Mayors report for February 22, 2010
Congratulations to Summerlands Kristi Richards who gave the run of her life at the Olympics last Saturday night. She had so much class to get up, put her ski back on, and proceed downhill and give the best back flip shes ever done. Kristi you make us very proud.
Now, I have a little secret for you, some special folks are trying to bring Kristi to Summerland this Friday, Feb 26 for around 12:00pm. So you are all invited to the Summerland Middle School. Lets take this opportunity to remind her how much we appreciate what she has done.
Justin Kripps will be in the Four Man Bobsleigh event being held at the Olympic Sliding Centre in Whistler on Friday February 26 and Saturday February 27. Heats #1 and #2 go Friday February 26th from 1:00pm to 3:45pm while the final heats #3 and #4 go on Saturday February 27th from 1:00pm to 3:30pm. Centre Stage Theatre and the Summerland Middle School will be showing the Friday preliminary race. Saturdays event will be broadcast at Centre Theatre Stage. The general public is invited to watch Justin compete.
SCEDT put on a special luncheon last Thursday with some councillors and our manager of planning, to allow business owners to ask us questions. It was a very positive get-together. I hope we can be a part of a luncheon like this at least once a year. Thank you to the board of directors at SCEDT.
Congratulations also to Jason and Jamie at the new coffee house called Good Omens. They held their grand opening this past Saturday which I attended.
I also attended the Ninth Annual Multicultural Festival & Community Diversity event at the Trade and Convention Centre on Saturday with many other dignitaries to sign a document to ensure we always value the multicultural diversity of our communities. My thanks to all of the organizers for the invitation.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayor's Report for February 8, 2010
Congratulations to our CAO, Don DeGagne! Don is the only local government manager representing the Local Government Management Association (LGMA) on a Provincial Local Government Awareness Committee initiated by the UBCM and the Provincial Government.
The goal of the Local Government Awareness Committee is to inform and educate the public about the roles and responsibilities of local government and to encourage the public to participate in local government processes.
The committee has just started meeting and hopes to have an informational website launched before summer.
I attended the very busy, Business After Business last Thursday evening for the new coffee/lunch shop called Good Omens. My thanks to SCEDT for promoting this event. Best of luck and much success to Jason and Jamie.
Thank you to all the Summerland residents for coming out to Centre Stage on Sunday, Jan. 24, and on Jan. 25th to welcome the Olympic Torch as it came through town. What an exciting time in our history. What an inspiration for all of us to have two of our citizens, who graduated from Summerland Senior Secondary School, in the Olympic games.
Kristi Richards:
The Freestyle Moguls event is held at Cypress Mountain this Saturday, February 13 which is day two of the Olympics. The preliminary round goes from 4:30pm to 5:30pm followed by the finals from 7:30pm to 8:30pm that evening. The Summerland Middle School will be holding a Community Open House on Saturday February 13 so everyone can watch Kristi compete on the big screen that will be set up in the gymnasium.
Justin Kripps:
The Four Man Bobsled event is held at the Olympic Sliding Centre in Whistler on Friday February 26 and Saturday February 27. Heats #1 and #2 go Friday February 26th from 1:00pm to 3:45pm while the final heats #3 and #4 go on Saturday February 27th from 1:00pm to 3:30pm. Centre Stage Theatre will be showing a live feed of the Four Man Bobsled on the big screen with the general public invited to watch Justin compete.
We encourage all of you to watch the games and cheer for our two local heroes!
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors report for January 25, 2010
Every February is Heart and Stroke Month, so this is when you may have folks coming to your door to canvass for your support of this worthy organization. We celebrate the work they do and wish them the best of luck in reaching their goals.
On Flickr there is a group called the Summerland Olympic Torch. Anyone can join and share their photos taken today of the torch running through Summerland or of Kristi Richards at the Middle School. All you need to do is go to www.flickr.com.
I want to thank Mike Porter of the Junior Chamber International organization. Mike is from Summerland and is the new 2010 president of the Penticton club and I attended one of their dinners on Saturday and was really impressed with this group. They work hard to support their communities and at the same time they teach their member entrepreneurism and leadership. Thank you Mike and best of luck to you!
Sunday, I attended along with Councillor Hallquist the presentation for the Olympic Torch celebrations and Kristi Richards showed up near the end and there wasnt a dry eye in the place.
Thanks so much to Dale MacDonald, director of the Parks and Recreation department, along with our thanks to Brenda, Lois, Emma and Kim and the rest of their staff and volunteers. Thank you to Ken, Karen and Don for helping to make the event a huge success.
We all know about Justin Kripps, a Summerland youth who will be in the four-man Bobsled at the Olympics he is off training but we got a tape from him Sunday which was wonderful to see.
Today the Summerland Middle School hosted a Kristi Richards event for all the kids, families and many other folks. After Kristi arrived, and confirmed that she was also in the Olympics competing in the free-style skiing, we all went crazy screaming with excitement for her. Then we went out for the Olympic Torch arrival with all of the kids and screamed some more it was fabulous. Both Kristi and Justin know we are so proud of them for making it to the Olympics and we wish them the best of luck. I am also certain; all of Vancouver will hear us cheering from Summerland for our two Olympic stars. Good luck Kristi and Justin!
On a final notemany of you will remember the survey last January and we asked you how you would spend $100 on a list of capital projects and what order you would put them in. This is how you ranked them and how we have addressed those issues:
Number one was the water system and we all agree with you. We have put a lot of money into it and I am so pleased to be able to tell you the water treatment facility is working just as it meant to. There are some final works being done for the sludge treatment but that will be finished very soon. The next work was on the system separation and we are working on Phase 1 and were close to completion on that project. The water metering system is moving along well and all the domestic meters will be finished by this summer.
The number two project you wanted us to spend money on was the roads. We got the grant, got the alternate approval process completed, the construction company will be hired in the near future and the project will begin on Prairie Valley Road in March.
Your number three project is for more affordable housing. We are working on changing the zoning so that we can add more density to the residential areas where possible. This should bring more housing on the market and that should help to create more affordable housing.
Your number four project was for a new RCMP building. As many of you remember we considered this project in 2002 with a referendum that failed. However, the need for the building is still there, stronger than ever and we want to start to consider this as our next project. As many of you know, the current RCMP building is absolutely disgusting. Its very old, rundown and way too small. It has been repaired numerous times and it is still a mess. Our finest officers deserve much better.
We got a grant to cover the costs of getting designs for a new building but unfortunately RCMP buildings do not qualify for government grants. We have to do this one on our own.
We have a lot more to tell you about this over the coming months and the final decision will be up to you; either by referendum or the alternate approval process. That is a decision well make later on.
What I can tell you right now is that we are going to host several open houses so that you can see the current building along with drawings of what the new building could look like. We want to hear your questions, suggestions and your concerns. Along with the costs; right now we think this may be about $35 - $40 per average household per year. These will be confirmed for you over the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
ayor's Report from January 11, 2010
Happy New Year everyone!
We would like to send our best wishes to Councillor Lloyd Christopherson. Lloyd had surgery last Wednesday. He is doing well and hes home recovering. We hope to have him back to the council table by a about February 15th.
