10 community-based withdrawal management beds.

Treatment services are expected to begin sometime in mid-July.

Image: Contributed

SD 23 Says Student Board Involvement Not New to Them

Anita Sthankiya — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:41:00 GMT

The Vancouver School Board has voted to include a student as a Trustee on the board, something the Central Okanagan School district has done for 15 years.

According to Moyra Baxter, Board Chairperson, including students is unique and other school trustees from around the province have inquired about their program.

"We have had a process in place where each of the partner groups including the District Student Council has a representative on all our committees. So they sit at the table at the committee level."

Baxter says while Vancouver is calling the student a Trustee, they do not have the same decision making power.

"I think really the only difference is that they have the person sitting actually at the board table and they're calling them a Trustee. We've had a process in place for many years to to allow that input."

Under the School Act Trustees are elected publicly and the idea of adding a student to School Boards to act as a full member failed at the most recent School Trustees Annual General Meeting.

New RCMP Detachment will Cost $46 Million

Anita Sthankiya — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:27:00 GMT

The most expensive building in Kelowna's history is going up on Clement Avenue and will be the home of the new RCMP detachment.

According to City Project Manager Kristine Bouw the $46 million building is double the cost of Prospera Place.

"One thing that's important to note is that we are managing the costs and we're managing the process and we're working really closely with both the municipal as well as the provincial and federal RCMP on this."

On Monday City Council approved spending for designing the building, according Bouw.

"Part of the issue we have with the current building is that everything has been, well you know, they've done a great job at keeping it running and keeping things up to date as much as possible but we're really at that obsolescence point."

$200,000 has been approved to design the new building, which is not expected to be completed for several years.

The new detachment will be three of four stories tall and is expected to be around 86,000 square feet in size.