I would to thank the Public Works department for their work clearing the snow last Monday, Jan 4th and Tuesday, Jan 5th. As we all know it was a major storm and a lot of snow had to be removed from the streets. Thank you to all the staff.
So why are we all wearing red and white, well the Olympics are just one month away and although Summerland has many reasons to be excited about the upcoming games, there are two extra special reasons; our own Olympic hopefuls Justin Kripps and Kristi Richards.
On Sunday, January 24th .we are celebrating the Olympic Journey at Center Stage Theatre from 1:00 to 3:00pm. The event is free for everyone and there will be plenty of entertainment and snacks. We have several draw prizes including tickets to an Olympic event and the banner behind me which our very own Kristi Richards has autographed.
Justin Kripps and Kristi Richards will be profiled as our local Olympians and youll have the opportunity to meet our Summerland torchbearers.
On Monday, January 25th the Olympic Torch travels through downtown Summerland at approximately 3:00p.m. Everyone is encouraged to wear red and white, wave flags, banners and placards to show your Summerland spirit and cheer on the torch bearers as they run the flame to Vancouver.
The media will be kept informed so check your Summerland Review for all the details on these events.
Mayors report for December 14th, 2009
Thank you to all of the councillors who attended events on my behalf over the past five weeks but most of all, a very sincere thank you to Gordon Clark the acting mayor for taking over the chair. You did a great job.
I was so sorry to hear about PRT, Pacific Regeneration Technologies closing this month. This is clearly a sign of the state of the economy. The thought of 55 jobs lost in our community is devastating. We wish the very best to all of the employees and their families, our hearts go out to you.
Special thanks to the staff and board members of SCEDT for a very successful 22nd annual Festival of Lights. The amount of work the volunteers put into that event is unbelievable and Ive heard excellent comments about the evening. You officially started the holiday season. Well done.
Finally, I would like to say congratulations to Summerlands very own Kristi Richards. This past week, she won a gold and silver medal at the World Cup for moguls. Kristi is an amazing athlete. Well be looking for her name at the Olympics in February. Good luck Kristi!
Janice Perrino
Mayor
District of Summerland Mayors Report read by Acting Mayor Gordon Clark November 9, 2009
Public Update
On October 15, 2009 there was a Public Hearing on OCP Amendment Bylaw No. 2000-382 which would provide for two changes to the OCP. One change was a text amendment to remove unlawful language that severely and unfairly restricted a Councils ability to change the OCP. The other change was to amend the OCP mapping to include several Rattlesnake Mountain area properties in the Urban Growth Area. This change would allow this land to be considered for development subject to various studies, planning exercises and public input.
On October 26, 2009 Council considered readings and possible adoption of Bylaw No. 2000-382. After a presentation by the Manager of Development Services and the Mayor, Council amended the Bylaw to remove the section dealing with the text amendments to allow for further public input on this matter. Subsequent to some discussion, Council adopted Bylaw No. 2000-382 as amended.
Subsequent to this, the public asked questions and made comments. Since then there has been more commentary, speculation and even accusations of wrong doing. This update is intended to set the record straight.
1. The process which saw the adoption of Bylaw No. 2000-382 as amended was done in accordance with the Community Charter and the Local Government Act. There was nothing improper or unlawful about the process and the decision-making.
2. The Advisory Planning Commission meeting held August 5, 2009 was a publicly advertised opportunity for public input and information gathering prior to the formal public hearing.
3. There was some concern about Councillor Kyluik having an alleged conflict and the fact that he did not publicly declare this at a public meeting. The Community Charter clearly states that this declaration only needs to take place if the Councillor is at a meeting where he feels he is in conflict with an item on the agenda of that meeting. There is no requirement for a Councillor to declare anything if he is not at a meeting even if the Council is dealing with an item that is clearly a conflict for the Councillor. Regardless, the Mayor clarified the alleged conflict at the October 26 meeting.
4. Council can amend an OCP amendment bylaw at anytime after a public hearing and prior to 3rd reading as long as the amendment does not change use or density or add provisions which should have been part of the bylaw at the public hearing stage. Accordingly, removing the text amendment portion of Bylaw No. 2000-382 was a valid action by Council.
5. Concern was expressed about the Mayor making a presentation to the public at the October 26th council meeting prior to the introduction of a motion to deal with Bylaw No. 2000-382. It is debatable whether or not this is contrary to parliamentary procedure however, what is clear is that it has no impact on the validity of Councils actions or decisions.
I trust this clarifies some of the concerns expressed by the public.
Mayors Report for Oct 13, 2009
A couple of things for the viewing audience; we are hosting a Coffee with the Mayor session this coming Saturday morning from 9:00AM 11:00AM at Santorinis Restaurant. Hopefully several councillors will be in attendance so you can bring your questions and concerns to us in a more informal setting. Remember you have to buy your own coffee.
As many of you know we received notice of the Provincial and Federal government grant funding for the Prairie Valley/Rosedale upgrades. On October 22, at 6:30PM we are hosting a public meeting in the upstairs banquet room at the Arena to discuss the final options for the design of the roads. This will be the final open house and we hope many of you can attend.
Last week I attended the open house for the South Okanagan Mental Health and Addictions Coalition in their new office location on Martin Street in Penticton. Several groups have gathered together in one office to share resources, which is a great idea in this economy. I wish them much success in the future.
Councillor Jim Kyluik, CAO Don De Gagne and I attended the UBCM in Vancouver almost two weeks ago. The sessions are always interesting and thought provoking but I have to say the networking and sessions with other councillors, directors, staff and Ministers were the most important part of the week for me. We met with Minister Kruger to get any possible updates on the Crown Land negotiations regarding Summerland Hills. There were no updates other than the process is moving forward. I felt the best meeting we had was with Minister Shirley Bond about the BC Transit operation and how we need to get Summerland on regular transit to Penticton and Kelowna. She agreed with us and has asked BC Transit to reconsider having us put on the line for April 1, 2010. Well let all of you know as this information unfolds.
I have been bragging for several weeks now about the 85 plus new business licenses we have given out since January 1. I felt like we were really moving forward in a positive way. That was until last week when I got a call from Gary Schieck with the Okanagan Tree Fruit Coop. He called me just prior to the public announcement to tell me that the Summerland packing house would be closing sometime in the spring or summer of 2010. They have 80 employees.
He explained to me that the decision was because of the downward tend in the economy and the cost of such a large operation. Gary Schieck made it very clear to me that there was nothing that the community of Summerland did that caused this decision. It was exclusively a corporate resolution. I assured him that Summerland would do everything in our power to support them to keep going until a better solution could be found. At this time they are considering all of their options.
Considering this facility has been going since the 1940s this decision is deeply regrettable. I can hardly think of an event in Summerlands history with such sad consequences. Our sympathy goes to the 80 employees most affected by this closure. Finding new jobs and jobs that pay as well is the worst stress possible for families. Besides all of that, this does not begin to address the inconvenience to our local orchardists.
These are early days for the Okanagan Tree Fruit Coop so well just have to watch and see what happens. This is the third operation they have had to close in the last few years.
Janice Perrino
Mayor
Mayors report for September 28, 2009
My thanks to Ken Roberge for reading my mayors report for the council meeting today
Last week I attended the day long session called the Okanagan Nation Business Opportunities Conference. All of the speakers spoke about the changing environment of business today along with the opportunities in media technology, banking opportunities and how to use the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust. All excellent speakers and all had valuable information to share and update the crowd of over 300 delegates. The Keynote Speaker was Chief Clarence Louie, who has been the Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band since 1984. He was absolutely fascinating, enlightening and forward thinking. His leadership skills make him one of Canadas most outstanding and interesting authorities on Aboriginal relations.
He has helped put Osoyoos on the map and given his local Indian band work opportunities that might never have been possible before. I think we can learn a great deal from this incredible leader.
Last Thursday night, all of the Council who were in town, attended the Volunteer dinner. Thank you Council! We hosted this dinner to thank the people who are on our Council appointed Committees. These incredible people give their time and their wisdom as volunteers to help make Summerland a better place to live. Thank you to everyone who sits on our committees.
On Friday, Summerland received the most exciting news we have had in years. Both our MLA, the Honourable Bill Barisoff and MP, the Honourable Stockwell Day called me to advise we were going to receive our infrastructure grant to do the Prairie Valley/Rosedale road reconstruction. The cost of the project is $4.5 million dollars. The improvements to these two roads will increase the efficiencies for moving traffic, bring people into the business core of the community with greater ease, beautify the road for our tourists and visitors and more important than anything else, make walking and biking safer for our youth and seniors. I want to sincerely thank both levels of government for their commitment to Summerland. This has been a long time coming and we appreciate their work to make this project a reality.
Finally on Saturday a few of us attended the Memorial Service for Mrs. Geraldine Dore. Gerry, as she was known to her friends was married to Jules Dore who is a frequent attendee of council meetings and we always appreciate his presence.
Gerry was quite a famous Summerland artist as a painter and in needle work but she was most famous as a Quilter. She won not only civic awards including first place in this years Summerland Fall Fair but she always won may awards regionally and nationally. I understand she still has enough material in her quilting room to make about another 30,000 quilts. She was also quite a gardener, a volunteer for the Summerland Thrift Shop, a former Justice of the Peace and even a midwife on her families hog farm. In her spare time she raised six children. Gerry was a great support to her husband Jules and they were married for more than 53 years.
Summerland is a better place because of you Gerry Dore, we will miss you terribly.
Janice Perrino
Mayor
Mayors report for September 14, 2009
It has been so busy the last couple of weeks so Ill just highlight a few events. I attended the RCMP Musical Ride. What a fabulous show. They had about 2000 people attend for the afternoon show and an additional 2000 for the evening. My thanks to Dale McDonald for making sure the Rodeo grounds looked their best and all the volunteers who made this show possible.
There is nothing like watching children receive awards and the best one Ive heard to date is for a reading program. The awards were from the Library. Ill let Councillor Sam Elia tell us more about the program as he is the liaison to the Library.
The Dr. Andrew Pavilion Extended Care facility unveiled their new Therapeutic Garden a couple of weeks ago. Thank you to Councillor Ken Roberge for being there. The garden was paid for totally by donations and the residents, family members, staff and volunteers will get to enjoy it for forever. Thank you everyone.
I was very proud to see the Summerland Health Care Auxiliary present the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation with $250,000 for the new CT Scan at the Penticton Regional Hospital. This put the CT Scan campaign over the $1 million dollar mark. It was exciting to see nearly 60 men and woman in their red vests to make the presentation. Four of the members have been volunteering for the Auxiliary for more than 50 years. Thank you to this amazing group for their dedication and support.
Last Wednesday I attended the official opening of the new interpretive signage on the walkway behind the Waterfront Resort. Now the public will be able to read about how the riparian area was built and what birds, bugs and wild life live there.
Last Thursday I got to welcome all of the attendees from the BC Chambers of Commerce AGM. Over 80 staff members of Chambers came from all over BC. It was a terrific conference for Summerland and our own Summerland Chamber.
On Friday I got to welcome 250 breast cancer survivors who are in town for the dragon boat races in Penticton. These incredible people make us all aware that you can not only survive cancer but you can live a happy, healthy life after cancer treatment.
Summerland was wildly busy this past weekend and everyone was having a great time.
On Saturday morning I attended the official 100th year anniversary of the Summerland Pharmacy with the current owner Carol Wertz, along with family and friends from the past three owners. It was quite a celebration.
After that I was at the Summerland Fall Fair along with the Honourable Brigit Shaughnessy to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Lord Shaughnessy was instrumental in starting the fair 100 years ago so to have his family here from England for the first time was really terrific. Councillor Roberge was one of the volunteers and looked great in his red T-shirt.
After that I was given the very difficult job of picking my favourite car in Apple Cruisers Show & Shine. There were 218 beautiful cars. That was hard work. The theme for the event was Memory Lane so with that in mind I picked a 1967 Ford Mustang original and it was in perfect condition. Thank you so much Councillor Christopherson for helping me to get around with the golf cart. I couldnt have walked with my back injury, so you really saved the day.
One thing I want to say about the events I attended over the last two weeks - they wouldnt happen without volunteers and I dont mean one or two people, I mean dozens of volunteers. These events were well organized, professional, on time, exciting and fun. Without volunteers these festivals wouldnt happen. So I want to thank everyone involved in making our community the only place to live, the best place to live.
Thank you everyone.
Janice Perrino
Mayor
Mayors Report for August 24, 2009
I would like to thank all of council for carrying my work load over the past month while I dealt with a back injury. Councillor Hallquist ran the last council meeting and other Councillors went to activities I wasnt able to attend. That really helped to ease my mind, thank you everyone.
So just a couple of things I would like to tell you about. The Summerland Fire Department hosted a car wash last Sunday to raise funds for the new CT Scanner at the Penticton Regional Hospital. I wont give you all the details just yet as there will be media release but several hundred dollars were raised to honour one of their own firefighters who is battling cancer.
Congratulations to all of the members of the Agur Lake Camp. They held an open house yesterday that I understand was well attended and a great awareness for what the camp will offer to families throughout BC. Well done to all of the volunteers.
I would also like to congratulate the event called the Okanagan Feast of Fields; held yesterday at Valentine Farms. The event showcased the amazing bounty of the Okanagan by providing twenty plus course tasting menus paired with wine, beer, cider and spirits. Everyone was talking about this event as THE event of the year.
Summerland has for years become a showcase of some of the finest wines in the world; it is very exciting to see the food industry sharing that glory. Just a thought but maybe next year we could host an annual event called the Summerland Feast of Fields.
And finally, best of luck to all of the participants from Summerland in this Sundays Ironman competition. Your courage is outstanding; Summerland is very proud of all of you.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
MAYORs REPORT
July 27, 2009
Councillor Hallquist is going to talk about this further but I want to thank Fire Chief Lloyd Miskiman, the staff and all the volunteer firefighters who put out the four fires last Thursday. What they do to keep Summerland safe is so important good work and thank you everyone in the department.
Last week I attended the Agur Lake Golf tournament and although my golf game was terrible, we had a wonderful day, perfect weather, great dinner and lots of funds were raised to help build the Agur Lake Camp.
Communities in Bloom, Councillor Christopherson will talk more about this but again special thanks to Dale McDonald, Director of Parks and Recreation, Donna Lane and Sherrill Foster for all of their work to get the community ready for the Communities in Bloom judges. It was a very busy few days of dazzling the judges with Summerlands beauty. Private home owners to strata complexes to volunteer groups, it took everyone to get involved and our community looks outstanding.
Thank you also to everyone involved in putting up the new Welcome to Summerland sign. The sign for the north end of town will be put up by the end of this week. Our thanks to all of the volunteers who helped with the design; it looks sensational and no one will ever miss Summerland again. Some folks have asked why there is no Come Back Soon or something like that on the back of the sign. The department of highways discourages any writing on the back of signs because it is the cross traffic that is reading it. So they discourage this where possible. The plan is to plant some tall scrubs to cover the back of the signs. So it will look more friendly.
I would like to thank Dale McDonald and all of the members of the Summerland Rotary Club for purchasing the new playground equipment for Memorial Park. This equipment is designed to accommodate all children including children with special needs. Rotarys commitment was not just financial; under the guidance of staff and the companys engineer, they helped build the playground equipment. Way to go Rotary.
Thank you to the Kiwanis Club for allowing me to speak that their last week and enjoy lunch with them.
Lieutenant Colonel Harry Quarton, CD, LdeH, AdeC was awarded the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation at a very special ceremony at the Empress Hotel in Victoria on Friday, July 24, 2009.
The commendation is awarded for exemplary contributions by generously giving of himself and so both benefiting Veterans and making manifest the principle that Canadas obligation to all who have served in the cause of peace and freedom must not be forgotten.
The commendation and Insignia were presented by the Honourable Greg Thompson, PCMO, Minister of Veterans Affairs.
Congratulations Colonel Quarton, you are one of Summerlands heroes.
Mayor Janice Perrino
Mayors Report for July 13, 2009
It has been three weeks since our last council meeting so I have a lot of events to mention and will just highlight some of them for you.
On June 24, I was invited to attend an open house for the one year anniversary of the condo development on Victoria and Rand street by ReMax Development. Thank you to all the sales team.
On June 25th the Municipality hosted an event to talk with business owners and interested people regarding the Summerland downtown theme, what some people refer to as an old English style theme. Bob Inwood, who helped us with the design of the new signage for Summerland brought some new ideas for us to consider. I was impressed with the dedication of the people who commented on the beauty of our community and how they would like to see the downtown improve. Thank you to everyone who attended. It is now in staffs hands and well let you know the outcome of that discussion in the coming months.
July 1, I attended the festivities in Peach Orchard Park. Bill Barisoff and I officially opened the new Spirit Square art piece. I want to thank SCEDT for coordinating the Canada Day celebrations and festivities. Thank you as well to Dale McDonald our Parks and Recreation director for all of his work to get Spirit Square looking fantastic and a very special thanks to the members of the Community Cultural Development Committee, better known as the CCDC, chaired by Donna Lane. The artists work that they choose was Nathan Smith from Nelson who built the Sun Dial. If you havent seen it, make the trip down there its really terrific.
On July 3, I went to welcome the Provincial Midget C Girls to Summerland, thinking that I might see about 25 girls. In fact there were 280 girls from all over BC. These amazing young athletes were in Summerland for the weekend and I understand had a fantastic time. Thank you to all of the organizers, the parents and especially our own Summerland team who helped to make all of the participants feel welcome and I understand had an outstanding ball tournament.
The following day I attended the opening of the Taekwondo championships. Again, this was for youngsters to young adults from all over BC and Alberta for a full week of competitions. Thank you to the organizers, the parents and the competitors.
On July 4th I attended the Summerland Yacht Club for the Commodore's ball. It was a wonderful night, always great food at the Yacht Club and terrific company. I thought the emcee was particularly good thank you Joan Kyluik; Councillor Jim Kyluiks wife.
On July 5th I got to attend the welcome dinner for the British Columbia Youth Writers Camp.
This is a week long camp organized by Yasman Thorpe for young writers throughout the region
of Summerland, Penticton and Oliver. In attendance was the Honourable Steven Point,
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia who gave an inspirational talk about the importance of
reading. There are 10 Summerland students who attended the camp this year and I understand
they are going to send us a copy of their writing projects. All of the projects were based on
giving suggestions on how to limit our carbon tax footprint.
Don De Gagne and I attended a meeting with the CAOs, Mayor and Vice-Chair of the RDOS and Penticton last week to discuss some possible opportunities for creating synergies for our communities. This is very early but they are looking at some ways of doing economic growth for our two communities along with options of buying some items together; an example might be some of our fleet trucks. It was a good start.
On Friday July 10th, I attended a luncheon where Stockwell Day, our MP Okanagan-Coquihalla, Minster of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada came to speak at a luncheon and talk about his work at the federal level. In between traveling all over the world for important meetings, being in Ottawa representing us, he is off running in the Boston Marathon in record time. Our MP is one busy guy. Were very lucky to have him.
Again, I would like to thank Dale McDonald and the parks department for their work to finish the new park on Lakeshore Road and Beaver St. and the new playground equipment at Memorial Park.
And most important, council would like to sincerely thank the Public Works department for their work to repair the broken water main two weeks ago. They repaired a very serious break in just under twelve hours; it could have been much worse. The staff worked through the night to get the water going again. Many people thought it was a scheduled water shut-down; it was not scheduled, it was very much an emergency.
Council has asked staff to look at new ways to let the public know when we have such an emergency, whether it is water, electrical, roads, whatever. We want to make sure you know the information, how to take care of your own home or farm, or business so were working on that and well give you more information in the near future.
Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors Report for June 22, 2009
I want to thank the board of directors of SADI for hosting their Volunteer and Sponsor Appreciation BBQ. They thanked us but the truth is, what they do to support the youth in our community is so good, I would like to sincerely thank them for their commitment to our young people.
I met with Dave Searcy, the principal of the Summerland Secondary High School. We have 550 students in that school with around 150 graduating this week. Congratulations to all of the students. Have a memorable, fun and safe graduation. In your new life after high school, I encourage you to follow your dreams. Life is too short not to be happy.
I attended the conference for nearly 125 delegates at the Waterfront Resort on June 10. These were members of the License Inspectors Bylaw Officers Association of B.C.. They had a fantastic conference and brought in over $77,000 dollars into our community. My thanks to Gary Ellis, Sharon Blaney, Gill Matthews and Maureen Fugeta for their work to put this event on. It was a huge job for them and they were terrific.
The 14th Annual Summerland Bluegrass Festival was held on the weekend of June 12 at the Rodeo Grounds. It was non-stop music from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon. A very popular event for folks from all over BC.
Last Wednesday I got the great honour of presenting a certificate of thanks to a special lady by the name of Grandma Olive. Grandma Olive has been helping to raise children through a local Mom & Child group for more than 35 years. We wish her much joy in her retirement and thank her for all of her years of positive grand-mothering.
The Penny Lane store on Victoria was the place to be on Saturday morning when they dropped 180 T-Shirts with gift coupons off the roof of the building. This was in tradition to what was done years ago with the 5 - $1 store. They were celebrating the stores support of $1 million dollars over the past six years for youth initiatives. I would like to thank all of the board of directors, the staff of Penny Lane, the fire department for holding back the traffic for the crowd, thank you to Bruce Hallquist and Scott Boswell for tossing the goods off the roof and a special thanks to Edith Hallquist for folding the 180 T-Shirts.
It should be noted that Penny Lane, just like the Summerland Thrift Shop, are both full contributing members of the business community and pay full business taxes. They, like all of our businesses, help to keep our community strong and our downtown vibrant.
This afternoon our council hosted a meet & greet meeting with members of the Penticton Indian Band members. We have so many similar issues and concerns for our communities. Its amazing and refreshing. We have made a commitment to try and meet four times a year to discuss our issues and work together for a better future.
So many wonderful folks have left us this spring. I would like to send our deepest sympathies to a couple of prominent Summerland families. Lorraine La Marre passed away about three weeks ago. She was the wife of Marcel La Marre, the President of the Royal Canadian Legion. And, Gweneth Gilmour passed away this week. She was born in Summerland in 1925 and lived here all 89 years of her life. What a milestone.
Janice Perrino, Mayor
Mayors Report
June 8th, 2009
This past weekend was the Summerland Action Festival, one of our biggest events of the year. Thank you to the team that got a beautiful convertible for me to sit in for the parade and special thanks to my driver, Louise. I want to sincerely thank Pat Bell and all of the board of directors for the incredible work they did putting on this huge event. The logistics of locations, times, hundreds of people, volunteers and participants was daunting. Everyone seemed to be having fun, the weather was great and Summerland teams did win at least two of the big ball tournament divisions. So that was very exciting.
The event wouldnt happen without the help and support of the vendors, service groups, volunteers and especially the dozens of local sponsors. It takes a team to put this event on and make it a success and this; their 27th Annual ActionFest had to be one of the best. Thank you to everyone involved.
I attended the Health Care Auxiliarys finale dinner last Tuesday evening and you can see why this group is so successful. They have well over 130 dedicated volunteers to run the Thrift Shop. This, as many of you know, is their 100th year anniversary so its a marvel to see them stronger than ever.
Last weekend, I attended the formal dinner of the Freemasons to celebrate their 100th Anniversary. My thanks to all the Masons in Summerland that have helped to keep that organization strong and will keep it strong for the next 100 years.
As many of you know several weeks ago the Summerland Museum honoured the Masons, the Healthcare Auxiliary and the Summerland Cubs & Scouts for their 100 years of service. Were blessed to have such incredible groups in our community as part of our history and our future.
The Summerland Credit Union hosted a Business After Business event over a week ago that I attended. It was a full house with lots of activities and prizes. They are another group that has given thousand of dollars to different organizations to support Summerlanders.
The Bylaw Enforcement Officers Conference for BC is being hosted in Summerland starting on Wed and we have about 100 Bylaw Officers running loose in Summerland later this week. They have asked me to thank all of the Summerland businesses who have help out with the conference and those who have donated door prizes.
Summerland Pleasure Painters have been busy creating two ceiling tiles which have been delivered to, and installed, in the Summerland Health Centre. One tile is in the x-ray room and the other is now in the children's waiting room. This was a big challenge for them, but a lot of fun and a great way to give a gift to the community.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors Report
May 11th, 2009
June 6, 2009 is Access Awareness Day which is all about employing people with disabilities!
On the long weekend I attended the official opening of the Kettle Valley Railway, better known as the KVR. They had a full house that day and expect a terrific year. What they do for tourism in Summerland is unbelievable. Thank you to their staff and volunteers for keeping history a part of our future. The same day I attended the Blossom Run, and had to pick my favourite car out of 200 hundred cars that was tough. Great event, lots of people and terrific weather. I went around about four times and eventually picked my favourite, a 1963 Lark, Studebaker white and red convertible. Owned by a couple out of Duncan BC. The car was an original and in perfect condition. That was fun.
On the following day I attended the opening of the Ozone Drama Festival. They had six nights of plays and then the group adjudicates theatre productions from all over the region.
I met with the new executive director Lisa Jaager of SCEDT. She is very excited about working with the business community and Im looking forward to a great future. Best of luck to you Lisa.
This past weekend, I attended the Rotary Pioneer Tea for about 90 residents who have lived in Summerland for 50 years and are over the age of 60. Fabulous crowd, lots of wonderful stories. Thank you to the Summerland Rotary Club for putting on this event.
Also on Saturday, I attended the Summerland Health Care Auxiliary as they held their100th Anniversary event at the Thrift Shop. They have donated more than $3 million to date, $330,000 last year alone, 30,000 volunteer hours just last year and they have promised me to keep going for an additional 100 years. Pretty terrific!
And finally, in recognition of the 65th Anniversary of D-Day, the Invasion of Europe and the Battle of Normandy, twelve members of the Canadian Armed Forces: Army, Navy and Air Force, who took part in these events, are being recognized on June 6th at Juno Beach, France.
LCol. Harry Quarton, CD, LdeH, AdeC, of Summerland, B.C. has been chosen as one of those twelve servicemen who will be honoured by having a personal panel unveiled at a Ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre by the Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Gregg Thompson. Each panel will consist of the individual's picture, then and now, and a summary of their involvement in these actions.
In 2007, he was awarded the French Legion of Honour by the President of France, Jacques Chirac for his contribution in the Liberation of France.
Col. Quarton is the President of The South Alberta Regiment Veterans Association and has held this position for over 20 years.
Col. Quarton and members of his Association return to Europe on a regular basis to pay homage to their war dead.
While in France, Col. Quarton will unveil a Regimental Plaque on the Memorial Tank at Courselles sur Mer in memory of all the men who served in the South Alberta Regiment who landed on Juno Beach.
Congratulations Col. Quarton, you make Summerland very proud.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors Report
May 11th, 2009
May 17th 23 is the National Public Works Week. Their theme this year is Revitalize, Reinvest and Renew. I would like to thank all of the members of our Summerland Public Works Department for the excellent work they do to keep our community up and running well.
Some of the highlights that I think the public might find of interest from the past two weeks are:
Congratulations to all of the candidates from the Summerland Blossom Pageant. They all worked incredibly hard and it showed. Each and everyone would be an excellent ambassador for Summerland.
The Sun FM Radiothon was an incredible success with over $91,000 raised for the pediatric department at the Penticton Regional Hospital. My thanks to the dozens of Summerlanders who made donations.
Last week I attended the Health Care Volunteer Appreciation Tea. This is for all the folks who volunteer at a health care facility in Summerland. There were over 150 people in attendance and that is only a portion of the folks who give of their time to serve others. Thank you to everyone.
I attended the Royal Canadian Legion, VE Day at the Canyonview Cemetery. Once a year candles are lit to honour all of the veterans at each of the cemeteries. It was a special event.
The Summerland Middle School hosted a spaghetti dinner in honour of Kristi Richards and her fundraiser. The title of the event was I CAN. What an incredible lesson to teach children that anything is possible.
Glenfir had their official opening of their new Soccer Academy this past Sat. The instruction the students will receive on the new sports field will be like nothing else in the Okanagan. We are very lucky to have Glenfir in our community.
The 902 Summerland Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadrons 19th Annual Ceremonial Review was on Sat. and the kids are amazing. With competitions for marching, first aid, speech contests the list is quite something of what the youth are taught. It is a great organization for a young people to join.
We had another Coffee with the Mayor on May 9th and thank you to the councillors and the citizens who came to ask questions and give their opinions on different issues. Thanks to the Sweet Tooth for putting up with us.
I attended the Summerland Ornamental Gardens official plant sale opening, the opening of the new Okanagan Chelation Centre and our own Summerlander, Sandra Reed, the owner of the company Kagabags was in front of the DRAGONS DEN TV show yesterday. I worked with her a bit on her presentation and she was terrific. Im certain the Dragons will jump in to help with her business. We wont find out for sure until September.
On a final note, we said goodbye this past week to one of Summerlands most well known and most respected individuals. Jerry Hallquist was best known for his legendary Summerland 5 cents to $1.00 Store but it was his marketing genius that we still talk about - Crazy Days and coins thrown off the roof and toys filling the basement that will capture our imagination forever. What you might not know is that Jerry helped to start the Summerland downtown Tudor Theme and the Festival of Lights. He was the longest living member and one of four founding members of the Kiwanis Club. He was a terrific curler, a pilot and an instigator of some of the worst pranks I shutter to think. He never missed an election and he always made it clear how we should vote when Bruces name was on the ballot. He and his wife Edith were married for 68 years. He lived everyday, every hour, every second. What a role model for all of us. While it is difficult to say goodbye, I think all of Summerland feels blessed that we had him. It is never long enough but gosh it was great.
Janice Perrino, Mayor
Mayors Report
April 27th, 2009
I want to start by thanking staff for taking the time out of their busy schedule to help educate council on land, development and growth issues at a workshop last week. Well have more of these in the future and it helps us to make better decisions at this table.
I attended a dinner meeting of the Summerland Lions Club a week ago and gave a presentation about some of the challenges this council faces with our budget, with growth, and business opportunities. Terrific questions from everyone, thank you to the Lions for allowing me to visit with them.
Tomorrow; April 28th is the Workers Day of Mourning. This day is to recognize all of the workers who have lost their lives while on the job. We have much better regulations about health and safety today but accidents do happen so we need to be aware at all times.
The Ecstasy of Rita Joe; is a very famous play written by our own George Ryga. It is being shown at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for about two weeks to celebrate the 40th Anniversary. It officially opened on May 1, 1969.
Speaking of the arts, I attended the Summerland Arts Council 40th anniversary celebration this past Saturday. Thank you to all of the board members and volunteers who help to bring the arts to Summerland. Art brings out our creativity and soothes our soul.
Yesterday, I attended the Earth Day celebration and work party at Dale Meadows field. We pulled weeds, planted trees and scrubs and cleaned up the area. It looks great. At the same time, there where other crews doing clean up and painting fish near the drain pipes. About 100 volunteers got involved. They have some great photos from this year and the past two years, so Ive asked that come to council in the future so you can see what has been accomplished to date. Special thanks to Lisa Scott, Beth Cavers from Public Works and Dale MacDonald from the Parks and Recreation department who helped to organize this worthwhile event.
Special thanks again to Dale MacDonald and Juanita Gibney, vice president of SCEDT. They worked together to produce the first Trails brochure. This is a great sales piece for Summerland. This shows where the public trails are and has lots of information about the history. These will be available at the Chamber office, Municipal Hall and the Recreation Department.
This Thursday is the 6th annual Have a Heart Radiothon at Cherry Lane Shopping Centre hosted by Astral Media. That is the SunFM, AM 800 and Summerlands AM 1450 stations. The funds raised will be used to purchase two childrens cardio respiratory monitors and three cribs for the Penticton Regional Hospital. The cribs are 30 years old. If you would like to make a donation, come down to Cherry Lane, we would love to see you.
Special congratulations to Vi and Claude Gaye they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on the weekend.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors Report
April 14th, 2009
We finally got the environmental go a-head we had been waiting for to begin the work on the domestic water metering units along with phase 1 of the system separation to separate the domestic water lines from the agricultural lines on a portion of Prairie Valley Rd.
The data is clear, domestic water meters reduce the use of water where ever they are used. People just generally use less water so we know this is good conservation.
System separation will help us to reduce the amount of water we have to treat. It is only phase 1 but it will make a huge difference in the amount of water we save from costly treatment and will help us to reach the goal of having enough treated water for domestic use and untreated (however chlorinated) water for agricultural use. Work will begin within the next two months. Well be sure to tell the public more as the information becomes available to us.
Two weeks ago I attended an event at the Royal Bank to see an actual torch carried into Summerland by one of the athletes from the Paralympics. If you would like to be a torch barer yourself, you need to look up the Royal Bank website or drop by the Royal Bank for more information. The Olympics is just 10 months away.
At the end of March, Summerland participated in what was called Earth Hour by turning off the lights for several hours at Municipal Hall I would like to thank the staff for coming in on their off time to make the project happen. I would also like to thank all of our citizens who participated in the 20 Minute Clean Up a week ago Monday. I understand that both Glenfir and the Middle School students got involved by going outside to clean up what the winter winds blow in; thank you everyone.
Last week we held and open house here in council chambers for the families who live at the North Beach below the area where the road is being four-laned. With the major slide we experienced last October the access road originally planned has had to be changed. There is a picture at Municipal Hall that shows the area and where the new road will be located. Well keep this downstairs in the main area near the receptionist desk for the next week or so if you would like a better look at what is happening with the construction site.
Also, last week I attended a presentation at the Okanagan College in Penticton hosted by our own MLA Rick Thorpe and the Honourable Bill Barisoff. Okanagan College got a grant for $28 million dollars to triple the size of the college site for a new Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation. This will mean space for 800 more students. Our community will benefit tremendously by this announcement for years to come.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this project happen.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors Report
March 23, 2009
The City of Kelowna has challenged Summerland to take part in Earth Hour 2009 by ensuring Municipal Hall lights are turned off on March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 pm. We would also like to encourage our residents and commercial businesses to do the same.
It has been a very busy couple of weeks so Ill just touch on some of the events I attended.
SCEDT held their AGM a couple of weeks ago and I officially welcomed the new board members. There was a good crowd in attendance and many of their activities were highlighted. They have great plans for this coming year and they will be looking for councils involvement when were able to attend.
Some students from Summerland Secondary School had me come in to the school for a session of questions. The main concern for them was transit to Penticton and to the north so I was happy to be able to say, it is coming and soon. I was pleased to see how concerned they were about their community its inspiring to know that these young people are our future leaders. Were in good hands.
A couple of weeks ago I attended the South Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship programs 15th Anniversary. This was to celebrate what landowners do and have been doing in the South Okanagan to protect and enhance natural areas on their lands since 1994. My only disappointment; there were no landowners from Summerland. I encourage anyone who is interested to contact the South Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship program for more information.
Last Wednesday, the Agur Lake Camp group hosted an event to unveil their plans for the buildings along with a cheque for $100,000 from MLAs Bill Barisoff and Rick Thorpe. What is amazing to me is that this is a Summerland project. We as a community need to rally behind this group and help them get their funding in place. That is the only way they can start building the centre.
I really like it when MLA Rick Thorpe phones to say he has money for us so last week I went to receive some big cheques.
We received $375,000 through Towns for Tomorrow for our RCMP Detachment building project. Although we are not ready to start building yet, we are getting closer and this funding will help us to make the new building more energy efficient.
$534,996 was for our first installment payment under our new Strategic Community Investment Fund which provides greater certainty to our Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing and Small Community Grant funding, thereby assisting our efforts to improve community safety and stimulate the economy. $76,191 of this payment is associated with the traffic fine revenue sharing and $458,805 with small community grants.
We received $4,861 under the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program, equal to 100 percent of the carbon tax we paid as part of direct expenditures on fossil fuels.
This funding represents part of the governments continuing investment in BC Communities.
Since 2004 Summerland has received $8,363,613 dollars towards infrastructure, community safety, small community grants and community opportunities and the Olympics.
Our thanks to MLAs Rick Thorpe and Bill Barisoff and a request to them to not forget we are still very anxious for the grant funding for Prairie Valley, Rosedale road upgrades.
Janice Perrino, Mayor
Mayors Report
March 9, 2009
March is Community Social Services Awareness Month for BC. Social services provide to families and children, people with disabilities, people and families dealing with substance abuse, people in community justice services, including correction services and victim assistance programs, women and their families in transition houses or sexual assault centers, aboriginal peoples, individuals involved in community projects and employment training programs, as well as child care, multicultural, settlement and immigrant services, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago I attended a meeting with the Friends of Summerland Library and listened to a presentation from the owner of Summerland Sweets. Len spoke about their new fruit wines and how that business got started and the success of it today. It is a great success story.
It is always a joy to listen to someone who is excited about their business, sees all the potential and works though the problems. Summerland Sweets are a great asset to our community. The Friends of Summerland Library host these speakers sessions on a regular basis and I encourage members of the community to get out when ever possible to listen.
I attended the AGM of the Summerland Asset Development Initiative better know as SADI last week. They are an organization that does amazing work for the youth in our community. They talked about their different programs for over an hour. I was surprised and impressed. They have come a long way over the past ten years.
Everyone knows Josh at Murray's pizza! Well, as of this Wednesday, he has been open in Summerland for 15 years. Josh talked about the struggles that he went through to stay open in those early days and the folks in this community that supported him. Over the next week, be sure to stop by and say congratulations.
The Summerland Chamber of Economic Development and Tourism (SCEDT) held their 71st Annual Community Excellence Awards this past Saturday evening. I am going to let Sam tell you more about the recipients but I want to thank the directors for a terrific evening of great food, entertainment and of course the awards. The Summerland Rotary Club served the meals in a room that no one could move in and they did a great job. Thank you everyone and our congratulations to all of the nominees.
I want to say special congratulations to Dale MacDonald for his award in Community Cultural Development. Dale helps make this community stay beautiful by getting groups involved. Great work Dale.
As the media is aware, council has made some decisions about restructuring some positions in the Public Works department. After a lot of discussion, we terminated three positions and created two new ones. Basically this is to remove non-essential service positions and improve service levels where it is needed the most.
Yes, it is about being fiscally responsible but people are affected and in the end it is likely that we may have to let go of one staff person. In my books you don't get any hero points for making these types of decisions.
Still, I know this is the right move to better manage this municipality. I would like to sincerely thank the management team. You did the right thing but it took courage and we appreciate your leadership.
A well known Summerlander passed away this past week. Juergen Hansen was well known to most of us at the Council table and well respected throughout the community.
We fought with him about issues and the process of how government was done for years but he was a joy to listen to and I respected his thoughts. He was a deeply intelligent man.
I got to know Juergen more personally when I took him a couple of times to Kelowna for his cancer treatments. He loved his wife, his children and his community. We laughed and talked a great deal. He fought cancer several times and I believe he won the battle.
Council wont be the same without you Juergen we will miss you!
Janice Perrino, Mayor
Mayors Report
February 23, 2009
The Finance Committee has been busy, so I will let Councillor Elia comment on that in his report, but on behalf of all of us let me again say thank you to all of the members. I understand some recommendations are coming to council tomorrow evening so I look forward to that information.
On Feb 12th, all of council attended the open house for a presentation about the Prairie Valley Road/Rosedale Road upgrades. This open house was to get the communities feedback on what things they would like to see done to those two roads. They were shown pictures of everything including sidewalks, bike lanes, roundabouts, one or two traffic lanes along with beautifications like trees, flowers and even benches. All the ideas were put on the table for the publics information and discussion. We had 160 people attend and I want to thank all of you who came and gave us your best suggestions. It is helpful to us and will help us to prepare the documents for when we get government grant funding which we hope will be soon. We will keep you posted.
February 18th there was an event at the Summerland Waterfront Resort called the Summerland Economic Outlook Conference 2009, hosted by RE/MAX Orchard Country. I want to sincerely thank Patrick Murphy and his sales team for hosting this event and they picked up all the costs. For two hours a variety of speakers talked about Summerlands current economy and the future. This was a very positive evening, with details about all of Summerlands possibilities and our exciting future.
This past Saturday I held a Coffee with the Mayor meeting at the A & W. Thank you to Jamie and his staff for putting up with us and thank you John Arndt for coming by to talk to the public. Lots of great questions, comments, suggestions it was a very worth while meeting. I think well do it again later next month at a new location. Ill let you know as soon as Ive booked it.
Tonight we will be unveiling our goals and objectives. We have been working on this for several weeks. It is important that the public know, our first priority is getting the WTP up and functioning to its full capabilities.
However, we have lots of goals regarding water, transportation and organizational issues just to name a few. We have not put these in priority order because we are working on all of them at same time, throughout our term. The goals will be reviewed on a regular basis and updated on a yearly basis.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Mayors Report
February 9, 2009
The Finance Committee meetings have started and I am sure the Chair, Councillor Elia will talk about it more in his report but I would like to say thank you in particular to so many of the councillors attending the all day staff presentations and in particular our two volunteer public committee members for their participation. There is another meeting tomorrow night and the public and the media are welcome to attend.
February 18th there is an event being held at the Summerland Waterfront Resort called the Summerland Economic Outlook Conference 2009, hosted by RE/MAX Orchard Country. A variety of speakers will talk about Summerlands current economy and the future. This will be a very positive evening, with details about all of Summerlands exciting possiblities. This event is more for folks that have a business or business opportunities. If you would like to attend, call 250-494-8881 or drop into the RE/Max Orchard Country office on the corner of Victoria and Main St. There are only a limited number of seats.
Im going to be holding the first of what I hope will be several Mayors Coffee Shop Meetings. The first one is scheduled for Saturday, 9:00AM 11:00 AM on Feb 21, 2009 at the A & W on Rosedale.
The public is welcome to come and ask questions, tell me your community concerns and Ill have a major question for you to think about and discuss. The only deal is you must buy your own beverage, breakfast, whatever you like to eat and drink. We are there to support the restaurant and about every two months or so when I plan these meetings, we will pick a new location and we will support another restaurant. Councillors are welcome to attend all of these meetings and listen.
There are other advisory groups of people I will be meeting with, along with a group of people I e-mail to. These are people I go to, to hear their thoughts and wisdom on different issues. If you would like to be a part of either of those groups, please feel free to e-mail me at mayor@summerland.ca and Ill make sure you get put on the list.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Report from the Mayor
January 26, 2009
Last week, the Minister of Agriculture Stan Hagen passed away quite suddenly. I met him at a UBCM convention years ago and I remember being impressed with how kind and intelligent he came across. He will be greatly missed throughout the province.
On another provincial issue, three of us attended the retirement gala on Saturday night for our own MLA, the Honourable Rick Thorpe. There is nothing more humbling than having your children roast you they know all the funny things about you. Ricks children were the highlight of the evening. It was truly an evening of celebration and friendship. We wish him all the very best in his retirement years.
Rick Thorpe also attended our Council of the Whole meeting this morning and is checking on our grant that is currently in the system for transportation. He has always been a great help to this council.
I attended a meeting with members of the Summerland Chamber of Economic Development and Tourism (SCEDT); just over a week ago, to talk about business growth. I think their strengths have really focused on tourism over the past three years and its paid off, which has been a great benefit to Summerland.
Now I have asked them to focus heavily on the business community. There may be a downtrend in the economy but people still have to work so we need to encourage good business growth. They are going to work on that and we will be reporting to you more about their plans over the coming weeks.
On Friday, Council hosted an all day Goals and Priorities meeting with management. We came away with both short and long term goals and we will be sharing that with the public hopefully by next week. It has to be put to paper by staff with final review by council. It was a great day, we got a lot accomplished.
The public surveys are coming in fast and in huge numbers. I am just so pleased. I encourage you, if you have not filled out yours yet, please take time to do so and send it in. We have just been glancing at some of the comments and it is really interesting to see. The public know what they want and their suggestions are excellent. After Feb 6th, we will start compiling them and sharing the results with the public. Thank you to everyone who has responded so far.
Janice Perrino,
Mayor
Report from the Mayor
January 12, 2009
I had a meeting with a member of the Okanagan Valley Healing Society. They are hosting a learning session called Fostering Resilience in Childhood and Adolescence by Dr. Gabor Mate on January 28, 2009 at 7:00 at Centre Stage Theater. This author has quite a profound insight into children and teenagers so this evening might be of real interest to local parents. We are very lucky to have him speaking in Summerland. There is a $10.00 charge and everyone is welcome.
I would like to say congratulations to Crime Stoppers. They have been in existence since 1992 and because of their work 631 arrests have been made; $1,555,825 in stolen property has been recovered and the drugs seized to date have amounted to almost $7 million dollars.
My least favorite topic of conversation the past month has been Snow Removal. Just to let you know the budget was $167,845 and as of the end of December the cost was $199,117 ($31,000 over budget) and that does not include all the snow from last week. Yes, we do have some funds in reserve for this but obviously we are concerned and between you and me I would be just as happy if we did not get another flake of snow until next year.
I want to thank the Public Works Department for all of their hard work in getting the road cleaning under control. It was a huge, difficult problem and we appreciate everything the staff did to keep traffic moving.
Council had a meeting this morning to discuss staffing issues. Our concern is as we go into budget review we want to keep costs down. In the end we came up with three resolutions that we feel will give the management team clear direction when doing their budgets.
1. The Budget: must have meaningful and substantial reductions in (budget) costs this year. Next year the process will be done by zero-based budgeting.
2. Staffing: There will be an immediate hiring freeze for new staff and no re-structuring for six months. Any changes to this will be up to councils approval.
3. Council must have an evaluation of all service levels throughout, before final approval of this years budget.
The reason for these changes is easy to explain. The economic downtrend is all around us. We will see very little residential growth and new business development over the next year so, we must tighten the purse strings and cut back. The public has already seen an electrical increase of $4.6% and there may be other increases that we will have little ability to change. We want to have a good handle on what is happening throughout the departments before we agree to anything new.
Finally, I cant remember a time when so many long time Summerlanders have passed away. The past four weeks have been very sad. On behalf of council, we wish to send our condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones. We all know what sorrow is but that doesnt make it any easier.
One person I would like to mention in particular was a member of our own District staff; Carol Trotter. Carol worked as the secretary in the Parks and Recreation department for several years. She passed away very suddenly on January 3. What I will remember the most about Carol was her incredible smile. That smile spoke more about good customer service than anything. Her personality was fun, warm and gracious. Carol made life better and we were blessed to know her.
On behalf of this council, we would like to send our deepest sympathies to her family.
Janice Perrino, Mayor
December 2008
As always, a very success Festival of Lights was held on Friday, Nov 28. I want to thank the staff and board of SCEDT along with the dozens of volunteers who help to put smiles on the estimated 7,000 people who attended the event. I must say that the effect of the snow that seemed to only be in Summerland was an excellent touch.
The new councils inauguration was held on Monday afternoon and our thanks to staff and Judge Gayle Sinclair for making the event special. Congratulations to all of you at this table.
On Tuesday morning, I got to welcome Jonathan Howard to Summerland. Jonathan Howard left St. John's, NL on March 25th and will arrive in Victoria on December 18 after running more than 8,000 km. Jonathan is running a marathon a day with a message about an issue this country needs to pay attention to- Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism now affects 1 in 165 Canadian children. Along with raising money, Jonathan is raising the awareness about the lack of supports and services available to families, the lack of research funding and the lack of public education.
On Saturday, several members of the council attended the CUPE staff party. This council needs to remember, the staff are the glue that keeps this community running. Thank you to each and every staff member for their hard work and commitment.
Finally, I would like to end this report by telling you about a very special citizen who passed away last Friday, December 5, 2008. We all knew him by the name Bill Barkwill but in fact his name was Harry Jack Barkwill. Let me share with you a bit about Bills incredible history.
In 1922, Bill and his family sailed across the Atlantic on a steam ship, crossed Canada by rail and travelled down Lake Okanagan to Summerland aboard a stern wheeler. Their first residence was a tent in Peach Orchard.
Bill was a leader in both business and community affairs. With his brother he operated Barkwills Ltd., one of the largest fruit canneries in the Okanagan. The brothers, who had run the family orchard, started the cannery as a way of making ends meet when fruit prices collapsed in the 1930s. Eventually they farmed over 100 acres of orchard to help meet the needs of the cannery. He sat on the executive of the Canadian Food Processors Association and the Western Food Processors Association.
Bill had a distinguished career in community service as well as in business. He was Mayor of Summerland for two years in the early 1970s and served 13 years as an alderman. He also served as chair of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
In 1945, Bill married Berolyn Atkinson with whom he raised eight children. He loved to hunt and fish and to explore the outdoors in his Willys Jeep. Bill read extensively and maintained a keen interest throughout his life in local history and politics. He was noted for his unfailing good manners, quiet sense of humour and devotion to his family.
On behalf of council and staff, we send our deepest sympathies to the family.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, December 11, 2008, 1 p.m. at St. Stephens Anglican Church.
Janice Perrino
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